Penn State linebacker Koa Farmer will be thrust into a much larger role next season with the departure of longtime stalwart Jason Cabinda.

Farmer will not only see increased minutes on the field, but he is also tasked with taking a talented-but-young crop of linebackers under his wing and becoming more of a leader for Brent Pry’s defense. Players like blue-chip prospect Micah Parsons and Jesse Luketa have stepped into camp and performed well, all under the watchful eye of No. 7.

In years past, Farmer watched as players like Jason Cabinda, Marcus Allen, and Grant Haley led by example on the defensive side of the ball. It’s now Farmer’s turn to take on that leadership role and be more vocal with his teammates.

“I need to be more of a leader,” Farmer said Wednesday. “We had Jason, Marcus, and Grant — they were probably the leaders of our defense last year. Those guys are done, so now it’s my turn. Being more vocal, getting the energy up at practice, I can’t keep to myself at practice.”

Farmer doesn’t want to limit his leadership to just the defensive side of the ball at practice. As he becomes more vocal, he hopes to get the offense more involved in practice by making plays and allowing Ricky Rahne’s unit to be more competitive as practices progresses.

The senior had high praise for the three early enrollees at his position, including Parsons, Luketa, and Nick Tarburton — a four-star prospect himself.

“So Nick is very physical, smart too,” Farmer said. “Jesse is very smart. Micah is just a freak — he’s an animal. He’s 242 [pounds] and he can run pretty fast. He runs fast for someone his size, especially because played D-end, but he looks very good at linebacker.”

Overall, Farmer thinks that the three rookies are well ahead of the typical learning curve that other linebackers have had. He praised all three players’ intelligence and how well they have picked up the defensive scheme, and has also seen improvement in all three every single day.

Luketa — one of a select few Canadians to ever don the blue and white — has exhibited some of the leadership qualities that Jason Cabinda showcased in the past. Farmer even thinks that the new No. 40 even looks like his predecessor, who is off to the NFL and could have his name called at the 2018 NFL Draft in Arlington, TX.

“Jesse looks smack like Jason in pads,” he said. “You can tell he has that leadership quality, that ‘commander-of-the-defense,’ the vocal competitiveness of him, you can definitely tell that’s in his nature.”

The new-look group of linebackers will get its first glimpse of Beaver Stadium on April 21 during Penn State’s annual Blue-White spring game, which kicks off at 2 p.m. that Saturday.