Depth chart breakdown: Where Penn State football stands at defensive tackle in 2020
Penn State football lost a key starter up the middle when Robert Windsor’s eligibility clock ran out after the 2019 season, and the Nittany Lions will need to replace him to maintain their defensive standing nationally. Fortunately for them, they have another senior leader at defensive tackle and a talented replacement for Windsor.
Let’s take a look at where the position stands heading into the 2020 season.
Projected starters
Redshirt senior Antonio Shelton and true junior P.J. Mustipher
Shelton and Mustipher should provide a good balance for Penn State up front this season. The two defensive tackles bring a nice blend of run stopping and pass rushing to balance out the line that features plenty of speed off the edge.
Mustipher is a much better athlete than Windsor, who he’ll be replacing at defensive tackle. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound junior has a chance to be Penn State’s best defensive tackle this season if he’s able to tap into some of that athleticism and utilize it in the trenches. He appeared in all 13 games last season and started once for the Nittany Lions.
The junior tallied his first career sack in the 53-39 Cotton Bowl win over Memphis and racked up 4.5 tackles for loss on the year. All of that while seeing limited action as a backup. It’s easy to see why Mustipher is the favorite to replace Windsor when you look at how he performed last season, and the film backs up how well he played.
He was a two-time Maryland state champion in high school and showed plenty of quickness and agility as a heavyweight wrestler. That has translated to the football field for the junior and it’s helped him evolve as a pass rusher from the interior. Mustipher gets off the line quickly and uses his hands to beat interior offensive linemen in the run game and the passing game. He uses his strong lower body to push the pocket and create pressure and is more than capable of maintaining leverage against linemen in the run game. He’s an all-around defensive tackle and should find himself in the conversation to make one of the All-Big Ten team’s at the end of the season.
Shelton is a better run defender than pass defender and fills that role nicely for Penn State. He’s listed at two inches shorter than Mustipher, but weighs 10 pounds more than his position mate, and it shows in the way he plays. The redshirt senior has made 13 starts at defensive tackle for the Nittany Lions, 12 of which came during the 2019 season. He’s appeared in 25 total games and has eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks across three seasons of playing time. He missed one game last season after he was suspended for spitting on a Michigan State player, opening the door for Mustipher to make his lone start.
The redshirt senior uses leverage to his advantage as a shorter defensive tackle. He has a powerful lower body that makes it difficult for interior offensive linemen to move him off a spot. He’s big enough — and strong enough — to force teams to double team him in the run game and that frees up one-on-one matchups for his teammates along the defensive line.
Many of Shelton’s contributions don’t show up in a traditional box score but it does show up in the form of sacks and tackles for loss for his teammates. The redshirt senior also provides leadership to a defensive line that will need it after it’s unbridled leader, former defensive line coach Sean Spencer, has moved on to the NFL. Shelton should be able to help new defensive line coach John Scott Jr. bridge the gap between the new and the old.
Key backups
Redshirt junior Fred Hansard and redshirt sophomore Judge Culpepper
Mustipher and Shelton will be backed up by two unproven commodities this season. Culpepper and Hansard have one combined start between them, and it belongs to Hansard back in the 2018 season. They’ve combined for 1.5 career sacks in 31 total appearances, with most of Culpepper’s work coming on special teams. While they’re both inexperienced, there’s reason to believe both can handle a Big Ten workload. Hansard will likely back Shelton up as a run-stuffing defensive tackle, while Culpepper provides some of the same versatility Mustipher can along the line.
Hansard is a 6-foot-3, 318-pound run stuffing defensive tackle that has added strength in his three years on campus. He doesn’t have the same leverage as Shelton, but is still big enough to command a double team at times in the run game. Hansard isn’t a high-level athlete but can push the pocket with his strength in the passing game, allowing him to contribute when opponents are trying to move the ball through the air. When Hansard has a one-on-one matchup in the run game, he uses his length to stand up opposing linemen and make plays. There’s still plenty of room for Hansard to grow against the run and the pass but he should be a fine backup until he refines his game.
Culpepper is a very good athlete for a defensive tackle after entering college with the size of a defensive end. He was listed at 256 pounds on his 247Sports recruiting profile and is now up to 294 pounds according to Penn State’s official roster. Those 40 pounds were easily added to his 6-foot-4 frame and there’s even room to get him over 300 pounds if necessary. He still showed good athleticism in limited action last season and that makes him an ideal backup for Mustipher. Culpepper can get a good push on the interior as a pass rusher, but is also a good enough athlete to get by interior linemen. He’s inexperienced but will have a chance to prove himself as a potential replacement for Mustipher down the road.
Freshman to watch
Redshirt freshman Hakeem Beamon
Defensive tackles can take time to develop into contributors because so few are ready out of high school for the grind of Big Ten football. We’ll turn back to the 2019 class for a freshman to watch in Beamon. He was listed at 6-foot-3, 259 pounds as a recruit and is now listed at 288 pounds on the Penn State roster.
If the redshirt freshman has maintained his high school athleticism, when he was a defensive end, then he could have a big impact on the interior. Beamon is a very good athlete and has an ideal frame with the quickness to be disruptive from the interior.
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 2:56 PM.
