Penn State Football recruiting historic month comes to a close
James Franklin and Penn State Football recruiting were among the biggest winners in college football this July, potentially a landmark month for the program
The month of July was a good one for Penn State football recruiting.
Over the course of the 31 days of the month, Penn State Football picked up commitments from 13 2022 recruits, one 2023 recruit and one 2022 transfer.
This was the best recruiting month during head coach James Franklin‘s tenure, and likely the best in program history.
Penn State Football now has the No. 1 2022 class in the nation and most of that is thanks to the incredible amount of talent Franklin and his staff were able to reel in.
The 2022 commits during July include:
3-star JUCO OT JB Nelson
3-star LB Keon Wylie
3-star DT Kaleb Artis
4-star DT Zane Durant
4-star DE Tyreese Fearbry (later decommitted)
4-star RB Nicholas Singleton
4-star RB Kaytron Allen
3-star CB Jordan Allen
4-star DE Dani Dennis-Sutton
4-star CB Cam Miller
4-star ATH Cristian Driver
3-star S Kevin Winston
4-star LB Abdul Carter
At the beginning of July, the 2022 class only had 12 commits, it finished the month with 24 recruits in the fold.
Although the Nittany Lions received 13 commitments, Fearbry would back off of his commitment just three weeks after announcing his decision to join the Nittany Lions. Feabry is no doubt a loss because of his talent and the position he plays, but with the way Penn State Football is recruiting, Feabry could easily end up back in the class, or someone else could fill the spot.
While the early momentum with the 2022 class was on offense, with seven of the first eight commits being offensive players, the defense would highlight July. Dennis-Sutton is the headliner, he’s the highest rated commit in the class and is considered one of the more college-ready players in the nation.
Defensive coordinator Brent Pry was able to fill almost all of the needs on defense in July alone. The Nittany Lions filled up their secondary haul in July and added three defensive linemen and two linebackers. Penn State will likely target another linebacker, if it’s a high-profile recruit, plus the defensive end situation. Other than that, Pry and his staff have to feel good about the job they did in July.
Although Penn State only picked up three commits on offense in July, they were vital ones. Nelson helps lessen the blow of 2021 signee Nate Bruce no longer being with the program. Being a JUCO recruit, Nelson could easily see the field right away and be an impact player by year two. The two running backs will get most of the attention, and rightfully so. Singleton was long considered the top offensive target for Penn State and his new 247 Sports ranking of the No. 1 running back reflects that. Allen is a great compliment back and has drawn comparisons to Noah Cain.
In addition to the commits, Penn State Football picked up a big transfer in Harvard offensive tackle Spencer Rolland. On July 14, Rolland tweeted that after this upcoming season, he will transfer from Harvard to Penn State. This is a unique situation, because Rolland, has intentions to transfer to another school, while playing at another. There shouldn’t be any had feelings from Harvard though, as there is no such thing a redshirt in the Ivey League, so if a player wants to play a fifth season, they need to transfer. Add in the extra year of eligibility every player was granted because of the pandemic, and Rolland has a couple years in Happy Valley.
This a smart pick up by offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, as starting left tackle Rasheed Walker will likely leave Penn State after the 2021 season and the need for someone with experience is now filled with Rolland.
Speaking of pick ups by Trautwein, he had another good one in July with the addition of 2023 4-star Alex Birchmeier. Birchmeier is considered the top interior offensive lineman in the 2023 class and becomes the lone commit in Penn State’s 2023 class. He has the chance to be the start of a class that could rise to the levels of the 2022, if Penn State can keep landing players of the same caliber of Birchmeier.
With limited space remaining in the 2022 class, the 2023 class may start to receive more attention from the staff. That should be an advantage to Penn State, as most schools still have most of their recruiting efforts focused on the ’22 class. Penn State can thank an incredible July for that advantage.