Penn State Football: Rivals predicts All-American safety lands with Nittany Lions
Sought after All-American safety Tykee Smith just landed in the transfer portal after leaving West Virginia and Rivals is predicting it could be good news for Penn State Football
Immediately after former West Virginia safety Tykee Smith announced his intentions to transfer, speculation began that he could be headed to Happy Valley.
We wrote on Saturday that 247sports reported that almost the entire Penn State Football coaching staff was quick to follow Smith on Twitter after the announcement. Once his name officially surfaced in the transfer portal, Rivals reported that he took his first zoom meeting with the Nittany Lions on Sunday night.
Now Mike Farrell of Rivals, known as Rivals’ godfather, is officially predicting that All-American safety Tykee Smith with land with Penn State Football after the zoom meeting with the Nittany Lions staff went well.
Farrell is locked into recruiting and transfer rumors for Rivals, so this is a very good sign for Penn State Football fans that they may be getting a key defender added to their secondary for the 2021 season.
The addition of the AP Third Team All-American and ALL Big 12 Honorable Mention safety could be what Brent Pry’s defense needs to rebound after a shaky 2020 season that saw them allow just over 27 points per game, a seven point increase over their 2019 total.
The former Mountaineer posted 61 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, two interceptions and seven pass breakups, while the year prior he tallied 53 tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, a sack and two interceptions to go along with six pass breakups.
The Philadelphia native would bolster a safety position that has been an area of concern for Franklin this offseason, and a position he has referenced multiple times when discussing transfer portal opportunities.
The addition of Smith could also go way beyond the field, as his ties to Philadelphia could have a profound recruiting impact for Penn State Football in the near future, as he attended the same high school, Imhotep Institute, as some of the Nittany Lions biggest targets in the 2022 recruiting class such as Enai White.
Franklin has managed to bring in five players via the transfer market this offseason who were all starters at their last school, however Smith would be the jewel of that haul if they can make it happen.