? 2016 ? Senior Season
Awards: Named to the Pro Football Focus Big Ten Team of the Week after his showing at Indiana (11/12)...Selected as the Iron Lion Award (strength & conditioning) winner at the annual Nittany Lion Football Banquet.
Season: Appeared in all 14 games with six starts.
Kent State (9/3): Helped pave the way for Saquon Barkley's 105-yard rushing effort and protected Trace McSorley, who posted his first career 200-yard passing game. at Pitt (9/10): Part of an offensive line that cleared the way for Saquon Barkley's four rushing touchdowns...Blocked for Trace McSorley's 332 passing yards, which ranks No. 16 in Penn State single game history. Temple (9/17): Part of a line that didn't allow a sack...Paved the way for three rushing touchdowns...Protected Trace McSorley in his third career 200-yard passing effort. at Michigan (9/24): Helped Saquon Barkley move into the top-30 on the career rushing list...Protected Trace McSorley, who threw a touchdown pass in his fifth straight game. at Purdue (10/29): Made one special teams tackle on punt coverage. at Indiana (11/12): Made one tackle following a Trace McSorley interception. at Rutgers (11/19): Helped Penn State pile up eighth game of 400-plus yards and the fourth game in 2016 with at least 500 yards...Protected Trace McSorley to the tune of 210 yards passing, his eighth 200-yard passing game of the season. Michigan State (11/26): Instrumental in Penn State gaining 463 yards of total offense, its ninth game with at least 400 yards...Helped Trace McSorley pile up 389 yards of total offense, the fifth-most in program history...McSorley threw for 376 yards - the sixth-highest total in school history - with four touchdown passes and rushed for 13 yards.
? 2015 ? Junior Season
Season: Appeared in 13 games with five starts...Made his second career start vs. Buffalo...Graduated in December with a degree in journalism...One of 13 Nittany Lions to earn their degree in December.
Buffalo (9/12): Helped Penn State pile up 200 yards rushing...Was a part of an offensive line that did not allow a sack for the first time since the 2013 season finale victory at Wisconsin. Rutgers (9/19): Paved the way for a pair of 100-yard rushers: Saquon Barkley (195 yards) and Akeel Lynch (120)...Helped Barkley and Lynch become first Penn State tandem to rush for 100-yard since Lynch (108) and Bill Belton (108) passed the century mark against Eastern Michigan...Helped the backfield collect a pair of 100-yard rushers in a Big Ten game for the first time since 2010 (Northwestern) when Evan Royster (134) and Silas Redd (131) topped the mark...The 330 yards rushing by Penn State were the most since the Nittany Lions ran for 338 at Illinois in 2009...The Nittany Lions rushed for 200 or more yards in consecutive games for the first time since 2009 at Illinois (338) and vs. Eastern Illinois (285)...The 471 yards of total offense were the most since Penn State had 511 in 2014 against UCF in the Croke Park Classic. San Diego State (9/26): Helped protect Christian Hackenberg, who threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns. Indiana (10/10): Protected Christian Hackenberg during his 17th career 200-yard passing game (262 yards), which allowed him to become the second quarterback in Penn State history to amass 7,000 yards passing in a career...Helped Penn State control the ball for 35:35, its most in a Big Ten game since having 36:29 against Purdue in 2013. at Ohio State (10/17): Helped pave the way for Saquon Barkley's 194 yards rushing, the third-highest total by a true freshman...Protected Christian Hackenberg who threw for 120 yards and one touchdown. vs. Maryland (10/24): Protected Christian Hackenberg to the tune of 315 yards and three touchdown passes...Helped the offense pile up 363 yards of total offense...The offense posted nine pass plays of 20-plus yards, including all three touchdown passes. at Northwestern (11/7): Blocked for 100-yard rusher Saquon Barkley and 200-yard passer Christian Hackenberg...The 205 yards passing by Hackenberg extended his school record to 20 such contests. at Michigan State (11/28): Blocked for Saquon Barkley's fifth 100-yard rushing effort of the season...Barkley broke the Penn State freshman season rushing record and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season...Protected Christian Hackenberg for his school-record extending 21st career 200-yard passing effort...Hackenberg also tossed two touchdown passes to take over the top spot on PSU's career passing touchdowns list with his 47th and 48th career scoring strikes, breaking a tie with Matt McGloin (46, 2009-12).
