I had intended to end the series with the 2017 class but given the talent in the ’18 class, and the fact that 7 kids burned their redshirts and, with the new playing rules, a significant number of others got some playing time as true freshmen, I decided to throw together a 2018 recruiting class thread just for kicks. If nothing else, it will remind everyone of all the additional talent we have, besides the guys who already played, coming through the system beginning this year plus just something else to discuss during this relatively quiet time. Enjoy!
1. OT Nana Asiedu Career cut short due to a heart condition, sad. While we’ll never know what might have been, he certainly was coming in with a high player rating
2. DT Judge Culpepper Redshirted in ’18, it will be interesting if he breaks into the rotation in ’19. I’m thinking no, at least not significantly, but who knows, if we suffer some serious injuries or if Judge just plays into the rotation, anything could conceiveably happen. The starting rotation, imo, will be Windsor, Mustopher, Shelton, Hansard and Barber with Ellison Jordan, if healthy, also contributing. If Joran and Barber don’t perform, Culpepper could work his way in
3. WR Jahan Dotson Already a starter by mid to late season last year, hopefully his progression will continue this fall
4. OG Bryce Effner Really haven’t heard much, which isn’t surprising wrt offensive linemen entering their rs freshman year
5. TE Pat Freiermuth Only a sophomore in ’19, I think most of us forget that, this kid is good (I know, thanks Captain Obvious)
6. WR Daniel George Already holds the record for longest touchdown reception in Penn State history, and he will only be a rs freshman this upcoming season. According to Steve Jones, he’s a real physical receiver who he believes we can expect good things from in ‘19
7. CB Trent Gordon I expect Trent to contribute in a crowded, and talented, cornerback room
8. DT Aeneas Hawkins It’s been pretty quiet wrt to Hawkins. Not sure what to expect from him this fall. He was on the field with Culpepper during the B/W game but as we all know, that doesn’t usually mean a whole lot. Jones and Ham didn’t say anything about him during the broadcast—others have said that he’s a tweener who may never find a spot, we’ll see
9. S Isaiah Humphries Didn’t play at all last year, even with the new 4 game rule, and then decided to transfer, saying he needed to do so before the game was no longer fun to him, hmm. Best of luck to him in his quest to make the game fun for himself
10. LB Charlie Katshir Probably the least talked about member of the linebacker corp., I’m very interested in seeing what he can bring to the unit this fall
11. TE Zack Kuntz Highly rated, another guy I’ll be interested in seeing what kind of contributions he’ll make. I think Freiermuth and Bowers will be the primary contributors at TE, and then there’s Holland, so I’m not sure where the reps are going to come from, but given his heighth, he could turn out to be quite the weapon in the redzone
12. QB Will Levis Backup QB, he’ll be the most popular player on the team should Clifford struggle LOL
13. LB Jesse Luketa Will start in place of Cam Brown for the first half of the opener and is likely to be a key contributor in an excellent linebacker group
14. CB Jordan Minor The second player to have his collegiate career cut short due to health issues in this class
15. DT PJ Mustopher Time for a highly rated DT to step up at Penn State and force all the doom and gloomers about DT to have to shut up already
16. DE Jayson Oweh Rave reviews during the Spring, hope it translates to outstanding play on the field during the regular season and beyond
17. LB Micah Parsons Don’t think I need to say anything here, absolute stud (so I did say something, just felt compelled to state the obvious again LOL)
18. PK Jake Pinegar Inconsistent freshman year… hopefully he gets things straightened out for the ’19 season, we need a reliable placekicker
19. C Juice Scruggs Wish we knew more about his car accident injuries. He missed the entire Spring and no one is really saying whether he’ll be back for the upcoming season. On the flip side, Franklin usually speaks up when it’s a season or career ending injury so no news may be good news in this case
20. WR Justin Shorter 5* who had issues with injuries his freshman year. I anticipate him starting this fall and having a solid rs freshman year for us. If Clifford is able to use that strong arm of his, Shorter could be one of the huge beneficiaries
21. RB Ricky Slade The next great bak at Penn State?
22. DE Nick Tarburton All was pretty much quiet during the Spring, although Tarburton is part of a DE group that Franklin says is the best he’s ever had in his coaching career. With YGM, Toney, Simmons, Joseph, Isaac and Oweh, playing time might be hard to come by. Having said that, I think Shareef Miller said he’s a beast and he’s a very hard working kid so it might wind up being difficult to keep him off the field
23. OT Rasheed Walker Our new starting left tackle, hope he’s up for the challenge. He has all the measureables so as long as he can learn quickly, I think we’ll be okay at LT for this year and the next couple years thereafter
After going through this list, all I can say is wow, what a group, th potential is exciting. It’ll be fun seeing these kids assimilate into the lineup and produce. Exciting times with our younger players, that’s for sure.
