Penn State Football got some pleasant news on Wednesday’s National Signing Day when 4-star defensive end Davon Townley announced he has committed and signed with the Nittany Lions.
He announced the decision live on CBS Sports HQ’s Signing Day show.
The 6-foot-6, 220 pound Townley puts a cap on Penn State’s 2021 recruiting class. The class, which now has 16 members, was one of the tougher ones for head coach James Franklin and his staff to navigate.
They missed on multiple top targets and the class is the lowest ranked of the Franklin era.
Townley, a Minneapolis native, fills a significant hole in the 2021 recruiting class. Penn State Football signed one defensive end in December in Rodney McGraw, but a severe depth issue forced them to need to more than just McGraw.
Townley is the prototypical Penn State defensive end recruit. He has a large frame that he can grow into, and has a history as a basketball player. Yetur Gross-Matos, Jayson Oweh, Adisa Isaac, Smith Vilbert, Bryce Mostella and McGraw were all 6-foot-5-plus, and most had also played basketball.
Townley will have a chance, along with McGraw, to compete for a depth spot behind expected starters Arnold Ebiketie and the aforementioned Isaac. There’s a lot of question marks behind those two, so the freshmen will have a golden opportunity.
Townley held offers from 18 schools and had a final group of Penn State, Nebraska and Washington. He is rated as the 18th strong side defensive end by 247 Sports rankings.
He is the first blue-chip recruiting victory for defensive line coach John Scott Jr. Scott will now turn his attention to the 2022 cycle, where he has plenty of blue-chip prospects to target.
Townley was definitely a good finish to a brutal cycle. James Franklin’s off-season hot streak continues with this addition, and he shows no signs of slowing down.