Penn State Top 10 Players for 2021: Full Voter Breakdown

As you are likely well aware, we just wrapped up our annual preseason top 10 players countdown ahead of the upcoming season. While Jahan Dotson was profiled yesterday as the obvious top selection, we wanted to give some insight on the full voting results.

We had 10 staff members submit their top 10 lists, with 10 points awarded for a #1 vote, nine points for a #2 vote, and so on. Here are the full voting results:

1. WR Jahan Dotson - 100

2. OT Rasheed Walker - 75

3. LB Brandon Smith - 64

4. WR Parker Washington - 60

5. S Jaquan Brisker - 56

6. RB Noah Cain - 50

7. CB Tariq Castro-Fields - 34

8. DT PJ Mustipher - 30

9. RB Keyvone Lee - 26

10. DE Adissa Issac - 11

11. CB Joey Porter Jr. - 10

11. QB Sean Clifford - 10

13. CB Keaton Ellis - 7

14. TE Brenton Strange - 5

14. DE Arnold Ebiketie - 5

16. DE Nick Tarburton - 3

17. P/K/KS Jordan Stout - 2

18. S Jy’Ayir Brown - 1

18. OT Caeden Wallace - 1

Some interesting tidbits from the results:

-19 total players received votes

-Of the 19, 10 defensive players were included, with eight on offense and one specialist

-Jahan Dotson was ranked #1 on all 10 ballots. Dotson will technically be the first returning player to receive this honor. Micah Parsons was a unanimous #1 preseason pick heading into 2020, but opted out of the season. Surprisingly, Saquon Barkley was not a unanimous selection during his time at Penn State.

-The staff is very split on Brisker. His votes were between #2 and #9, and was left off of one ballot completely.

-Dotson, Washington, Smith and Walker were the only four players to be included on every ballot.

-Clifford just missed the top 10 despite entering his third season as the starting quarterback. Clifford and Joey Porter Jr. each missed the top 10 by one point.

-As usual, Cari was the only one to give any love to the specialists.

-Two incoming transfers (Ebiketie and Brown) received votes.