STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State’s 2021 class is going to be fascinating, given all the changes to the recruiting calendar because of the spread of the coronavirus.
Coaches will have to fall back on evaluations that they previously had, rearrange their board based on what they already know and then wait like everyone else to see when they’ll be able to get back in front of prospects or host them on campus. Though there are so many unknowns, there are still a few certainties.
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Penn State signed 27 players in the 2020 cycle, a number that certainly won’t be duplicated with the 2021 class. With eight verbal commits on board already, expect this class to be much smaller. What will that final number be? Defensive recruiting coordinator Terry Smith said last week he expects they’ll have nearly 10 fewer signees this cycle.
With spots filling up and visits on hold, more prospects could potentially bump up their decision dates. Several players have done so already. After a recent run of commitments, Penn State can be more particular about how it fills the rest of this class. The Nittany Lions certainly won’t turn away any of the marquee prospects who they’re in the running for, but they have the luxury of being selective now that the class is approaching the midway point.
Here’s where things stand, with ratings via the 247Sports Composite.
Verbal commitments
- Landon Tengwall, OT, No. 43 nationally, four stars
- Jaylen Reed, S, No. 239, four stars
- Zakee Wheatley, S, No. 315, four stars
- Kalen King, CB, No. 336, four stars
- Kobe King, LB, No. 468, three stars
- Jeffrey Davis Jr., CB, No. 530, three stars
- Liam Clifford, WR, No. 615, three stars
- Nate Bruce, OL, No. 761, three stars
Top remaining targets in order of importance
1. QB Caleb Williams
Particulars: Five-star prospect from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.
The buzz: The Nittany Lions are in Williams’ top five with Oklahoma, LSU, Clemson and Maryland. Penn State has long been in on the most coveted quarterback of the cycle. The Lions ultimately could be on the outside looking in by the time Williams announces his commitment, but it would be the biggest signing of the James Franklin era should they somehow close and sign him. Penn State hasn’t landed a five-star quarterback since Christian Hackenberg and hasn’t had a quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL Draft — an important detail that’s used to sell to elite quarterbacks — since Kerry Collins was taken fifth overall 25 years ago.
2. OT Nolan Rucci
Particulars: Five-star prospect from Warwick (Pa.) High School
The buzz: The top player in Pennsylvania and No. 13 player in the country is someone Penn State must land. One can argue that Rucci is more important to this class than Williams, though I’ll argue that if PSU doesn’t land a quality quarterback, then Rucci and the talent up front may not matter as much. Still, Rucci is vital as the best player in the state in a year in which Pennsylvania has nine blue-chip recruits, five of whom are already committed elsewhere. Penn State could have an edge, given that his dad, Todd Rucci, played football at Penn State and his mom played field hockey for the Nittany Lions. Before one gets too swept up in the familial ties, keep in mind that Rucci’s brother, Hayden, is a tight end at Wisconsin. Penn State must work to close here and seems to be in good shape to do so. Rucci and Tengwall playing together would further elevate this class and also would make it pretty enticing for a quarterback, with two top-50 players potentially helping keep him upright.
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3. QB Christian Veilleux
Particulars: Four-star prospect from The Bullis School in Potomac, Md.
The buzz: Penn State needs to get a quarterback on board sooner rather than later. If it’s not Williams, then this is its next best and realistic option. Veilleux, a standout from Canada, has Penn State among his four finalists. His other schools include Clemson, Tennessee and Duke. He is playing his high school ball at the same place where former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins did. It’s also the alma mater of former Penn State linebacker Cam Brown. Veilleux attended camp at Penn State last summer, and he was also on campus this past winter. He’d be Penn State’s first Canadian quarterback since Bill O’Brien recruited and Franklin’s first Penn State class signed Michael O’Connor.
4. WR Dont’e Thornton Jr.
Particulars: Four-star prospect from Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore
The buzz: Thornton is the No. 45 prospect in the country and the No. 6 wide receiver in the 2021 cycle. Penn State secured a verbal pledge from him during his sophom*ore year, before he decided to open things back up. Penn State is among his 12 finalists, and recruiting being at a standstill could help Penn State, given that Thornton has been in State College a lot and drew the full attention of the staff and players last summer during the 7-on-7 competition on campus. It’s no secret Penn State needs to bolster its receiving corps. Thornton would be a huge addition, and it can’t hurt that he’s trained with Penn State signee Curtis Jacobs since the two were in middle school. Penn State has been sold on Thornton for a long time and would continue a strong haul of Maryland prospects if it can land him.
5. CB Tony Grimes
Particulars: Five-star prospect from Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Va.
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The buzz: Penn State’s ability to get cornerbacks on the field early and then have success — with Keaton Ellis and Marquis Wilson doing so last season — caught Grimes’ attention. The No. 7 player in the nation has Penn State in his top eight, but he doesn’t plan to announce until December. Grimes will absolutely have a spot should he choose to go to Penn State, but with several defensive backs in the class already, Penn State’s need isn’t as pressing, which is why Grimes is ranked here on this list. Still, one doesn’t bat an eye with a player like Grimes. Penn State told him in the winter he could be the face of the defense. His finalists include Penn State, Georgia, Clemson, Virginia, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Tennessee and UNC. One can only imagine what Grimes to UNC would do, as the Tar Heels are opening a lot of eyes with their 2021 class.
