Justin King was the rookie-in-training last season, picking up tips and guidance along the way from four of the starting defensive backs. But all that's changed.

Those four starters are gone, leaving King and the secondary with nothing but memories and holes in the lineup.

"I was like the young pup last year, and now I got to be in it and know the checks -- and that's a little different," King said.

King's teammate, Tony Davis, looks to take on Anwar Phillips' role at cornerback, while rising seniors Nolan McCready and Donnie Johnson are set to fill the safety openings.

Penn State was ranked No. 14 in the nation in defensive passing efficiency, while the secondary limited opposing quarterbacks to a collective 106.64 rating -- Miami (Fla.) was first with 89.48.

That type of performance will be difficult to match this season, even with highly touted cornerback recruit A.J. Wallace set to join the team over the summer. Wallace is widely considered to be one of the top-10 high school defensive backs, but the cornerback position is also widely believed to be one of the toughest in which to transition.

Just ask King.

"I'm still learning," he said. "I'm picking up more, but I want to be 100 percent comfortable on defense before I go back on offense."

King has practiced exclusively with the defense, mainly because he said a cornerback has to rely on instinct and not just X's and O's. And when you're away from the position, King said you start to second-guess some things.

Maybe Johnson can relate -- he's the running back-turned-wideout-turned running back-turned-cornerback-turned safety.

"I talked about it with Joe. He made it clear this was the best place," Johnson said. "Once I realized I had a better opportunity moving on to the next level as a defensive back, I worked hard."

Johnson joins McCready for one last shot at a national championship, while cornerbacks King and Davis both have two more years of eligibility left after next season.

King and Davis may share the same position, but their styles couldn't be more different. King's a bit taller, Davis is a bit shorter. King's a bit faster, Davis is a bit stronger. King's more of a man-on-man corner, Davis is a better cover-2 guy.

Still, the leader of the defense, Paul Posluszny, didn't differentiate when talking about the defensive backs. He said he was confident in both of them.

"We've lost two great guys on the corners, but we got two good players to replace them," he said.