247 provides some great information, but the "how many on the roster" is not of much value to me. Teams regularly move recruits to new positions and then there is the "Athlete" recruit that settles into a position as he practices with the team. I doubt that 247 goes to updated rosters and updates their database. For example we know that CJF recruited B. Franklin to play LB, possibly MLB as he played LB and DT in high school, but 247 lists him as an "Athlete". Does he get counted by 247 as a LB on their potential roster and recruits summary? So I find that info pretty much worthless.
Do your own examination of the PSU roster taking into account that with 85 scholarships allowed and a couple given to kickers, that leaves about 83 for position players. 83/22 x 3 LB positions (PSU plays 3 LB's in a 4-3 defense, of the 22 position players), and we should have about 11 scholarship LB's on the roster. We have 7 returning scholarship LB's (Smith, Cabinda, Bowen, Brown, Thomas, Farmer, Cooper), not counting Miller who I expect to move back to Safety and Toney, who was still at DE at last report. And we also have a couple of solid walk on's that may contribute down the line, including Johnson and the incoming Chizmar. But to get to 11 true scholarship LB's we would need 4 true LB recruits. Maybe the coaches want 10 total (due to emphasis on pass defense, nickle DB's, etc, along with need to carry 5 QB's), so that would be 3 true LB recruits needed in the 2017 class.
