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Bringing the heat! Penn State’s Luketa obliterates Minnesota’s Faalele during Senior Bowl practice

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Is it possible for one player’s stock to soar after just one play? If it is, then Penn State’s Jesse Luketa might be in really good shape after he plowed over one of the biggest offensive linemen from the 2021 college football season.

During Wednesday’s Senior Bowl practice, Luketa bulldozed Minnesota’s Daniel Faalele, who stands 6-foot-9 and weighs 380 pounds. The former Nittany Lion made it look pretty easy, too.

The video of Luketa trucking Faalele was going viral on social media. Here’s the hit:

That will get some attention from the scouts.

Luketa is using the Senior Bowl to help grow his draft stock after his career at Penn State has come to a close. It appears he’s off to a pretty good start down in Mobile.

Luketa showed off his versatility during the 2021 season, playing both defensive end and linebacker for the Nittany Lions. He was extremely productive while on the field, collecting 61 tackles, including 8.5 for loss. He was also responsible for 5 quarterback hurries and an interception.

Over the course of his career in Happy Valley — most of which was spent at the linebacker position — Luketa totaled 151 stops with 11.5 for loss. He also had 6 pass break-ups.

Heading into the Senior Bowl, Luketa wasn’t a name on a ton of people’s radars. That might change after this video.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB