Koa Farmer is Officially a Linebacker

Koa Farmer's position on the team was called into question during the team photo section, as he appeared alongside the rest of the Nittany Lionbackers. Well today, it has been announced that Farmer has officially had his position distinction changed to linebacker from safety. As reported by the BlueWhite Illustrated staff, the change isn't necessarily much of a surprise. It was made clear upon his arrival in Happy Valley that Farmer was the ideal candidate to play the star role for Bob Shoop's defense, and he began training for the position.

The timing of the change being made official is probably due to various reasons. The linebacker depth isn't nearly as deep as the secondary depth, so giving Farmer extra reps at the traditional linebacker spots could allow for the coaches to more confidently get Farmer into the game earlier and more often. As BWI notes, when the news broke that Troy Apke was being converted into a safety, they were told that Farmer was eventually going to become more of a traditional linebacker.

The short term impacts of this move are quite simple. It's clear that the staff's concerns about the linebacking depth are very real, and that they are interested in getting Farmer on the field as quickly as possible. Thinking more about the long term, this does nothing to change the plans to have Farmer fill the star role for a long time. The 6'1" 208 pound Californian has ideal size to fulfill that plan, and we can still look forward to him doing so. For now though, he will join Troy Reeder and Jason Cabinda as the freshmen linebackers looking to take the B1G by storm for the Nittany Lions.