Penn State Football continues stockpiling offensive line talent
James Franklin and Penn State Football’s recruiting efforts continue to strike gold along the trenches this week
A day after landing 2023 OL Anthony Donkoh, Penn State Football landed a commitment from 2024 OL Cooper Cousins on Saturday evening.
Cousins announced his decision on Twitter. His commitment comes just one week after he visited Penn State Football for a junior day recruiting event.
100% Committed @bo_orlando @FBCoach_Spoon @jjferraro50 @m_4knee @MattG1314 @coachjfranklin @CoachCollins46 @CoachTrautFB @knnysndrs @Coach_Yurcich @coachseider #WeAre24 pic.twitter.com/34rmVESSrb
— Cooper Cousins (@cousins_cooper) January 29, 2022
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds, Cousins already has the ideal size for an offensive tackle, and he’s only a sophomore in high school.
The Erie, PA product does not have a ranking, considering how early it is in the process for the 2024 cycle. His other offers to this point are Kentucky, Pitt and Toledo.
Cousins is the first member of Penn State Football’s 2024 class. The earliest he could sign his letter of intent with the Nittany Lions is December of 2023, 23 months away.
Penn State Football had a similar situation with 2023 commit Mathias Barnwell. He committed back in June of 2020 and eventually de-committed the following January. Barnwell ultimately re-committed back in September.
Although holding a commitment for this long may seem like a challenge, with Cousins being a Pennsylvania recruit who is familiar with Penn State, it shouldn’t be much of a worry.
Penn State Football is in the process of rebuilding its offensive line depth after only taking four offensive linemen the past two recruiting cycles.
The Nittany Lions already have three offensive line commits in 2023 and now Cousins in 2024. Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein seems to be building a foundation for recruiting, after the challenges of the pandemic prevented him from getting any real footing for his first year and a half at Penn State. With the talent Penn State has at quarterback and running back in the 2022 class, building the offensive line is priority No.1 moving forward.