Penn State Football recruiting: 2023 mock class 1.0

Defensive End (2-3)

The 2022 class had quite the defensive end haul with 5-star Dani Dennis-Sutton and 4-star Ken Talley. The next step for defensive line coach John Scott Jr. is to add some talented depth behind these guys.

As mentioned, Neeo Avery could end up a part of this group, but we’ll keep him at tight end for now. The reason Avery is more likely to at least start out at tight end is because of the abundance of talented targets at defensive end.

At the top of the target-board are a group of 4-stars in Cameron Lenhardt, Desmond Umeozulu, Dylan Gooden, and David Ojiegbe, 3-star Jameial Lyons, and 3-star Mason Robinson.

Robinson was teammates with Dennis-Sutton at The McDonogh School so, he could be next in line to keep that pipeline going. Lyons, who attends Roman Catholic in Philadelphia, has emerged as a serious option after receiving a 4-star bump from 247 Sports recently.

Of course, there’s also the ultimate wildcard in Nyckoles Harbor. The 5-star athlete from Washington D.C. may be the best athlete in the entire cycle. If he was to choose the Nittany Lions, would they put him at tight end or defensive end?

The Picks: Desmond Umeozulu, Jameial Lyons & Mason Robinson