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

7. What if Kyle Pitts Became the Third Tight End in the 2018 class?

Penn State had quite the tight end haul in 2018 when they landed Pat Freiermuth and Zack Kuntz, but they almost pulled off one of the greatest tight end hauls in recruiting history.

Despite having the two 4-stars committed, Penn State still targeted one of the best tight ends in the country, 4-star Kyle Pitts out of Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, it was hard to sell Pitts on the idea of being the third tight end in the class or possibly ending up at defensive end.

In the end, Pitts made the better choice for him and committed to Florida as the top-rated tight end in their class. In three seasons at Florida, Pitts caught 100 passes for 1,492 yards and 18 touchdowns. That production turned him into the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

As we know, Freiermuth had an excellent career at Penn State, but Kuntz did not. He got lost in shuffle behind Freiermuth, Brenton Strange and eventually Theo Johnson, which led to Kuntz transferring to Old Dominion after the 2020 season.

Had Penn State been able to win over Pitts with the idea of being recruited as a ‘jumbo athlete’ their 2019 offensive skill position cast would have included Pitts, Freiermuth, Jahan Dotson, K.J. Hamler, Journey Brown and Noah Cain.

Imagine if Penn State could have replaced Justin Shorter’s production in 2019 with Pitts’, that season may have gone a bit differently …