Penn State Football: final thoughts on Nittany Lions’ historic 2022 Class
5. A few misses
For how good Penn State’s 2022 class was, no class, except maybe Texas A&M’s, is perfect.
If there were two areas where it would have been nice to see the Nittany Lions add another piece or two it would be linebacker and at offensive tackle.
Linebacker depth feels like it’s at an all-time low under Franklin. Starters Brandon Smith and Ellis Brooks are forgoing the rest of their eligibility to enter the NFL draft. Behind the last remaining starter, Curtis Jacobs, is Charlie Katshir, Tyler Elsdon, Kobe King and Jamari Buddin. They are the only other linebackers to receive scholarships out of high school currently on the roster. Part of the reason the depth is a little low is that guys like Nick Tarburton and Zuriah Fisher were recruited as linebackers but outgrew the position and moved to the line.
Penn State added Keon Wylie and Abdul Carter as the linebackers in the 2022 class, but as mentioned earlier, Carter could end up in the same situation as Tarburton and Fisher. The one that got away would be Jaishawn Barham.
The 4-star from St. Frances Academy had Penn State Football in his top three before committing to South Carolina. His commitment to South Carolina lasted less than a week as he flipped to Maryland on signing day back in December.
Having another body in the linebacker room would have been nice, especially one rated as high as Barham. Another couple linebacker targets who ended up elsewhere were Shawn Murphy, who signed with Alabama, and Moses Walker, who famously committed to Rutgers over Penn State despite tagging the Penn State staff in his post.
As for the offensive tackle, it’s less about pointing to just one target and more about the need for more depth. This difference between the two positions is that the current depth at offensive tackle is in a bit better shape than linebacker, it’s down the road where the problem could get a little more dire. The Nittany Lions ended up signing only one offensive lineman in the 2021 in Landon Tengwall and although he played some tackle in 2021, he may end up at guard long term.
Out of the four linemen brought in in the 2022 class, three have a chance to play tackle. Maleek McNeil is definitely a tackle with his 6-foot-7 frame, but jury is still out on Drew Shelton and JB Nelson. Now, some of this is already being addressed in the 2023 class, with three offensive linemen already on board, but two of them are interior guys all the way.
Holding onto Andre Roye would have been nice, but it looks like him and his teammate Barham had this flip thing planned. Aamil Wagner or Ty Chan would have been big flips from Notre Dame, but the majority of Notre Dame’s staff did not run to LSU with Brian Kelly and that prevented things from getting out of hand there.