The College Football Recruiting Trail: Penn State

The Nittany Lions are the true definition of a school that can recruit off of prestige. Penn State has been a middle of the pack team for the past four to five years, but they still grab some of the top players in the country every year and again are reeling ’em in for 2016. The Lions recruiting class is currently ranked fourth overall in the country and have room to improve as they still have six more recruits they can sign before January. While I’m not sure whether to credit James Franklin or the Penn State name the program has four players that are top five at their position already inked to the team. In addition, running back Miles Sanders is the second best player in the country overall. Let’s talk about a few of the other prospects on this team.

Nov 7, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin during the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Three commits to watch

Shane Simmons, WDE

Shane Simmons comes from DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, MD where there’s a long list of NFL players from Cameron Wake to the Kouandjio brothers. Simmons looks to add his name to that list someday but his first stop will be at Penn State. With Carl Nassib making his way to the next level there’s room on the D-line for new comers.

Simmons is a little light as he’s 6’4 225 but another 15 pounds and he might make a case for some early playing time. Simmons has a great swim move and jumps off the snap with quickness. He gets away with his size in high school working on the interior but on the outside his speed and instincts are second to none. It’s possible he redshirts for weight reasons but expect to hear his name in the next few years.

Andrew Pryts, Safety

My goodness if you want to see some hard hits (legal too) please check out this kids highlight tape. He’s definitely a head hunter to the core and he comes with great size. Andrew Pryts is from Hickory High School in Heritage, PA. The 6’1 200 pound safety committed to Penn State before the start of his senior year and comes in as the 14th best safety in the country. He has good speed not great speed but he has great instincts and uses that to maximize his ability. His coverage skills look ideal and while he’s already college sized he has room to still grow. Pryts more than likely will see his first action on special teams as he’s not afraid of contact. I expect him to be one of the first freshman of this class to be on the field.

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Danny Dalton, TE

Rob Gronkowski is an easy comparison for a TE that looks bigger than everyone else on the field but at 6’5 230lbs Dalton is the Gronk of his football league. He has average speed but that comes with incredible jump ball ability and strong hands to pull in the football. The 4 star TE comes to Penn State from Marshfield High School in Marshfield, MA. While the Nittany Lions have only thrown to their TE’s less than 30 times this year it could be Dalton that breaks the trend in the future as he brings down just about everything thrown at him. While not only having the threat of being a receiver Dalton also possesses great blocking ability as well, a sure need considering that the Lions have run the ball nearly 400 times this year. As with Pryts, Dalton is sure to find some special teams play early on but with added weight and the chance to prove he can be successful I don’t see why Dalton can’t become a key factor over the next few years.

The Trail..

The Nittany Lions have themselves one of the best classes in the country and six more recruits could potentially give them the best class in 2016. James Franklin has this team winning but with a top 15 class last season and top five this year it should be expected that eventually this team gets from out of their middle ground record. Who knows, maybe a win at Michigan State this weekend can be the move to get this program back to the top of the BIG 10.

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