Parsons reportedly opts out; schedule set for Big Ten

Penn State All-American linebacker Micah Parsons, expected to be one of the top defensive players in college football, is opting out of his junior season to enter the 2021 NFL draft, according to a Yahoo Sports report late Tuesday night.

Parsons, who graduated from Harrisburg High School, has been projected to be taken in the first 15 picks of the draft next spring. He was slated to be part of a Nittany Lions group of linebackers that many considered to be among the best in the country.

He became the first sophomore to be named the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year last season. A finalist for the Butkus Award last year, he could join LaVar Arrington

(1999) and Paul Posluszny

(2005) as Penn State’s only winners if he does return and wins the award.

He also could become the Lions’ sixth two-time AllAmerica linebacker.

“I want to win it all,” Parsons said earlier this year. “I want to win a national championship first. I want to be a unanimous All-American. I want to win the Butkus. I want to join that group of the top players who came to Penn State. I want to put myself in history with some important people.”

He capped last season, when he was named a consensus All-American, with a spectacular performance in Penn State’s Cotton Bowl win over Memphis, making

14 tackles and two sacks, forcing two fumbles and hurrying quarterback Brady White into Garrett Taylor’s game-changing interception, which he returned for a touchdown.

Parsons has the size (6-3,

244), speed (4.4) and strength (school-record 375 pounds in power clean) to be the nation’s most dominant defensive player this season.

“There are a couple plays that he makes in every ballgame that the guys in the room will kind of get big-eyed and say, ‘Holy cow!’ “Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry said earlier this year.

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Penn State will open its

2020 season against Northwestern Sept. 5 at Beaver

Stadium as part of a Big Ten schedule that was revised because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Big Ten announced Wednesday that the season is scheduled to begin Sept. 3 with Illinois traveling to Ohio State and end Nov. 21, one week earlier than usual. Each team will play 10 games against conference opponents with two byes, which allows flexibility in case a team can’t play because of COVID-19.