Keaton Ellis

Senior safety for Penn State. 2023: 1 interception, 17 tackles.

S · Penn State · Sr. · #2

5′11″ · 192 lb · State College, PA

CFB Index 22 · #487 of 538 safetiesMedium confidencePenn State 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

CB recruit

No. 301 nationally · Signed with Penn State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 safety for Penn State. 2023: 1 interception, 17 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Penn State in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Penn State, 87 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

201910 games

Signed with Penn State4-star out of State College Area

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#301 national

CFB

College

Penn State

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

1 coach

2019–2023

James Franklin

Penn State

Played his entire career under James Franklin.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under James Franklin — 43-18 over that span.

2019Penn State11-2HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

2020Penn State4-5HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Penn State7-6HC: James Franklin · Balanced

2022Penn State11-2HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

2023Penn State10-3HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

22Below cohort / limited sample #487 of 538?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (7th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#1603 / 2842 · 42nd pct

Interceptions#323 / 827 · 31st pct

QB hurries#1486 / 2842 · 24th pct

Sacks#1503 / 2842 · 24th pct

0.0

Tackles#2159 / 2842 · 23rd pct

Passes defended#1751 / 2842 · 19th pct

Tackles for loss#2431 / 2842 · 7th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road4g	1.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.2	0.0	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+3g	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Matt Campbell

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

22 · #487 of 538 safeties

Former four-star. Now #487 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Penn State	17	13	0.0	--	1	--
2022	Penn State	22	14	2.0	5	--	--
2021	Penn State	18	15	0.0	1	--	--
2020	Penn State	12	7	1.0	2	1	--
2019	Penn State	18	9	0.0	2	--	--
Career		87	58	3.0	10	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2023

W 51–15

at Maryland

1 TOT · 1 SOLO

Dominant 36-point win on the road against Maryland.

With D. Allar — 240 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 96.9 · 39 rush yds (4 car) · N. Singleton — 20 rush yds (8 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 38-15vs West Virginia	3	3	—	Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 2	W 63-7vs Delaware	2	2	—
Wk 3	W 30-13@ Illinois	1	1	—
Wk 5	W 41-13@ Northwestern	3	3	—
Wk 7	W 63-0vs Massachusetts	1	0	1
Wk 8	L 12-20@ Ohio State	2	1	—
Wk 10	W 51-15@ Maryland	1	1	—
Wk 11	L 15-24vs Michigan	1	1	—
Bowl	L 25-38vs Ole Miss	3	1	—
Total		17	13	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Keaton Ellis

201910 games

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

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