Penn State football roundtable: Which players will break out in the 2020 season?
The Penn State football season is right around the corner.
With less than two weeks to go until opening kickoff vs. Indiana, here’s the Centre Daily Times’ staff picks for the breakout player of the 2020 season:
Josh Moyer: Redshirt sophomore DE Jayson Oweh
Forget offering a surprise pick or some sort of darkhorse. Let’s go with the obvious: Oweh is the right answer here.
Sure, everybody knows his name already — but he does fit the criteria for a breakout. He’s a third-year player with just one career start under his belt. But there’s a reason his name is already familiar to most Penn State fans: He boasts tools and talent that come by once a generation.
He was ranked fourth on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks list” because he ran a reported 4.33-second 40-yard dash. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again, if he would run that same time at the NFL combine, he’d be the fastest front-seven NFL player in at least two decades. He has the broad jump of a first-round receiver (Justin Jefferson) and the vertical of an All-American defensive back (Antoine Winfield Jr.).
Yes, he’s still on the “raw” side but, if he can put it all together in 2020, he has All-America potential. He’s the most obvious breakout candidate on this roster.
Bret Pallotto: Sophomore defensive end Adisa Isaac
Redshirt senior Shaka Toney and redshirt sophomore Jayson Oweh are expected to start at defensive end for the Nittany Lions, but Isaac should at least have opportunities in a rotational role.
He tallied 14 tackles, 1.5 sacks and forced one fumble in the 11 games he played last season. Most of that production — 12 tackles, his 1.5 sacks and the forced fumble — came in five games. He tallied two tackles in the other six.
But the challenge with picking Isaac as a breakout player is not his stats or his role, but rather what his teammates have said in the past. Former defensive tackle Antonio Shelton last year labeled Isaac a “future first-round pick,” while Toney said Isaac could be “a top pick in the NFL.” So would it be surprising if Isaac had a big season for the Nittany Lions? Hardly.
Unreserved praise aside, a buzzword that often comes up when talking about Isaac is “coachable.” His development is ongoing, but a coachable attitude and experience as a freshman is something fans can likely look forward to.
Jon Sauber: Sophomore running back Devyn Ford
Yes, the Penn State running back room is crowded, but that doesn’t mean Ford can’t break out. The sophomore running back came to Penn State in the 2019 recruiting class alongside Noah Cain but didn’t see as much playing time as his classmate during their freshman years. Ford saw 52 carries compared to Cain’s 84, but he managed to show off his talent in his smaller workload. Ford ran for 294 yards and three touchdowns last season and is set to see more time with the departure of Ricky Slade for Old Dominion.
He’s an explosive athlete with suddenness and burst in his game that allows him to fire through holes and get into open space. Ford is a better athlete than his classmate, although he doesn’t have the same strength and power as Cain. Still, the 5-foot-11 192-pound sophomore can hold up enough to get his fair share of touches this season and prove he can lead the team in an every-down role down the road. Ford has a chance to prove he’ll contend for the starting job when redshirt junior Journey Brown’s Penn State career comes to an end and could take on a much larger role this year in new offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense because of his dynamic skill set.
Parth Upadhyaya: Freshman wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith
After the departure of receiver K.J. Hamler — a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, who accounted for 904 of Penn State’s 2,877 total receiving yards in 2019 — the Nittany Lions’ receiving corps needs help. Insert freshman KeAndre Lambert-Smith. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Lambert-Smith was a four-star recruit and ranked the 206th-best player in the Class of 2020 according to 247Sports, but he could have the immediate impact of a top-100 prospect because of Penn State’s need at his position.
Last season, star junior tight end Pat Freiermuth caught 43 passes for 507 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior receiver Jahan Dotson caught 27 passes for 488 yards and five touchdowns. With those two drawing plenty of attention from opposing secondaries this fall, Lambert-Smith should be left with plenty of room to operate. At Penn State’s virtual media days, sophomore running back Noah Cain said Lambert-Smith had been “nothing but great” and “always looking to get better” for the Nittany Lions this offseason. If Lambert-Smith can become a consistent No. 2 or No. 3 option for redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford to throw to in 2020, the Norfolk, Virginia, native will have certainly have met or exceeded expectations in Year 1.
