Does this dude know what he’s talking about ever? He’s had some pretty bad takes it seems like.
Landon Tengwall?
- Thread starter Patterson825
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Honest question: why didn't you show your disagreement with Tengwall's assessment of Neal back when he tweeted that?
Respectfully, my point is that it very easy to criticize another person's assessment with 20/20 hindsight. Marcus Neal Jr. was one of ISU's few 4-star recruits out of high school (so he had something that evaluators saw as promising) and he did play well for ISU.
Not everyone does equally well after transfers. He's not playing for the same DC and it's not the same defense. Sometimes things don't perfectly translate. It still doesn't take away the fact that he was one of ISU's better performers on defense.
Not everyone does equally well after transfers. He's not playing for the same DC and it's not the same defense. Sometimes things don't perfectly translate. It still doesn't take away the fact that he was one of ISU's better performers on defense.
I like his YouTube podcasts he seems spot on his game analysis. Remember this past spring many had high expectations for the transfers coming in. Landon is also correct in that wiscy and Northwestern would at the most be mid-tier B12 teams this year. Other than OhowIhate and Indy the B10 is pretty mediocre this year.
Yep.
Neal went to Iowa State because after multiple recruiting visits to different schools, he voluntarily selected the Program he felt most comfortable with wrt the environment, defensive responsibilities, system, culture, expectations, and personnel. He came to Penn State for the money.
There’s an old saying, “Fat Cats Don’t Fight”. It’s hard to evaluate who will turn into a ”Fat Cat”, and who won’t. It’s also possible it takes him longer than others to adjust to his new defensive responsibilities. If you have to ”think” too much on the field, you are going to play slow. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt by saying he may just be “thinking” too much, because he definitely appears to be playing slow.
Landon did say he was a liability in coverage.
According to this he is the highest paid in the secondary.
Penn State 2026 Roster NIL Valuation — $26.7M | The NIL Standard Football
According to this he is the highest paid in the secondary.
Penn State 2026 Roster NIL Valuation — $26.7M | The NIL Standard Football
Tengwall's breakdowns of game tape are incisive and informative. As a D1 player he has insight most have never experienced. As for his opinions?
- under the prior regime practices and pre game walk throughs were too long and exhausting. The new staff's short practices will lead to less fatigue and better in game performance!
- DC is taking input from players which prior DC did not. This will make players feel invested and lead to better performance!
These are two of many fluff pieces Tengwall served up on the road to Armageddon.
He has now 180ed and "goes off" on his post game show. So, IMO if you stick to his X and O breakdowns, you will likely learn something. His opinions are hit and miss and like most of the cottage industries that depend on PSU football, you must consider the motivations.
He could do a. (where Landon was right, where Landon was wrong) like Cowherd lol.
He is wrong at times but still interesting.
Agreed. In his defense, he has stated several times that he was wrong in evaluating the talent on this team. It's all good if the consumer is intelligent and understands that he's running a business. Being aware of the direction the wind is blowing is the key to survival.
How accurate is this info? Makes no sense that the second highest paid player on the team is a DE who can't rush the passer, or that Peoples came here to make less than a backup WR who's never seen the field. On the other hand, if it IS accurate, A) someone is a horrible talent evaluator wrt to pay level, and B) there are going to be some bad feelings in the locker room if a producing DB is making less than a backup kicker.
Please don’t bring him into this thread.
He wasn't very good at ISU either.
ISU had another guy at S - forget his name - who WAS quite good, but he went to USC when Campbell bailed. THAT was the guy to get.
Even the Cooper kid (#4) who also came to PSU was a better DB than Neal (when he - Cooper - wasn't on the injured list - which was a lot). And Cooper isn't "all that" (was way over-hyped" due to the pub he got as a freshman(?) when he was playing a "robber"/"rover" position - whatever they called it there) and had a bunch of picks (like maybe 5 or 6 - anyway,quite a few). But he also is not a stud in coverage (and why he was moved to S at PSU) nor particularly strong vs the run.
And what he did last year at ISU doesn’t mean a damn thing this year.
USC played out safeties and the LB Ebel all night. It might have been better to redirect them from their normal coverage and tackling responsibilities to rushing together or alternately.
This is laughable and further illustrates the point Tengwall is out of his mind. Northwestern destroyed a mid tier Big XII team for starters
He also thought Becht was the best PSU QB since Collins. That didn't age well either.
