This is the final post regarding Franklin's recruiting classes since becoming Penn State's head football coach. Review of the 2017 class is pretty arbitrary at this point as all we have are 3 guys who made limited contributions in 2017 and then the Blue White game this past Saturday. So, with so little real info, I’m posting this just so folks remember who we have and can watch their development over the next couple years. I’ll provide a few comments where I can but like I said, info is currently scarce.
1. DE Damion Barber
2. DT Corey Bolds
3. LB Ellis Brooks Will likely contribute by necessity in ’18, hope he’s ready
4. CB DJ Brown
5. RB Journey Brown still a project, imo
6. CB Tariq Castro-Fields I’m expecting really big things from TCF in ‘18
7. QB Sean Clifford didn’t learn much during the B/W game but subsequently learned he’s battling a hamstring injury. Really hoping he gets some reps during the season so he can further develop. I am feeling good about him, though, based upon comments from Steve Jones and others
8. LB Brelin Faison-Walden heard his name a few times in the B/W game but nothing substantive
9. LB Brailon Franklin
10. DE Yetur Gross-Matos Where’s Waldo??? Not seen at all at the game, hmm?
11. WR KJ Hamler hope he lives up to the hype, feeling really positive about him
12. DT Fred Hansard Steve Jones and Jack Ham raved about him, but another reliable evaluater, @gemrich, was not so high on him based upon his B/W performance; I trust gem
13. WR Mac Hippenhammer developing a man-crush on this kid, WR corp is in great shape with guys like him, Hamler and Cam Sullivan-Brown
14. OL Dez Holmes rave reviews, hope he continues to develop so we can reload, not rebuild, in the future
15. CB Donovan Johnson another member of our really deep CB group
16. OL Rob Martin
17. OL Mike Miranda lots of positive press in his young career
18. WR Cam Sullivan-Brown my surprise performer in the B/W game, did more than I thought he would
19. S Jonathan Sutherland the next Marcus Allen?
20. OL CJ Thorpe needs to work on his pass protection but a beast at guard, future is very bright, imo
21. S Lamont wade played a significant amount of the time in the B/W game, at least it seemed he did- I think he’ll be a big part of the defense in ‘18
Since I’m covering the entire roster, I’ll also add the 6 early enrollees from the ’18 class
1. CB Trent Gordon didn’t play that much in the B/W game, not expecting him to play in the upcoming season, the position is simply too deep
2. S Isiah Humphries dnp in the b/w game but given the depth, may get a shot, we’ll see
3. TE Zach Kuntz did not play, TE corp was injury riddled
4. LB Jesse Luketa one of the more impressive true freshman in the game, he’s likely in the mix for pt, imo
5. LB Micah Parsons pretty much as expected, still learning the position but clearly an elite athlete
6. DE Nick Tarburton said to be acclimating to the position well, believe he had a sack in the scrimmage- but we’re deep at defensive end so I’d expect him to redshirt
Okay, a bit more commentary than I expected. At this point, more hype than substance but we’re talking, for the most part, rs freshmen. Still nice to see all those names we’ve been hearing good things about over the last season and a half. Future is bright, very bright.
And that concludes my review of Franklin’s classes since arriving at Penn State. I think we’re just tipping the iceberg in terms of high end recruiting and results on the field and that’s high expectations given two straight 11 win seasons. It’s a great time to be a Penn State football fan, enjoy!
1. DE Damion Barber
2. DT Corey Bolds
3. LB Ellis Brooks Will likely contribute by necessity in ’18, hope he’s ready
4. CB DJ Brown
5. RB Journey Brown still a project, imo
6. CB Tariq Castro-Fields I’m expecting really big things from TCF in ‘18
7. QB Sean Clifford didn’t learn much during the B/W game but subsequently learned he’s battling a hamstring injury. Really hoping he gets some reps during the season so he can further develop. I am feeling good about him, though, based upon comments from Steve Jones and others
8. LB Brelin Faison-Walden heard his name a few times in the B/W game but nothing substantive
9. LB Brailon Franklin
10. DE Yetur Gross-Matos Where’s Waldo??? Not seen at all at the game, hmm?
11. WR KJ Hamler hope he lives up to the hype, feeling really positive about him
12. DT Fred Hansard Steve Jones and Jack Ham raved about him, but another reliable evaluater, @gemrich, was not so high on him based upon his B/W performance; I trust gem
13. WR Mac Hippenhammer developing a man-crush on this kid, WR corp is in great shape with guys like him, Hamler and Cam Sullivan-Brown
14. OL Dez Holmes rave reviews, hope he continues to develop so we can reload, not rebuild, in the future
15. CB Donovan Johnson another member of our really deep CB group
16. OL Rob Martin
17. OL Mike Miranda lots of positive press in his young career
18. WR Cam Sullivan-Brown my surprise performer in the B/W game, did more than I thought he would
19. S Jonathan Sutherland the next Marcus Allen?
20. OL CJ Thorpe needs to work on his pass protection but a beast at guard, future is very bright, imo
21. S Lamont wade played a significant amount of the time in the B/W game, at least it seemed he did- I think he’ll be a big part of the defense in ‘18
Since I’m covering the entire roster, I’ll also add the 6 early enrollees from the ’18 class
1. CB Trent Gordon didn’t play that much in the B/W game, not expecting him to play in the upcoming season, the position is simply too deep
2. S Isiah Humphries dnp in the b/w game but given the depth, may get a shot, we’ll see
3. TE Zach Kuntz did not play, TE corp was injury riddled
4. LB Jesse Luketa one of the more impressive true freshman in the game, he’s likely in the mix for pt, imo
5. LB Micah Parsons pretty much as expected, still learning the position but clearly an elite athlete
6. DE Nick Tarburton said to be acclimating to the position well, believe he had a sack in the scrimmage- but we’re deep at defensive end so I’d expect him to redshirt
Okay, a bit more commentary than I expected. At this point, more hype than substance but we’re talking, for the most part, rs freshmen. Still nice to see all those names we’ve been hearing good things about over the last season and a half. Future is bright, very bright.
And that concludes my review of Franklin’s classes since arriving at Penn State. I think we’re just tipping the iceberg in terms of high end recruiting and results on the field and that’s high expectations given two straight 11 win seasons. It’s a great time to be a Penn State football fan, enjoy!
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