Victory Bell Rings
Fansided

Penn State Football positioned to repeat offensive line recruiting success in 2024

By Alec Whitaker

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - NOVEMBER 05: Kayton Allen #13 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a touchdown during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on November 05, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - NOVEMBER 05: Kayton Allen #13 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a touchdown during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on November 05, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Penn State Football had its most successful offensive line recruiting haul of the James Franklin era in 2023. 

Penn State Football hasn’t been known for its offensive line production in recent years, but that certainly changed in 2022.

The Nittany Lions totally revamped their offensive line under coach Phil Trautwein and the improvement on the field was coupled with improvements in recruiting.

Penn State signed four offensive linemen in the 2023 recruiting class, with all four being rated as a 4-star or better. This was, by a rankings standpoint, the best offensive line haul of the James Franklin era at Penn State.

The goal for Trautwein, Franklin and the rest of the staff is to now start to stack these elite offensive line classes.

They will have an opportunity to do just that in the 2024 class with plenty of talent in Penn State’s region.

This is already off to a great start considering the first commit in Penn State’s 2024 class was 4-star IOL Cooper Cousins. From Erie, PA, Cousins is the No. 128 player in the 247 Sports Composite and is listed at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds.

The task for Trautwein will be finding another three or four high-level recruits to put around Cousins.

At tackle, the Nittany Lions are targeting 4-star Kevin Heywood from Warminster, PA. Heywood is listed at 6-foot-7 and 290 pounds, making him a prime left tackle candidate down the road. Another intriguing option at tackle is Caleb Brewer, who was high school teammates with 2023 signee Jven Williams. While the 6-foot-6 Brewer is currently unranked, he already has offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Moving to Virginia, a state Penn State has dominated in recruiting, there are two 4-stars to keep an eye on in Fletcher Westphal and Cam’Ron Warren. Moving down the board, there are two twins from Ohio is Devontae and Deontae Armstrong. Both rated as 3-stars, it’s unclear if they are a package deal but are worth monitoring.

At guard, Penn State has a few local options to pair with Cousins. The most notable being 4-star Liam Andrews from Massachusetts, who rated as the No. 100 player in the composite. With Trautwein formerly being the offensive line coach at Boston College, he has strong ties to the New England region, which should help in this one.

Another name to know is 4-star William Satterwhite from Ohio. The 6-foot-5, 290-pounder has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin. It’s worth noting that he does not have a reported offer from Ohio State yet. Obviously, an offer from the Buckeyes could change things but Penn State will be a contender.

More names will emerge later in the cycle, like we saw with Chimdy Onoh in the 2023 cycle, but this a quality early crop of talent for Penn State Football to target.

Home/Football Recruiting