? 2014 ? Sophomore Season
Season: Appeared in 12 games with one start (UMass) on the offensive line after making the move from the defensive line in the spring...Instrumental in protecting quarterback Christian Hackenberg in the passing game and blocking for the trio of successful running backs: Bill Belton, Akeel Lynch and Zach Zwinak...Helped Hackenberg amass 2,977 yards and 12 touchdowns, including six 200-yard passing games.
UCF (8/30): Made his first appearance on the offensive line in the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland...Helped the Nittany Lions gain 511 yards of total offense, including a school-record 454 yards passing by Hackenberg. Akron (9/6): Helped the Nittany Lions total 425 yards of total offense, including 319 yards passing by Hackenberg, who broke the school record with 773 yards passing in consecutive games. at Rutgers (9/13): Protected Hackenberg, allowing him to throw for 309 yards in the 13-10 come-from-behind win. UMass (9/20): Made his first career start on the offensive line at right guard and helped pave the way for 228 rushing yards in the 48-7 win. Northwestern (9/27): Part of the O-Line unit that helped Hackenberg log his fourth 200-yard passing game of the season as he threw for 216 yards. Ohio State (10/25): Blocked for Hackenberg, who completed 31 passes for 224 yards, helping the Nittany Lions take the No. 13 Buckeyes to double-overtime. Maryland (11/1): Assisted Penn State to five scoring drives against Maryland. Temple (11/15): Helped the Lions rush for a season-high 254 yards, including 130 yards from Lynch and 92 yards from Belton. at Illinois (11/22): Played a key role in aiding the career-best 137 rushing yard effort by Lynch. Boston College (12/27): Helped the offense gain 453 total yards in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, including a school bowl record 371 yards through the air...Instrumental in helping Hackenberg break or tie nine Penn State bowl records with his 34-of-50, 371-yard, four-TD and zero-interception performance.
? 2013 ? Redshirt Freshman Season
Season: Saw action in eight games during his first season on the field...Specializing in short-yardage and goal line situations, helped bolster the middle of the defensive line.
at Indiana (10/5): Made one tackle against Indiana. Michigan (10/12): Was a member of the unit that blocked Michigan's field goal attempt in the first overtime of Penn State's eventual four-overtime win.
? 2012 ? True Freshman Season
Redshirt season...During the 2013 Blue-White game, recorded four solo stops and a pair of sacks to help the defense win the intrasquad contest.
? High School
First-team all-state selection during his junior and senior seasons at John Handley High School...Playing for coach Tony Rayburn, garnered all-district honors during each of his four years, with accolades on the offensive and defensive lines his final three seasons...Selected the Northern Virginia Daily Male Athlete of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year...During his senior season, recorded 107 tackles and 13 sacks and ran for 225 yards and three touchdowns...As a junior, he recorded 145 tackles, 10.5 sacks, two interceptions and a touchdown...Earned the first of his three all-region selections as a sophomore, when he tallied 128 tackles and seven sacks...Helped Handley to the district crown all four years, and was instrumental in helping the Judges to a pair of region championships...Was a two-time team captain and a Handley High School Scholar-Athlete Award recipient all four years...Lettered in basketball and track and field.
? Personal
Full name is Derek Wayne Dowrey Jr....Son of Derek and Glendora Dowrey, and has one younger brother, Jordan...Father is an assistant football and track and field coach at Handley High School and played football and ran track at Bridgewater (Va.) College...Enjoys spending time with friends and playing video games...On pace to graduate in December 2015 with a journalism degree...Interested in a career in the media or as a football or strength coach...Born July 3, 1993 in Winchester, Va.