All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at sophomore defensive end Amin Vanover.
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 266 pounds
Hometown: Newark, New Jersey
Before Penn State: Vanover lettered three years at St. Joseph’s Regional High School, twice being named all-state.
Vanover made his mark as a pass rusher, picking up eight sacks as a sophomore, eight more as a junior and 8.5 in his senior season.
Rivals rated Vanover as a four-star recruit. 247Sports and ESPN each had him as a three-star.
Both Rivals and New Jersey had him as the No. 9 player in New Jersey from his class. Vanover committed to Penn State in June of 2019.
At Penn State
2020: Vanover played in two of Penn State’s nine games in a pandemic-shortened season, finishing the season with three tackles.
2021: Vanover played in six of Penn State’s 13 games, finishing the year with four tackles and a tackle for loss. He made three of those tackles in the Outback Bowl against Arkansas, where he received increased playing time due to ends Arnold Ebiketie and Jesse Luketa opting out of the game.
Where he stands: Penn State is healthy at defensive end.
Nick Tarburton is a returning starter, Adisa Isaac is back form injury and Chop Robinson is a touted transfer from the University of Maryland. Penn State fans are also excited to see Dani Dennis-Sutton, a five-star Class of 2022 signee.
All of this means Vanover will have a hard time making a statement on Penn State’s line this season if everybody stays healthy.
But there are question marks with Penn State’s defensive line as well. Isaac hasn’t played since 2020, Robinson only has one year of experience under his belt and Dennis-Sutton hasn’t played a college game yet.
Vanover also spent plenty of time at defensive tackle last season, especially after PJ Mustipher went down with a season-ending injury in early October. So he has versatility as well, which is an asset for somebody trying to crack the lineup.
A quote about Vanover: “Amin has always been freakishly athletic,” Vanover’s high school defensive coordinator, Danny Marangi, told Rivals.com in July of 2020. “He doesn’t look like he’s someone that loves in the weight room, but he’s also taken guys and lifted them right off the ground. He’s a lot stronger than people think.”
