James Franklin: A Penn State football transfer addition is set to ‘compete for a starting job’

As the grueling Big Ten schedule passes by, each team in the conference has to evaluate depth at each position. But one of the most important positions for depth to be built for the Penn State football team is defensive tackle. That’s an area where the Nittany Lions have struggled in the past, but there’s a player in his second year with the program who could be a depth difference maker. James Franklin has recently praised former Old Dominion DT Alonzo Ford for his progress in fall camp.

The Penn State football faithful expected to see Alonzo Ford on the field in 2023. Unfortunately, his season never got started due to an injury suffered last summer. But now, he’s back and gearing up to be a contributor for the Nittany Lions this fall. Zane Durant, Dvon Ellies, and Coziah Izzard make up the core rotation, but James Franklin believes Ford could be thrown into the mix as well.

“He’s been a real pleasant surprise, he really has,” Franklin said about Alonzo Ford. “Very good against the run. I think as he continues to gain confidence and get his body back from that amount of time off with his injury, I think he’ll get better and better and better in the pass game.

“We were excited about hopefully what he would have been able to do last year, but we hadn’t really had a chance to see him a whole lot. So, he’s been a nice, pleasant surprise for depth inside. And I think as he continues to get back into football shape, I think he could be competing for a starting job.”

What has Ford accomplished on the field?

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes injuries make people forget how impactful a player was before. Alonzo Ford’s first year of college football was canceled due to COVID-19. So, in 2021 he took the field with the Old Dominion Monarchs. During the 2021 season playing for former Penn State football OC Ricky Rhane, Ford started in all 13 games.

He accounted for 38 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and .5 sacks. Then, during the 2022 season, he ramped up his production. He had 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. While he had fewer tackles, his disruptive plays increased on the gridiron.

Ford eventually entered the transfer portal in the spring of 2023. He committed to Penn State on May 3 and enrolled on June 12. Ford now looks to take the lessons he learned from last season and his recovery and apply them to his skill set on the field.

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