Penn State Football’s New Billboards Have a Purpose

If you were on social media on Monday afternoon, you probably saw that Penn State Football bought a few billboards. 

The program paid for four billboards to show off the eight former players who were drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft and the five other former players who signed undrafted free agent deals.

While the billboards themselves are a nice shoutout to the players, there’s a few underlying purposes for their creation.

Let’s start by looking at the four cities that were picked to have one of the billboards: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Baltimore. While they are the four most populated cities in the region, they’re also home to a bunch of big-time recruits.

Let’s start with Pittsburgh. The Steel City area is home to two of Penn State’s biggest 2023 targets in wide receiver Rodney Gallagher and linebacker/edge Ta’Mere Robinson. Additionally, 5-star 2024 athlete Quinton Martin is from nearby Belle Vernon. The man in the middle of the billboard is Jahan Dotson, who went 16th overall in the draft. Gallagher has drawn comparisons to Dotson, so seeing Dotson up on that sign will be something Gallagher remembers as he goes through the recruiting process. As for Robinson, there’s four linebacker/edge players on the sign, that certainly sends a message.

Moving on to Philadelphia, there is no shortage of big-time recruiting targets. Penn State already has a commitment from one of Philly’s own in Jameial Lyons. There aren’t many other 2023 targets in The City of Brotherly Love, but there is a slew of 2024 ones. The group is headlined by 4-stars Omillio Agard and Tyseer Denmark. Agard, a cornerback, and Denmark, a wide receiver, are two of the most sought after 2024 recruits in the country.

Harrisburg is home to Bishop McDevitt and Harrisburg High School, two schools with rich football tradition. Penn State isn’t strongly connected to anyone in the Harrisburg area in the 2023 cycle, but 2024 4-star wide receiver Rico Scott attends Bishop McDevitt.

As for the Baltimore location, two football powerhouses are in the area. The first is McDonogh School in nearby Owings Mills. The McDonogh School has been arguably Penn State’s best pipeline since James Franklin took over as head coach. The other is St. Frances Academy, a school Penn State has had issues recruiting at in the past. If you look at recruiting rankings in the state of Maryland, you’ll see plenty of kids from McDonogh or St. Frances.

With all of the football talent in these four cities, you want to show these kids that if they come to Penn State, they will go to the league. This was a wise recruiting pitch, and one that didn’t take up anyone on the coaching staff or recruiting staff’s time. Efficient and hopefully effective.

Washington D.C. and New York City next for Penn State Football billboards?