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SCOUT'S TAKE

Latest: Penn State linebacker Sean Lee is ready to roar back into game action after spending over a year recovering from a torn ligament in his right knee. Lee said he has been cutting without a brace since January of 2009. An intelligent and instinctive player that naturally flows to the ball and racks up a ton of tackles, Lee reportedly feels quicker than ever. Plus, he’s just as strong as he is swift, while also having the ability to rush the passer and do damage in coverage. In fact, in 2007, the standout linebacker had eight pass breakups. The baby-faced enforcer is an intense competitor who loves to hit.

Skinny: Missed all of last season following surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that occurred last April. Lee was a heck of football player before his knee injury and the question will be can he get back to his form in 2007 where he had 138 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three recovered fumbles and one interception. The plan was for Lee to go from the outside linebacker spot to the middle linebacker. Before the injury Lee was a very good overall linebacker who make plays all over the field and many thought that he would have been a late first round pick with his ability and football IQ. Now, there are a lot of question marks that come up with Lee, but expect him to answer them and start to rise up draft boards come April.

NEWS

12.08.09 - Four outstanding years of linebacker play, including All-American honors in 2007, his junior year. (He missed 2008 with an injury.) People forget his goal-line play in 2007 vs. Purdue in which he stole the ball from a ball carrier as he was going in for a TD and a would-be 17-3 Purdue lead. That play turned around the game. – The Morning Call

06.11.09 - Lee is a co-captain this year along with senior quarterback Daryll Clark. PSU, which opens against Akron Sept. 5 at Beaver Stadium, is coming off an 11-2 season that included a Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl opposite USC. The Trojans beat PSU 38-24 and Clark said the team is using the loss as motivation. A starting linebacker for PSU in 2006 and 2007, Lee could slide inside the way Paul Posluszny did in 2006. Posluszny was a starter outside, injured his knee prior to his senior year, then played in the middle before going in the second round of the 2007 draft.

05.19.09 - The Penn State football team named its 2009 team captains on Tuesday afternoon, announcing on the school's athletics Web site that quarterback Daryll Clark and linebacker Sean Lee would share the honor. According to the site, Clark and Lee were elected captains by their teammates at the conclusion of spring practice. The news was announced at the beginning of the summer academic semester, which started yesterday in State College. "I'm honored to be following the great captains and leadership we have had in the past,'' said Lee in a statement issued by PSU athletics today.

05.19.09 - LB Sean Lee was held out of contact drills in the spring but is moving well 12 months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The All-America candidate is moving from outside linebacker to middle linebacker in Penn State's 4-3 scheme and is the undisputed leader of the defense.

04.13.09 - Sean Lee (Penn State), has been named to the 2009 Lott Trophy Watch List, announced on Tuesday by Ronnie Lott in Newport Beach, Calif. After missing the 2008 season with a serious knee injury, Lee has returned this spring return to provide leadership and stability to a defensive unit that lost seven starters to graduation or the NFL. Instinctive and intelligent, he will combine with 2008 first team All-Big Ten honoree Navorro Bowman, veterans Josh Hull and Jerome Hayes, and underclassmen Chris Colasanti, Bani Gbadyu, Michael Mauti and Nate Stupar to form one the most productive linebacker corps in the nation, intent on carrying on the tradition of "Linebacker U." A probable All-America candidate, Lee enters the 2009 season with 239 career stops, just 17 shy of breaking into Penn State's career top 10 list. With another standout season, he could join former All-Americans and teammates Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny as the program's top three tacklers. In 2007, Lee had a superb junior year, recording 138 tackles; a total that ranked fifth on Penn State's single season list.

08.03.08 - Standout linebacker Sean Lee was expected to be the leader of the Penn State defense in 2008, but an ACL tear in the spring will sideline him for the season. He'll return to the field in 2009, but was still elected a captain for this year's squad. Paterno included him on the 105-man practice roster because of his leadership and mentoring abilities. "We've included Lee even though he can't work because I wanted him around the team," Paterno said.