Jesse Luketa goes to Cardinals in 7th round, the 8th Penn State player drafted

Jesse Luketa, who grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, became the fifth Penn State player drafted Saturday — and the eighth in the past three days — when the Arizona Cardinals selected him in the seventh round (256th overall).

Luketa was the last of the Nittany Lions drafted — seven picks from the end of the final round. He completed Penn State’s historic draft — the eight players chosen were the most since the NFL selected 10 Nittany Lions players in 1996.

Jahan Dotson, Arnold Ebiketie and Jaquan Brisker were drafted in the first two rounds, giving Penn State three or more in those rounds in consecutive drafts for only the second time in school history. Micah Parsons, Odafe Oweh and Pat Freiermuth were drafted in the first two rounds last year.

Luket’s path to draft day started when he left home as a high school sophomore to attend Mercyhurst Prep, where he became a four-star recruit and Class 3A Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

By the 2020 season at Penn State, he was a team captain and started eight of Penn State’s nine games at linebacker. He finished the season with 59 tackles, 2 1/2 for loss and three pass breakups.

Despite less than elite speed — he has run the 40-yard dash in 4.89 seconds — his game kept improving. Penn State coaches felt comfortable last season moving him to defensive end at 6-foot-3, 253 pounds.

He was named honorable mention All-Big Ten while acquiring the important talent of knowing how to take proper angles to the ball carrier. He finished 2021 with six starts among his 12 games but 61 tackles, 8 1/2 for a loss and one interception.

He is likely to move back to linebacker with the Cardinals.