Keystone Players: The 5 Most Crucial Penn State Nittany Lions for 2025 | BWI Live

It’s no secret that the Penn State football team is loaded for the upcoming season. Several high-profile players chose to return for their senior seasons, seeking the chance to win a national title and enhance their draft stock. But which players on the team are absolutely critical to the team’s success this year? We’re naming the team’s “Keystone Players” on which the season’s hopes hinge. We’ll also preview the upcoming season by playing Buy or Sell and answering your questions in the BWI Mailbag!
Join the BWI Live Show today at 10 a.m. on YouTube or catch the replay anytime. You can also catch the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Penn State news
We’ll start the show with a quick Penn State football news segment. The new cover for College Football ’26 was released this week, and the team is featured on the cover. We’ll show you the cover art featuring Nick Singleton and Penn State head coach James Franklin and discuss it.
In more real-world news, The Athletic put out kickoff predictions for the first three games of the 2025 season. We’ll discuss the potential impact of those games on the team’s opening schedule and exposure against Nevada, FIU, and Villanova.
Top 10
- 1New
Top 25 College QBs
Ranking best '25 signal callers
- 2
Top 25 Defensive Lines
Ranking the best for 2025
- 3
Big Ten Football
Predicting 1st loss for each team
- 4Hot
College Football Playoff
Ranking Top 32 teams for 2025
- 5Trending
Tim Brando
Ranks Top 15 CFB teams for 2025
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Buy or Sell
Will Zakee Wheatly lead the Penn State defense in tackles? Can Singleton and teammate Kaytron Allen combine for over 2,500 rushing yards? We’re playing Buy or Sell on today’s show to discuss what we expect from the team’s offensive and defensive output this year. We’ll highlight areas where we believe the team will produce significant statistical outputs and others where we anticipate the team may fall behind.
Keystone Players: Penn State defense
Football is a game built on the collective efforts of 11 individuals working together. Yet, not every job or position on the field is as critical as the next. So, we’re not asking which players are the best or will put out the most stats this coming year; we’re discussing which players are the most irreplaceable on the team. Today, we’ll outline the Keystone players on defense, without whom the team’s defensive plan may fall apart.
BWI Mailbag
Finally, we open the show’s last segment to you! Join us for the BWI Mailbag by asking your questions in the live chat throughout the show. We’ll highlight the best ones during the Mailbag and answer your questions about Penn State Football. Join us at 10 a.m. to be part of the show!