The 10 biggest ‘what ifs’ for Penn State Football recruiting

9. What if Penn State Offered Hayden Rucci in 2019?

It is well documented that Penn State did not offer the older brother of 2021 5-star offensive tackle Nolan Rucci, despite the Ruccis being legacies and Pennsylvania recruits.

Instead, Hayden Rucci, a 3-star tight end in the 2019 class, signed with the Wisconsin Badgers, Nolan would join him in Madison two years later. Some wondered why Penn State never offered the older Rucci, but they had just taken two tight ends in 2018 and were looking to only take one in 2019.

The one tight end that Penn State did end up taking in 2019 was Brenton Strange.

Let’s compare the career stats between Strange and Rucci to date.

• Strange: 38 catches 393 yards six touchdowns
• Rucci: Is yet to record a catch in college

It looks like Franklin and his staff made the right call there.

But was it worth extending a scholarship to Hayden if it increased Penn State’s chances with Nolan? It surely would have increased the chances of landing the younger Rucci, but that’s not something Franklin is in the habit of doing, nor should he be.

It’s not wise to just hand out a scholarship to someone, just because you think it will help your chances with their younger sibling a couple years down the road. The younger sibling could still opt to forge their own path and go play somewhere else, leaving you stuck with someone you didn’t want to offer in the first place.

What Penn State did was the right call, but it’s hard not to think about what the future of Penn State’s offensive line would be with Rucci along with Landon Tengwall, Drew Shelton and others.