Position breakdown: Who will lead this loaded Penn State football cornerback room?

Penn State football will break in two new starting cornerbacks.

It certainly will use three on the field at times.

Even more: Each of the six top members in this room could truly vie to be the top pass defenders when the Nittany Lions open at West Virginia and proceed to spend the month of September in Beaver Stadium.

This may be the deepest and most competitive cornerback room since assistant Terry Smith took it over under head coach James Franklin. Has there been another, ever, with more promise?

This is saying a lot, considering Penn State lost its top three corners after last season.

The rebuild actually began, in full force, during the Peach Bowl loss to Mississippi when Cam Miller and rookies Eliott Washington and Zion Tracy got lost of starting snaps.

It continued when the Lions picked up high-grade transfers A.J. Harris and Jalen Kimber from the SEC. Harris, a former five-star recruit, may be the most talented of the group and Kimber, a starter last season at Florida, is the most experienced.

But how much will that matter, even in the best of ways?

Audavion Collins, a redshirt sophomore, for example, has been frequently mentioned as one of the most improved players on the entire team.

"There's a saying in the room that we all believe we can eat …," Smith said during in early August.

Though Penn State's 2023 cornerback group was highly-regarded (Kalen King was a preseason All-America candidate) and sturdy (11th nationally in passing efficiency defense), “we actually feel like that position could be better, from top to bottom, athletically," Franklin said.

Penn State preview: A position-by-position breakdown

Penn State cornerback depth chart

• 3 | Jalen Kimber | 6-0, 188 | Sr.
• 4 | A.J. Harris | 6-1, 191 | So.
• 5| Cam Miller | 6-0, 182 | Jr.
• 29 | Audavion Collins | 5-11, 178 | So.
• 16 | Eliott Washington | 5-11, 194 | So.
• 7 | Zion Tracy | 5-11, 183 | So.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Position breakdown: Who will lead this loaded Penn State football cornerback room?