Probably because many of us have not watched ISU football and depend on those that did to have accurate evaluations.
Yikes if true. Geez I remember all the Liam Clifford angst over what some even Thought he was being paid.
Agreed, we all need to keep in mind that he's playing in a different system, and from what we have seen so far, that system might have some serious deficiencies.
Honestly, I dated some girls I thought were winners, but turned out to be drug abusing whores. Willing to give him some grace here.
A reasonable analysis at the stats show that he was within the top two best defenders from their 2025 defense. Landon was right to be excited to get him. Clearly, though, he has not achieved at PSU on the same level.
The OP was addressing a eval tweet about the kid from before this season based on what he did last season. Point still stands that it’s easy for anyone to sit and judge in the hindsight of the current season.
I already provided reasons for how performance may not always match evals of transfers. Show me a person in the industry who always nails every player projection based on evaluations of previous player performances. If you can, I assure you that person won’t be in the industry very long because that person will be extremely coveted by every high spending football program in the country.
Tengwall does a pretty good job. And, more importantly, hopefully we can all hope that Marcus Neal Jr. turns things around.
LOL
A reasonable "watching him f'ing play football" showed that he was far from anything special. Especially in the pass game.
Not then, not now. Obviously.
But, sure. OK.
Neal was 3rd Team All-Big 12...some obviously saw something in his play last season.
Common sense would dictate that, The fact that he's still employed is the real headline.
I remember when Kraft was a hero here. He was gonna bring Marcus Freeman LOL and he is really inspiring with his profanity .....which received kudos as well. He didn't deliver Freeman and he didn't deliver the promised NIL money in 7/25. At least he will have left PSU football better than he found it?
Tengwall is no us, OBVIOUSLY. 
, but he does O.K. analyzing football.
, but he does O.K. analyzing football.If they fire Kraft this is how it;s going to look to the rest of the college landscape.
1. They shouldn't have fired Franklin.
2. The coaching search was botched, and they are unhappy with the hire of Campbell.
Exactly. Which is why they won't. ADs, especially ones in the midst of the biggest project they will ever undertake, don't go down with three football losses. He surely has been told that his top priority is to bring this construction project in on time and on budget. Along the way, he has to fundraise to pay for all of it, and NIL, etc. That is what he will be judged on. If that is a failure, he will be assigned the blame and get canned, but he'll have at least until the end of next season. That also gives cover to the new AD to possibly pick a new football coach if the wheels continue to fall off.
And fall off they did. Up until 17-0 vs. Wisconsin, we were riding high. Certain things were lacking, like the run game and QB pressure, but we thought those would fall into place. They didn't. But most believed in what they saw, evidenced by a top 15 ranking. Wisconsin, Northwestern, and USC have exactly three losses total. To Notre Dame (top 5), Indiana, (top 5), and Oregon (top 5 talent at least). They are not bad teams. That doesn't bother me as much as the simple coaching moves MC has failed to execute that you would expect a coach of his experience to easily execute. He's fully baked in his philosophy at this point, so that probably stays the same, which is troubling. Coupled with the fact that we are a middle of the pack NIL spender, I don't see this turning around anytime soon.
I saw that but don't really buy it, at least not yet. Besides an AD would have to be a fool to come in the current environment of the stadium renovation and the team crashing.
I do give Landon credit for owning his pre-season picks. I tend to think he's a little hyperbolic. He's also learning the podcast clicks game.
I do like the show because I like Chris B, I think he's my long lost younger brother, and Mike the Mailman. Landon does offer some interesting insight and perspectives. The little dbag at the end, Horner, was probably beat up a lot as a child and student. He probably deserved it.
I just cant see an AD worth anything that would come into the current environment at PSU, unless they are a masochist with a God complex.
Although I do find it really funny now that the BWI board has expertise in picking college AD's, I mean they did so well manifesting Campbell.
Amazing how toxic Penn state has becomeI just cant see an AD worth anything that would come into the current environment at PSU, unless they are a masochist with a God complex.
Although I do find it really funny now that the BWI board has expertise in picking college AD's, I mean they did so well manifesting Campbell.
They won't fire him because of how it would look. Read what Electric Lion posted.
We are stuck with Kraft and Campbell for 3 or 4 years.
It would be better to invest big money into obtaining players than fire Kraft and paying his buy out, and, or firing Campbell and paying his buyout. Then just see how things are in a few years when the buyouts are lower,.
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