To celebrate the upcoming new year, and new decade, we’ll be offering a retrospective here at NittanyWhiteOut.  Over the next two weeks, we’ll reveal all the members of NittanyWhiteOut’s All-Decade team, comprising of the best Penn Staters from 2000-2009.  Don’t agree with our picks? Let your voice be heard in the comments!  We start today with a look back at offensive tackles.

It’s often said that playing the offensive line is a thankless position. We here at NittanyWhiteOut are hoping to change that.  This year, it became clear just how important a good offensive line is, as a young crew battling injury and inexperience struggled mightily to protect Daryll Clark and open running lanes for Evan Royster.  However, our selections more than just did their job, they went above and beyond, and were the anchors of strong offensive lines.  Both today are members of an NFL roster, but they’ll be remembered more for their standout college careers.

Levi Brown (2002-2006) is an absolute gimme for one of the all-decade offensive tackle spots.  Listed as a 4-star defensive tackle when he committed to Penn State in 2002, Brown spurned offers from traditional powers like Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech to join what was then a sputtering Lions program.  With the team rebuilding, Brown got the chance to start as a redshirt freshman, and did just that, starting all 12 games at left tackle.  By his junior season, Brown was an all-Big Ten selection, and second team All-American, and after his senior season, in which he allowed just 2 sacks all year, Brown was once again an all-conference player, as well as a first-team All-American.   His junior year, 2005, was of course a magical one for Penn State, and Brown’s strong work anchoring the offensive line gave an experienced quarterback in Michael Robinson all the time he needed to lead an offense that never saw the field with the Lions behind.  Off the field, Brown was a model student, graduating with a double major in psychology and labor relations.  Drafted 5th overall in the first round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2006, and has been a starter for Arizona ever since.

Gerald Cadogan (2004-2008) didn’t come to Penn State with much hype, listed as just a 3-star prospect, and found himself stuck behind Levi Brown early in his college career.  Despite switching to guard in order to find some playing time, Cadogan still found little in his redshirt sophomore season.  However, once Levi Brown graduated, and left for the greener pastures of the NFL, Cadogan found himself slotted in at left tackle, and impressed immediately.  By his senior year, Cadogan was an All-American, but even more notable were Cadogan’s off-field achievements.  When Joe Paterno imagined his “Grand Experiment,” Cadogan was the exact type of player JoePa had in mind.  A three-time Academic Big-Ten selection, Cadogan was twice named an Academic All-American, and by his senior year was a finalist for the Draddy Trophy, the so-called “Academic Heisman,” honoring college football’s best student athlete.  He was also awarded the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award after his senior season.  While Cadogan’s NFL prospects looked good, with most prognosticators projecting Gerald to be drafted somewhere in the middle rounds of the draft, Cadogan slipped through undrafted, though was quickly scooped up by the Carolina Panthers.  He has bounced around the past year since, between the practice squads of the Bengals, Chargers, and most recently, was signed by the Eagles.

Honorable Mentions: Kareem McKenzie, Dennis Landolt

Releated Posts:

1. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Defensive Tackles
2. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Center
3. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Guards
4. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Cornerbacks
5. 44 for 44: Levi Brown

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