With the addition of Jimmy Christ (I know, it's not official until the LOI is signed and delivered, but humor me for now), I went back to look at Franklin's offensive line recruiting and honestly, when you look at it written down, it's been pretty impressive. Here's the list:
2020: Golden Achumba, Jimmy Christ, Nick Dawkins, Olu Fashanu, Ibrahim Traore, Devin Willock
Obviously, none of the above have even signed yet but for the sake of counting them, I'd note that 3 are ranked 4 stars and given the losses of Tautant and Parks, we recovered pretty nicely, all things considered.
2019: Kaeden Wallace, Anthony Whigan, Saleem Wormley
2 highly rated incoming freshmen and 1 highly rated JUCO- all are redshirting this year. Small in quantity, but high in quality-- hope it pans out, no reason to think it won't.
2018: Nana Asiedu, Bryce Effner, Juice Scruggs, Rasheed Walker
Asedu suffered a career ending heart issue so I"m not judging him in terms of evaluating this class. Walker is already starting so A+ with him. Scruggs and Effner's value is yet to be determined.
2017: Desmond Holmes, Rob Martin, Mike Miranda, CJ Thorpe
Only 1 from this group did not make it. Miranda and Thorpe are both starters of sorts and Des Holmes has proven quite capable even though he's not a starter. Martin is the only miss in this class, imo.
2016: Will Fries, Alex Gellerstedt, Connor McGovern, Mitchell Menet
Only 1 miss in this class, too. All others either were a starter or are a starter now.
2015: Ryan Bates, Stephen Gonzalez, Sterling Jenkins, Paris Palmer
Once again, only 1 miss in this class. Gonzo is starting now; Bates was a 3 year starter before declaring for the NFL; and Palmer was an important contributor during his time at Penn State. Sterling Jenkins was the only miss in this class.
2014: Noah Beh, Brendon Brosnon, Chance Sorrell, Chasz Wright
While technically Franklin's first class, but Wright (a sometime starter under Franklin) and Beh were leftovers from O'Brien while injuries plagued both Sorrell and Brosnon and neither ever contributed on-field at Penn State. Can't really say anyone in this class was a fail, except maybe Beh.
Bottom line, my perception is that our OL recruiting keeps on getting better and better and that bodes well for our future.
2020: Golden Achumba, Jimmy Christ, Nick Dawkins, Olu Fashanu, Ibrahim Traore, Devin Willock
Obviously, none of the above have even signed yet but for the sake of counting them, I'd note that 3 are ranked 4 stars and given the losses of Tautant and Parks, we recovered pretty nicely, all things considered.
2019: Kaeden Wallace, Anthony Whigan, Saleem Wormley
2 highly rated incoming freshmen and 1 highly rated JUCO- all are redshirting this year. Small in quantity, but high in quality-- hope it pans out, no reason to think it won't.
2018: Nana Asiedu, Bryce Effner, Juice Scruggs, Rasheed Walker
Asedu suffered a career ending heart issue so I"m not judging him in terms of evaluating this class. Walker is already starting so A+ with him. Scruggs and Effner's value is yet to be determined.
2017: Desmond Holmes, Rob Martin, Mike Miranda, CJ Thorpe
Only 1 from this group did not make it. Miranda and Thorpe are both starters of sorts and Des Holmes has proven quite capable even though he's not a starter. Martin is the only miss in this class, imo.
2016: Will Fries, Alex Gellerstedt, Connor McGovern, Mitchell Menet
Only 1 miss in this class, too. All others either were a starter or are a starter now.
2015: Ryan Bates, Stephen Gonzalez, Sterling Jenkins, Paris Palmer
Once again, only 1 miss in this class. Gonzo is starting now; Bates was a 3 year starter before declaring for the NFL; and Palmer was an important contributor during his time at Penn State. Sterling Jenkins was the only miss in this class.
2014: Noah Beh, Brendon Brosnon, Chance Sorrell, Chasz Wright
While technically Franklin's first class, but Wright (a sometime starter under Franklin) and Beh were leftovers from O'Brien while injuries plagued both Sorrell and Brosnon and neither ever contributed on-field at Penn State. Can't really say anyone in this class was a fail, except maybe Beh.
Bottom line, my perception is that our OL recruiting keeps on getting better and better and that bodes well for our future.
