Penn State became the only program in America to have four defensive ends drafted in the last three years.
Every university has its NFL Draft calling card. Ohio State is known for its wide receivers, Iowa is known for its tight ends, USC is known for its running backs, and the list goes on and on.
This weekend, Penn State became known exclusively for their defensive ends.
With the Packers' selection of defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton in the 2026 fourth round, Penn State became the only program in the last three years to have four defensive ends selected.
The players that fit into this category are Chop Robinson, who was a 2024 first-round selection of the Miami Dolphins, Adisa Isaac, who was selected in 2024's third round by Baltimore, Abdul Carter, who was the third overall pick by the Giants, and then Dennis-Sutton, who went to the Green Bay Packers.
While this is a very specific set of criteria, the fact does remain that Penn State has been pumping out very high-quality defensive linemen over the past couple of years. This group adds to an already stellar group that includes Micah Parsons, among others.
Each of these players came from the prior Penn State regime that was built with the defense being the foundation of the program.
Now, as Penn State turns its attention to the future, it must be able to maintain the great production that they have had on the defensive side of the ball in recent history.
There is no question at all that Matt Campbell is going to build his program in a much different way than James Franklin did, but Penn State has been great at this position forever, and they need to continue it.
Whether it is a geographical thing where they are just in a hotbed of defensive talent that wants to stay home, or that was the one magic touch that Franklin actually had. Whatever the reasoning was, it worked, and there has been consistent success in producing high-quality players at these positions.
If maintaining the defensive end position is a goal for this program, elevating some of the offensive positions needs to be one of the main priorities of the program, too. Specifically, the skills positions of wide receiver and running back.
At some point, if Penn State wants to compete with the likes of Ohio State and Oregon in the Big Ten, then it will have to match them from a skill and talent perspective. Until they do, they will continue to be the little brother in the conference.
The little brother that produces the best defensive ends in football.
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