6. S Derrick Davis Jr.
Particulars: Four-star prospect from Gateway High School in Monroeville, Pa.
The buzz: If there’s a profile for a defensive back that seems like a perfect fit at Penn State, it’s Davis. Yes, Penn State already has two safeties committed in Reed and Wheatley, but the fourth-best player in the state comes from a high school where Penn State connections are aplenty, starting with cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, the former head coach at Gateway. With seven of Pennsylvania’s prospects ranked within the top 150 in the country — Davis is 52nd, sandwiched between Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Marvin Harrison Jr. — Penn State needs to secure more commitments from inside the state. And with Lamont Wade and Jaquan Brisker both out of eligibility after next season, Penn State shouldn’t be shy about adding another safety.
7. WR Kaden Prather
The particulars: Four-star prospect from Northwest High School in Germantown, Md.
The buzz: Penn State landed in four-star receiver Jacolby George’s final six last month. The Plantation, Fla., standout would be a nice addition. However, the Nittany Lions are the favorite to land Prather, who ranks just outside the top 300 nationally. Prather’s finalists include Maryland, Oklahoma, West Virginia and South Carolina. Penn State losing former receivers coach Gerad Parker to West Virginia could make this interesting down the stretch, but should Penn State sign both Thornton and Prather, it would make for a very strong receiving corps to join athlete Liam Clifford, who projects as a receiver and camped as such at Penn State.
8. DE Najee Story
Particulars: Four-star prospect from Solon (Ohio) High School
The buzz: The Lions need to load up on defensive ends and should take a few in this class. They’ll be without Shaka Toney and Shane Simmons after next season, giving them just eight scholarship ends. Story put Penn State in his final five. It’s notable that Ohio State is also in there, along with Northwestern, Minnesota and Tennessee. How Penn State fills the D-line slots in its first class without ace recruiter Sean Spencer will be one of the more interesting storylines with this class.
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9. TE Moliki Matavao
Particulars: Four-star prospect at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nev.
The buzz: Former Penn State verbal commit Nick Elksnis opened things up before committing to Florida in March. That left a void in this class at a position where Penn State should be attractive to top-tier tight ends. Junior tight end Pat Freiermuth could be the top tight end taken in next year’s NFL Draft, and Tyler Bowen shouldn’t have to sell too much given all the talent PSU has compiled at tight end. However, getting tight ends back on campus is a challenge, given that the top ones in the country this cycle aren’t in close proximity to State College. Four-star tight end Brock Bowers from California also has Penn State in his top eight.
10. RB Corey Kiner
Particulars: Four-star prospect from Roger Bacon High School in Cincinnati
The buzz: The backfield is loaded, but Penn State should be in the running for some of the top backs in the country, given the success of Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders. This is one position where the lack of visits could have some other backs reconsidering their options or moving up commitment dates. Kiner is set to announce on July 4, a decision he made in April knowing that whether he visited his top schools or not he was going to commit in July. Penn State, which is in his top 10, sent him a spiffy graphic, and the Lions’ success in the Cincinnati area with Sean and Liam Clifford can’t hurt. Running back could be more of a wide-open spot right now with everyone’s visits on hold, but the No. 10 back in the cycle will certainly be worth keeping an eye on in the coming months.
Don’t rule out…
… Penn State signing a specialist in this class. The Lions offered kicker Sander Sahaydak last weekend, a move that speaks to the value Penn State places on special teams, especially in a class that will be much smaller than the previous cycle. Sahaydak is the top-ranked kicker in the country, according to Kohl’s Kicking Camps, and he’s an in-state prospect from Bethlehem’s Liberty High School.
There’s always risk associated with offering a scholarship to a kicker because if it doesn’t work out, there’s no other place to put them. Special teams coordinator Joe Lorig said Penn State will never paint itself into a corner of having to sign a specialist in a class if it isn’t the right one, but the Lions did want a punter in the 2020 class and signed combo specialist Jordan Stout as a transfer from Virginia Tech. Stout has been worth it, and he figures to be the team’s kickoff specialist, punter and long-distance field goal kicker this season. He’d also hold for kicker Jake Pinegar on shorter field goals. Penn State has two scholarship specialists already, but ideally it will sign a specialist in 2021 who could come in and redshirt while Stout and Pinegar close out their college careers
“You would in a perfect world sign a kicker for instance in this 2021 class,” Lorig said this week. “That way, they’d come in when Jordan and Jake were seniors and they’d be able to learn from those guys, watch what those guys do at practice. … In a small class, sometimes you can have guys be preferred walk-ons, you could grayshirt people, you could sign them in that class — there’s a lot of different variations of how you can do things.”
(Photo of Caleb Williams: Will Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Audrey Snyder has covered Penn State since 2012 for various outlets, including The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Patriot-News and DKPittsburghSports. Snyder is an active member of the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) and is the professional adviser for Penn State’s student chapter. Follow Audrey on Twitter @audsnyder4