1. OT Nana Asiedu Career cut short due to a heart condition, sad. While we’ll never know what might have been, he certainly was coming in with a high player rating
2. DT Judge Culpepper Redshirted in ’18, it will be interesting if he breaks into the rotation in ’19. I’m thinking no, at least not significantly, but who knows, if we suffer some serious injuries or if Judge just plays into the rotation, anything could conceiveably happen. The starting rotation, imo, will be Windsor, Mustopher, Shelton, Hansard and Barber with Ellison Jordan, if healthy, also contributing. If Joran and Barber don’t perform, Culpepper could work his way in
3. WR Jahan Dotson Already a starter by mid to late season last year, hopefully his progression will continue this fall
4. OG Bryce Effner Really haven’t heard much, which isn’t surprising wrt offensive linemen entering their rs freshman year
5. TE Pat Freiermuth Only a sophomore in ’19, I think most of us forget that, this kid is good (I know, thanks Captain Obvious)
6. WR Daniel George Already holds the record for longest touchdown reception in Penn State history, and he will only be a rs freshman this upcoming season. According to Steve Jones, he’s a real physical receiver who he believes we can expect good things from in ‘19
7. CB Trent Gordon I expect Trent to contribute in a crowded, and talented, cornerback room
8. DT Aeneas Hawkins It’s been pretty quiet wrt to Hawkins. Not sure what to expect from him this fall. He was on the field with Culpepper during the B/W game but as we all know, that doesn’t usually mean a whole lot. Jones and Ham didn’t say anything about him during the broadcast—others have said that he’s a tweener who may never find a spot, we’ll see
9. S Isaiah Humphries Didn’t play at all last year, even with the new 4 game rule, and then decided to transfer, saying he needed to do so before the game was no longer fun to him, hmm. Best of luck to him in his quest to make the game fun for himself
10. LB Charlie Katshir Probably the least talked about member of the linebacker corp., I’m very interested in seeing what he can bring to the unit this fall
11. TE Zack Kuntz Highly rated, another guy I’ll be interested in seeing what kind of contributions he’ll make. I think Freiermuth and Bowers will be the primary contributors at TE, and then there’s Holland, so I’m not sure where the reps are going to come from, but given his heighth, he could turn out to be quite the weapon in the redzone
12. QB Will Levis Backup QB, he’ll be the most popular player on the team should Clifford struggle LOL
13. LB Jesse Luketa Will start in place of Cam Brown for the first half of the opener and is likely to be a key contributor in an excellent linebacker group
14. CB Jordan Minor The second player to have his collegiate career cut short due to health issues in this class
15. DT PJ Mustopher Time for a highly rated DT to step up at Penn State and force all the doom and gloomers about DT to have to shut up already
16. DE Jayson Oweh Rave reviews during the Spring, hope it translates to outstanding play on the field during the regular season and beyond
17. LB Micah Parsons Don’t think I need to say anything here, absolute stud (so I did say something, just felt compelled to state the obvious again LOL)
18. PK Jake Pinegar Inconsistent freshman year… hopefully he gets things straightened out for the ’19 season, we need a reliable placekicker
19. C Juice Scruggs Wish we knew more about his car accident injuries. He missed the entire Spring and no one is really saying whether he’ll be back for the upcoming season. On the flip side, Franklin usually speaks up when it’s a season or career ending injury so no news may be good news in this case
20. WR Justin Shorter 5* who had issues with injuries his freshman year. I anticipate him starting this fall and having a solid rs freshman year for us. If Clifford is able to use that strong arm of his, Shorter could be one of the huge beneficiaries
21. RB Ricky Slade The next great bak at Penn State?
22. DE Nick Tarburton All was pretty much quiet during the Spring, although Tarburton is part of a DE group that Franklin says is the best he’s ever had in his coaching career. With YGM, Toney, Simmons, Joseph, Isaac and Oweh, playing time might be hard to come by. Having said that, I think Shareef Miller said he’s a beast and he’s a very hard working kid so it might wind up being difficult to keep him off the field
23. OT Rasheed Walker Our new starting left tackle, hope he’s up for the challenge. He has all the measureables so as long as he can learn quickly, I think we’ll be okay at LT for this year and the next couple years thereafter
After going through this list, all I can say is wow, what a group, th potential is exciting. It’ll be fun seeing these kids assimilate into the lineup and produce. Exciting times with our younger players, that’s for sure.
