Penn State football’s Marcus Neal Jr. has switched from safety to linebacker, Matt Campbell announced Tuesday.

“Gave ourselves the bye week to be able to get full time there, and I think Marcus is a guy that’s got the ability to help us as well,” Campbell said.

Neal’s snap count at safety has steadily gone down since the Northwestern game. He didn’t see the field at all against USC and only received 11 snaps against Michigan before the bye week.

Caleb Bacon said Neal worked with the linebackers in specific practice drills before the Michigan game, but nothing substantial enough to warrant a full-time position change. Neal is now set to make the move, which Campbell and other players said makes sense with his play style.

“He’s done a great job so far in the short time that he’s been at linebacker. We’re really excited just because it brings another guy that we trust in the room. He’s played a lot of football,” linebacker Kooper Ebel said Tuesday. “He fits the mold of linebacker because he’s smart, he plays fast. You got to think fast at linebacker … He’s violent.”

It was also a much-needed move to boost the increasingly thin unit. Linebacker Alex Tatsch went down with a season-ending injury before Week 7. Cam Smith is also still inching back to the field after his own injury. He practiced throughout the bye week.

Either way, Neal is a welcome sight for Tony Rojas, Ebel, and Co.

“His [Neal] physicality allows him to play in the middle, but he’s also got the speed and ability and the coverage ability to be able to play on the perimeter a little bit as well,” Campbell said. “We’re excited about that move. Think it’ll be his best, and [we] didn’t want to do it until we had time to really teach it. It’s been really positive for us.”