STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Earlier today, one of the rising defensive backs on Manny Diaz’s defense had a chance to speak with members of the media. There, rising junior safety Jaylen Reed claimed the he and Penn State football as a whole are having a great spring session thus far, leading up to the Blue-White game on April 15th.
Jaylen Reed breaks down Penn State football’s spring ball sessions thus far
On Tuesday afternoon, following sophomore running back Nick Singleton’s time with the media, Jaylen Reed was able to comment on his spring thus far, and Penn State’s development as a whole. Reed — who is a former four-star recruit and top 10 player in Michigan according to 247 Sports — says that Manny Diaz and the Nittany Lions are having themselves a great spring session to this point.
“Personally I feel like it has been a great spring so far,” Reed told the media on Tuesday. “[I am] just learning and definitely stepping into a bigger role now … going into my third year now with more experience under my belt, and then overall as a team I think we are looking pretty good — we just gotta keep going every day.”
Turnovers are still key in the Nittany Lions’ defensive scheme
The Manny Diaz defensive scheme emphasizes takeaways more than anything — a season ago this was evident as the Penn State football team became one of the best defenses in the country at forcing turnovers. So far during spring ball, Jaylen Reed says that once again the Nittany Lions have been meeting this expectation.
“I think there is a tie right now,” Reed said on who has created the most turnovers thus far. “So far this spring with turnovers [we have] been good … we have been causing turnovers like we should, and Manny [Diaz] has been putting us in a great position to make plays this spring.”
Under the team’s second-year defensive coordinator, the Penn State football defense will look to further improve, force turnovers, and create even more big plays as the Nittany Lions chase a Big Ten title and more this fall.
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