Penn State football recruiting roundup: Oweh commits, Walker sets commitment date, and more

Welcome back to the weekly look at all things Penn State football recruiting here at Victory Bell Rings.

Now that the quiet period is over, the world of Penn State football recruiting is about to get very busy once again. James Franklin and the Nittany Lion coaching staff will spend January looking to close out on the few class of 2018 targets that remain on the board, while they also start to focus primarily on 2019.

In the past week, the Nittany Lions have picked up a commitment from their top remaining defensive target and their top remaining offensive target has set his commitment date. Furthermore, a Nittany Lion commit has earned a huge honor and new 2019 offer worth monitoring has gone out. There are also some other odds and ends to touch on.

Let’s begin this week’s Penn State football recruiting roundup.

Penn State picks up a commitment

Last Thursday, four-star defensive end Jayson Oweh went public with his commitment to Penn State. Prior to his commitment, Oweh was the Nittany Lions’ top remaining defensive target for the 2018 recruiting cycle.

Jayson Oweh’s commitment came down to the Nittany Lions and their arch-nemesis the Ohio State Buckeyes. While Oweh did not announce his commitment until the Under Armor All-American Game last Thursday, he signed his letter of intent with Penn State during the earlier signing period.

You can read more about Oweh and his commitment here.

Top offensive target sets commitment date

Top-100 offensive tackle Rasheed Walker is Penn State’s top remaining class of 2018 target on offense. In fact, he is the Nittany Lions’ top remaining target period. His recruitment will come down to Ohio State, Penn State, and Virginia Tech, and we now know when he will announce his commitment.

Rasheed Walker will announce his commitment on the traditional signing day of February 7.

Walker has already taken his official visit to both Penn State and Virginia Tech. His official visit to Columbus will be the weekend of January 20. Right now the Nittany Lions lead for Walker, but the Buckeyes having the last official visit is worrisome.

It will be key for the Nittany Lions to try and get Walker back on campus for an unofficial visit following his official visit to Columbus. If that happens, Penn State’s chances of signing him would increase substantially. Additionally, James Franklin still has his in-home visit which is a great thing for the Nittany Lions.

Rasheed Walker’s recruitment will be a war between James Franklin and Urban Meyer, and that war will end on February 7.

Micah Parsons earns a big honor

Five-star signee Micah Parsons is arguably the best high school football player in the country. Over the weekend, the Harrisburg native picked up a huge honor when he was named the American Family Insurance Defensive Player of the Year as part of the Army All-American Bowl festivities.

This honor is a huge, and well deserved, one for Parsons. For the Cougars in 2017 Parsons finished with 55 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, and an interception. Micah Parsons playing as a true freshman for Penn State in 2018 is not the question, the only question is will he be a starter on defense or a role player.

A new 2019 offer to watch

Earlier this week, Penn State extended an offer to class of 2019 offensive tackle Xavier Truss.

The Rhode Island native visited Penn State back in the fall to watch the Nittany Lions dismantle Michigan in front of a White Out crowd. After receiving his offer, he set up a visit for the Blue White Game in April.

This offer came after Truss was named to the U.S. Army National Combine Team this past weekend. You can read more about that from our friends at 247 Sports here.

While the recruitment of Xavier Truss is just starting to heat up, Michigan also offered this week, the Nittany Lions are in a great spot right now and are the early leaders for the 6’7, 325 pound offensive tackle.

Early enrollees arrive on campus

Over the weekend, Penn State’s six early enorllees in their 2018 recruiting class arrived on campus. These six players are linebackers Jesse Luketa and Nick Tarburton, safety Isaiah Humphries, cornerback Trent Gordon, tight end Zack Kuntz, and the aforementioned Micah Parsons.

As was stated above, Parsons will play in 2018 while having a great opportunity to start at linebacker. Being an early enrollee is a big reason for this. Fellow linebackers Luketa and Tarburton will get an opportunity to turn heads at MIKE linebacker this spring as well.

With Penn State being deep at both cornerback and safety, Gordon and Humphries appear to be on their way to redshirting. The same goes for Kuntz, despite the open depth chart at tight end, as he needs to add size to his frame.

The sooner college football players can get into a college strength and conditioning program, begin to learn the playbook, and adjust to college life the better. This makes enrolling in January a huge advantage and all six of these players will benefit from enrolling early greatly.

Next: Kerry Collins elected to the College Football Hall of Fame

That will do it for this week. As always, stay tuned here at Victory Bell Rings for all of the latest news in the world of Penn State football recruiting.