Film Study: What Does 2021 Inside Linebacker Commit Greg Penn III Bring to LSU Football?
LSU landed another talented defensive prospect with the addition of Greg Penn III from Maryland. Here’s a look at the talented prep prospect’s overall game.
One of the top inside linebackers in the country, Penn brings explosiveness and power to Baton Rouge. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound prospect now plays for tradition-rich Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, just outside Washington, D.C.
A powerful lower body allows Penn to be really good against inside running teams. He can take on a lineman, come off the block and run down a running back. Athletically, Penn presents what a modern team needs to play the run and the pass. A few comments about some of his attributes.
Besides stuffing the run, Penn’s best characteristic would be timing his blitzes. He’s fantastic at shooting a gap and creating a negative play in the backfield. It’s just natural to him. There are several clips of him doing this from his junior film.
What’s more intriguing, Penn does a fantastic job of tackling in space. That’s the name of the game with today’s college football. Linebackers that cannot tackle nifty slot wide receivers and running backs are linebackers that sit on the bench.
This first clip displays how much lateral quickness Penn provides, as well as how much effort he puts into chasing down a screen. If not for Penn, this play may have gone for a score.
Another open-field tackling opportunity. Penn dropped into coverage, stayed in his coverage area until the quarterback broke past the line of scrimmage, then came up to make the tackle.
Notice how Penn stayed low in a good hitting position. Too many linebackers come flying up and lose their balance when attempting to tackle an athlete in space. Penn played fundamental football here.
Additionally, he displayed his power. Penn’s upper legs and hips are already powerful. He won’t need to add much if any weight to play for LSU.
Finally, this last play shows how Penn once again drops into coverage, but this time he needed to tackle a wide receiver. Specifically, it’s a quick pass to a slot wide receiver, so time is of the essence. Let that player get a few steps and hit full speed, and look out. Penn made it over to the slot wide receiver quickly before dropping him to the turf.
He read the quarterback, quickly pivoted and ran to the football. Sounds simple, but it’s really not. Again, it cannot be stressed enough how paramount it is for linebackers to be able to cover in space.
Teams will absolutely pick on inside linebackers that struggle to cover the pass. This play showed Penn’s ability to quickly reach the intended wide receiver and drop him for a minimal gain. There’s extremely limited film of Penn in coverage, so this play is really important.
Penn is a really athletically gifted inside linebacker. He can absolutely play the run and he will chase down plays from behind. As a blitzer, he’s lights out. Great feel for timing the blitz. The only area that is at least somewhat unknown would be seeing Penn play in coverage. Need to see dozens of reps to know what he can do there, and his junior film simply does not provide that possibility.
Here’s a look at Penn’s junior highlights in full:
LSU landed a very talented player in Greg Penn. Look for him to make a contribution early in his career because he’s athletic, savvy and physically ready to play college football.
