At Penn State, Who's Got Next for LBU?

Tony Rojas and Kaveion Keys are two linebackers to watch for the Nittany Lions in 2024.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs recently made his best impression at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, while his former position mate Abdul Carter has switched to defensive end. With some openings in new defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s linebacking corps, team captain Dom DeLuca shouted out a handful of names he could see stepping up this year: sophomore Tony Rojas, redshirt sophomore Keon Wylie, redshirt freshman Ta’Mere Robinson and redshirt freshman Kaveion Keys.

“All those young guys are stepping up, and they're having a great winter right now," DeLuca said. "They're working really hard in winter workouts, working hard in the weight room. I'm excited for what this spring has for them.”

Robinson and Keys redshirted in 2023, while Wylie began to see some late playing time after redshirting in 2022. Rojas, though, is the name that should stick out most with this group. He burned his redshirt last season, playing in all 13 games, with 14 tackles on mostly special teams snaps. But Rojas received buzz virtually as soon as he got to campus as an early enrollee last January. He arrived weighing 190 pounds before skyrocketing to 220 pounds, his playing weight in the fall.

Fueled in large part by frequent trips to Chipotle, Rojas is up to 230-235 pounds and hopes to stay there while maintaining his speed. His hype is still growing, as strength coach Chuck Losey gave him a glowing review during the team's recent max-out lifting session.

“Tony is a guy who we talked about, ... but his performance numbers and metrics, they just keep climbing and they keep climbing with the weight gain,” Losey said at the Lasch Football Building. “A lot of times, guys get on camp so they put 20 pounds on, it's at a detriment of something, usually their movement. Not Tony. Tony's movement has been right there, trending positive with his body composition.”

Max Ralph/AllPennState

The Fairfax, Virginia, native delivered his breakout moment in the fourth quarter at Maryland. Against mostly Terrapin starters, Rojas forced a fumble by quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and intercepted the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer on consecutive series. That moment boosted his confidence, and now that he’s angling for a bigger role, Rojas has leaned on players like Jacobs for advice on the rest of the gig.

“I feel like Curt and [others] just put me in good spirits. The leadership they had made me the person I am now, more of a leader and more vocal,” Rojas said. “And LBU itself is really just a standard, and you can't really go anything below.”

Rojas, who could be in play at all three linebacker spots this fall, had a close relationship with former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz but said there was little consideration for following Diaz to Duke. He has focused this offseason toward maintaining his body, man coverage and blitzing. Rojas was also a prolific running back at Fairfax High School, having racked up regional offensive player of the year honors.

Some teams recruited Rojas to play running back, and he has joked with position coach Ja’Juan Seider about getting some snaps. Though Rojas will stay on defense, his offensive background brings benefits.

“I feel like that made me smarter and less hesitant. If I'm a back, and I see green grass, then I'm gonna go,” Rojas said. “If I see too many linemen, I feel like I can go to the right. I can scrape to the right, knowing that there's gonna be green grass there and that's what the backs gonna really end up.”

Rojas received an early shoutout from Losey last October for his prowess in the weight room. That was on display as Rojas burned his redshirt. Losey also shouted out Keys, though, who was less visible as he spent the year on the developmental squad. After committing to North Carolina in high school, Keys flipped to Penn State late in a whirlwind process. He turned his redshirt year into a pair of team-issued honors in 2023, developmental squad special teams player of the year and co-developmental squad defensive player of the year.

“It helps you out a lot," he said. "It shows you sometimes your time just is not here. I was a late bloomer at my high school, too. I'm not trying to say that's what I'm gonna be here, but at the same time, it just shows the values of [learning from] the No. 1 defense in the country.”

Keys, who also ran track in high school, said his speed is a differentiator as he fights for snaps at weakside linebacker. His speed was a sticking point when Penn State recruited him, and he also gets to show it off this year with Allen, who recruited Keys while coaching at Indiana.

“He brings a lot of passion, a lot of heart and a lot of energy," Keys said of his new defensive coordinator. "He brings it every day. He's the same guy every day. He's going to talk to you, gonna fire you up, making sure you're doing right in the classroom. He just holds you accountable and teaches you life lessons for the rest of your life.”

Rojas and Keys also have a clearly close relationship, as Keys credited the former for often helping him on the field, from pointing out an incorrect step or a false step to correcting an incorrect gap fill. The two were chatting together for a moment away from most of the team during Thursday’s max-out session.

“Tony can do everything, covering to blitzing,” Keys said. “His IQ, he's a genius out there on the field. I learned a lot of stuff from him.”

“I don't know. I feel like we're all smart. I might teach him, since he came later than me, some little things,” Rojas rebutted with a laugh. “But we're both smart. I feel like he'll be a key player for us this year. He's a genius, too.”

Jacobs and Carter were top-four tacklers on the team over the past two seasons while providing significant pass-rush ability. Eyes now turn to a group of young names to fill those outside linebacker spots.

"Their way to understand the defense so fast and just picking up certain techniques from the offense,” DeLuca said on what stands out most about the group. “They're always hungry to learn. They always want to work. They always want to get better, and I love that about them. They're living up to the linebacker standard.”

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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.