“Penn State's Tom Allen is looking for depth at the linebacker position it needs”.

Penn State's Tom Allen led a group that struggled in his first home game as the program's defensive coordinator. Photo by Paul Burdick | For StateCollege.com

Tom Allen was presented with a gift in his first season as Penn State's defensive coordinator. His unit is stacked with future NFL talent, from likely first-round defensive pick Abdul Carter to a group of safeties that have established themselves as one of the best in the country, even though team captain Kevin Winston Jr. has a “long-term prospect.” “Pause pauses. Injury.

With this in mind, it's pretty obvious when a hand doesn't fit this prestigious glove. And surprisingly, the weak link in the Nittany Lions' defense is at the program's historically most dominant position: linebacker. While Kobe King and Tony Rojas have mostly done their jobs, it's the third starting linebacker spot that poses the biggest concern.

Dominic DeLuca and Tyler Elsdon, who have split snaps over the past two weeks, have not played at the same level as the rest of the defense. It might be time for Allen to promote alternative options.

“I feel like the group has done well as a group but we need more depth. We need more people stepping up, more people making plays, more people we can rotate in there who are able to play at a high level without anything changing. To me, that’s the challenge for us and that’s definitely the focus at the moment.”

DeLuca has played alongside King and Rojas almost exclusively this season, except for one game in which he missed due to injury. Since his return against UCLA on October 5, DeLuca has seen limited action and has struggled to capitalize on the opportunities presented to him. So does Elsdon, an undersized veteran who is the team's second-lowest rated defensive player (minimum 12 snaps) according to Pro Football Focus.

The position's lack of depth hasn't helped Allen in his search for an immediate replacement. Kaveion Keys' preseason exit from the program didn't help, nor did an offseason injury to rising prospect Keon Wylie, who has yet to appear in a game this season. James Franklin said after practice Wednesday that he is “I hope” Wylie returns sometime this year.

That puts the spotlight on three young linebackers — DaKaari Nelson, Ta'Mere Robinson and true freshman Anthony Speca — who have been asked to accelerate their development. It should be noted that Speca, who was outstanding in his debut against Kent State, can play a maximum of three more regular season games and still retain his freshman redshirt.

“We’re trying to really emphasize a lot of reps this week; “We’ve actually been doing that the last few weeks,” Allen said. “We need to get some younger guys to step up, improve their game and create the depth we know we need to have for the second half of the regular season and the postseason.”

Here's more from Allen's media availability on Wednesday.

Moving into the box feels “so much better.”

After a narrow 34-27 win over Bowling Green on Sept. 7, Franklin knew things had to change on defense. One of the first big moves he made was convincing Allen to referee the game from the dugout instead of the field, where he had coached in games for the past 15 seasons.

Allen also assigned helmet communications duties to analyst Dan Connor, who has since operated the microphone connected to King's helmet. Allen said the Nittany Lions had some issues with the microphones and communications against West Virginia and the Falcons, and passing it on to Connor would give him “one less thing” to think about.

Allen is still the one calling the plays and said he feels like doing so from the box puts him in “the best position to have the best opportunity to give our guys the best call possible.”

“I can honestly tell you that what I see makes me feel a lot better,” Allen said. “Even if you have the iPad on the sideline, it's not quite the same as seeing it from above and the flow of the game and the substitutions and even just the pace of the quarterback.”

Lane is closer to playing a big role

Winston entered the season as a potential first-round NFL draft pick, so his “long-term” injury suffered against Bowling Green was obviously a major blow to Penn State's defense and a safety unit already over-performing had playing strength.

Jaylen Reed, who was supposed to play nickel corner, was moved back to safety, where he hasn't missed a snap in the last two weeks. The ultimate goal is to get true freshman Dejuan Lane — who played in all six games — up to speed quickly enough so he can start at safety alongside Zakee Wheatley and move Allen Reed back to the top spot.

“(Lane) is getting closer and closer to being ready to play a high number of snaps,” Allen said. “This week the focus has been on him getting more and more reps and continuing to develop and stuff like that. You think about all three of these guys and think about the depth. It's no different at linebacker. We have some good young players, but they have to be brought along in a very efficient way.”

Carter is making “progress” at DE.

Carter's move from linebacker to defensive end was one of the most notable moves of the offseason. Although it took some time to find his rhythm, Carter has broken out over the last four games, recording four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss in that time.

His success didn't just come from defense. Carter has also played some linebacker and has been used as a spy for the quarterback, two roles. Allen hopes his star pass rusher can continue to play as the season progresses.

“I just think he causes offense when you need to know where he stands. We don't want them to know where he will be positioned on the front lines. He’ll even play linebacker and just continue to develop those things,” Allen said. “I think he’s making really good progress. He has to continue to allow us to be creative with him and put him in a position to make plays.”