All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at redshirt freshman linebacker Jamari Buddin
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 218 pounds
Hometown: Ypsilanti, Michigan
Before Penn State: Buddin helped his team to three district championships and a combined 37-4 record over his four seasons at Belleville High School.
In 2020, Belleville finished a perfect 9-0, and Buddin ended the season with 43 tackles, eight tackles for loss and two sacks.
Buddin was a three-star recruit according to 247Sports’ composite ratings, and committed to Penn State in July of 2020.
2021: Like most of Penn State’s true freshmen, Buddin redshirted his first college season.
He did play in four games, ending the season with four total tackles, and also contributed on special teams.
Where he stands: Buddin is unproven at the college level, but so is most of Penn State’s linebacking corps.
Aside from Curtis Jacobs, none of Penn State’s linebackers have been regular starters at the position in college.
In Manny Diaz’s defense, Jonathan Sutherland will be the “striker,” a linebacker-hybrid safety that coordinator Manny Diaz installs in his defenses.
This gives Buddin and true freshman Abdul Carter added opportunity for playing time at the WILL linebacker position.
Considering Penn State’s unproven position group and Diaz’s goal to play 22 guys by the end of the first quarter, Buddin should see a good deal of playing time in year two.
A quote about Buddin: “Jamari’s a passionate, aggressive and explosive football player,” Buddin’s high school coach, Jermain Crowell, said before Buddin came to Penn State in 2021. “He can be real calm, cool and collected off the field, but on the field he’s a disruptor and a playmaker.
”When the lights come on is when he plays his best.”
