Penn State Football Recruiting: Nittany Lions enjoy successful Junior Day

Penn State football recruiting is already stocking up for future years

Saturday marked Junior Day for Penn State football recruiting, meaning that several targets from the next two classes were on campus. Along with targets, players who’ve already committed also attend the event.

It’s always an important day for James Franklin and his staff, as they can begin to build strong future recruiting classes by making an early impression. Junior Day 2019 proved to be very productive for the Nittany Lions for a number of reasons. Franklin and his staff made some offers, had a chance to continue to impress current big targets, and received three total commitments, two from the class of 2020, and one for 2021.

Linebacker Curtis Jacobs was the first of a pair of 2020 targets to commit to the Nittany Lions during Junior Day. He’s currently ranked as a four-star recruit and inside of the top 200 in the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He holds offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Florida, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, but has given his early verbal to the Nittany Lions.

Jacobs attends the same high school in Maryland, McDonogh School, as Penn State class of 2019 defensive lineman, D’Von Ellies.

Joining Jacobs as a 2020 commitment from Saturday was Joshuah Moten, a top cornerback from National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Maryland. The four-star prospect is ranked as the No. 19 cornerback and the No. 10 recruit from his state. He’s currently ranked No. 229 in the nation by 247Sports. 

Baylor, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin and Texas A&M are among the teams that have offered Moten.

With the additions of Jacobs and Moten, Penn State has four members of the 2020 class and currently sits at No. 13 in the team rankings. 

Aside from the commitments from juniors for the next class, Penn State picked up a sophomore commitment for the 2021 class from Mount Saint Joseph (Baltimore,MD) wide receiver Dont’e Thornton. It’s too early for him to have any ranking attributed to him, but at six-foot-four, he already has the base of a great wide receiver frame.

Thornton has already been offered by both Michigan and Ohio State, and, despite the Penn State commitment, expect his offer list to continue to grow, particularly when he receives his rankings.

It’s obviously early in the recruiting cycles for both the 2020 and 2021 classes. Franklin and has staff has just a few days before National Signing Day to wrap up the 2019 class before fully turning their attention to the next classes.