Penn State Football lands DL Tyriq Blanding

Penn State Football added to its 2023 recruiting class on Friday night with the addition of Tyriq Blanding.

Earlier this week, Blanding announced that he’d be making his college decision tomorrow on Saturday but moved it up to tonight. Ultimately, the Nittany Lions were the destination.

Blanding visited Penn State last weekend, so it looked somewhat obvious that they would be his choice once he announced he was committing.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds, Blanding is a defensive tackle at the next level. He becomes the first true defensive tackle in Penn State’s class as Mathias Barnwell is listed as an athlete and Jameial Lyons is being recruited as an edge player.

Blanding is rated as a 3-star prospect by the 247 Sports Composite rankings. He is the No. 89 defensive lineman in the country and the No. 1 player in the state of New York. Penn State now has the top player from Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York in its 2023 class.

Despite not being ranked incredibly high, Blanding had a pretty solid offer sheet. In addition to Penn State, he was offered by Miami, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia.

The Nittany Lions continue to beef up the interior of their defensive line. In the 2022 class, they landed 4-star Zane Durant and 3-star Kaleb Artis at the defensive tackle position. Despite being a true freshman, Durant turned a lot of heads during winter workouts and spring camp.

Defensive tackle is one of the deepest positions on Penn State’s roster and it looks like the staff wants to keep it that way.

Blanding becomes the 13th member of Penn State’s 2023 recruiting class. The class is up to No. 3 in the national rankings and looks primed for another top 10 finish.

The Nittany Lions are currently in the middle of another official visit weekend as well, so hopefully more good news is on the horizon.