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Penn State Football Recruiting Commit Breakdown: DT PJ Mustipher

By Marty Leap

STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 17: James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after a 52 yard touchdown pass in the first half during the game against the Temple Owls on September 17, 2016 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 17: James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates after a 52 yard touchdown pass in the first half during the game against the Temple Owls on September 17, 2016 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class has picked up its 22nd verbal commit.

In the past month no team has been hotter on the recruiting trail than Penn State. On Monday evening, that continued. The Nittany Lions earned their ninth commitment in the last calendar month — this one in the form of four-star defensive tackle PJ Mustipher.

Mustipher is one of the best defensive tackles in the country. The top-100 recruit chose the Nittany Lions over offers from Alabama, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Tennessee, among others. Mustipher is the fifth top-100 commit in Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class.

The Owings Mills, Maryland, native has been trending toward the Nittany Lions since the late spring. After a few more visits to see his home state Terrapins and a trip to the Lasch Bash this summer, Mustipher decided it was time to make the call to join the Nittany Lions.

The six-foot-five, 290-pound PJ Mustipher brings great size to the defensive tackle position. This will help make him a great one-technique defensive tackle in Brent Pry’s defense. It would not be surprising to see Mustipher earn early playing time during his Penn State career.

Mustipher is also an extremely physical player. He has a great first step off the ball and is great at plugging up the middle of the line. He is also sneaky athletic for his size, which will help to make him a three-down player in college.

PJ Mustipher is good with his hands. This is absolutely vital for defensive linemen, as it allows them to disengage from blockers and put themselves in a position to react to a play and pursue the ball carrier.

One area where he needs to improve is keeping his pad level lower. At the high school level having poor technique can be overcome with great strength like Mustipher has. However, at the college level, this is not the case. Luckily this is something that is very easy to work on and fix.

PJ Mustipher is an Under Armor All-American. He also participated in The Opening Finals in Oregon back in June. This came after he was named the defensive line MVP of New Jersey’s Opening regional in the spring.

Next: 2017 Position Preview: Special Teams

With the commitment of Mustipher, Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class now has 22 verbal commits. Mustipher is the second defensive tackle in the class. Penn State’s 2018 recruiting class currently sits as the third best in the country according to the composite rankings of 247 Sports.

You can watch PJ Mustipher’s film here. Welcome to Happy Valley, PJ!

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