Versatility is a term often thrown around too loosely in football. But truthfully, it matters.

If a receiver is confined to one position on the line of scrimmage, it makes it tremendously easier to roll coverage toward him and minimize his downfield leverage.

Conversely, if an off-the-ball linebacker can come down to the line of scrimmage and rush the passer or fit into run gaps, that forces the offense to double-check its protections on every snap, which can be really distracting.

Matt Campbell and his staff are well aware of the value of that multiplicity, and it shows in how they are deploying their players heading into summer training camp.

“You’ve heard me talk about multiplicity pieces. You have Zion [Tracy], Marcus [Neal Jr.], even Tony
[Rojas] has some of that multiplicity to do so many different things,” said Campbell during Friday’s media availability.

Two of those names are returners, which is intriguing when you think about how quickly Campbell and his staff evaluated their roster upon arrival and laid out plans for players like Tracy and Rojas, who were typically deployed in only one way during past seasons.

Tracy, in particular, has been talked about as a cornerback and a safety dating back to spring ball.

“I think Zion can be one of the best corners in the country. I think he’d be one of the best safeties in the country. When you have a chess piece like Zion, it gives you the ability to start to navigate the rest of the defensive structure around him,” said Campbell back in March.

A newer name to that multiplicity mix is redshirt senior Caleb Bacon, who is listed as a linebacker on Penn State’s roster but has worked exclusively along the defensive line throughout the first week of camp.

“He’s a great edge player. He certainly has the ability to slide back and play Mike or Will linebacker,” said Campbell of Bacon. “He’s great in coverage, a smart football player. We felt like we gave him so many reps in at linebacker, we’d
be missing the boat not to start him off in fall camp on the edge.”

The Lake Mills, Iowa native had a breakout season for the Cyclones in 2023, racking up 60 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble.

In that season, Campbell says he played 50% of his snaps on the line of scrimmage, proving he has a natural feel for playing around it.

“I like being on the line, it kind of frees you up a little bit more,” said Bacon. “You’re not really thinking so much, but you know it’s been good working with the guys in the D line room with the edges and the tackles both. Really just exploring like new parts of the game.”

As the coaching staff challenges him through cross-training, Bacon says he’s found confidence in his skills as a linebacker that translate to playing down in the trenches.

“My hands and hand placement, it’s been just super natural. Coming from linebacker, that’s a big stress point for striking and, you know, disengaging blocks. So I think things like that in the run game, I’m super comfortable with, and at Iowa State when I walk down there, you know, I look forward to playing the run game and getting hands on offensive linemen and shedding blocks,” he said.

As far as his playing weight goes, Bacon is sitting at 246 pounds and doesn’t foresee adding mass to his frame to preserve his speed and explosiveness.

Change is uncomfortable, which is why folks may be questioning the decision to suddenly give Bacon such a hefty load of defensive line reps this close to the start of the season, but Penn State’s linebacker coach Tyson Veidt says it starts with a collective selfless mindset that prioritizes his players’ synergy above all else.

“You know, it’s not as if we’ve had anybody here in this defense for a very long period of time, right?” said Veidt. “So, as coaches and as players, we’re both working together to naturally do what’s best for our team, and we know we’ve got to play good defense, and we’re trying to figure out where guys are best suited.”

Former defensive Iowa State players are moving from a system where four linebackers were frequently on the field to one that deploys just two at times in defensive coordinator Anthony Lynn’s scheme.

In essence, moving Bacon down to the line of scrimmage, where he can maximize his strengths of shedding blockers, allows for the entire defensive unit to benefit and reinforces an important ideology: this staff will not be complacent in the development of their players, nor in the identity of their defense.