Recruiting Show: Penn State players on commit watch
Penn State football will close the spring recruiting season out with a bang this weekend. There are more than 80 confirmed visitors for this upcoming weekend’s Blue-White Game and it’s a list that grows by the hour. Check out the Blue White Illustrated recruiting show to find out which players are the names to know for Saturday and which players are on commit watch.
In the final spring show of the season, insiders Sean Fitz and Ryan Snyder discuss which players they see as potential commitments over the weekend and which players stand out to them on the list they’ve gathered this week.
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Penn State in a great position with top tackle target
While there might be higher-ranked players on Penn State’s tackle board, the most critical prospect is in-region lineman Kevin Heywood. Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein and the rest of the staff have put in the work with the Royersford, PA native. Now, it’s about a waiting game, says Fitz,
“The relationships are there. And I think this is one that has made sense for a while. Haywood is a guy that could really project well as an offensive tackle. Athletic kid, [but] has a ways to go in terms of tape. But that’s pretty much anybody that you’re going to find. I mean, he’s six-foot-seven and can move. He’s got some defensive line highlights that are encouraging in terms of his long-term projections about being an athlete on the edge.”
The holdup might be recent offers from southern schools. For both of Penn State’s offensive line targets this weekend who might commit offers from SEC and ACC schools might hold up the process.
“You’re just wondering if this is a situation where some of those recent offers, some of the more interest as of late, especially from the South, will catch his attention.”
Alabama, they do throw out a lot of offers, and they do throw out a lot of slow-down offers. So that’s where guys that are about to commit and then all of a sudden a Bama offer pops up in their inbox and they’re excited about it. And, you know, does it eventually change where they’re going to end up? Maybe not. But at the same time, it does make you stop and think,” Fitz says on the show.
Names that stand out on the list this weekend
Multiple top-100 players for the Class of 2024 and 2025 coming to Happy Valley this weekend. But one Penn State target has Synder’s interest,
“So I think we could do a dozen guys on there, but we’ll try to keep it limited. Nigel Smith, I mean, how can you not talk about Nigel Smith, the top 100 prospect on the, On300? If you look at his On3 Industry Rating, too, it’s number 74. So this is a player that all four sites have basically in their top 125-150 and then a couple of site’s top-100 in the nation.
If you just look at his offer sheet, it’s incredibly impressive. Oklahoma hosted him a bunch of times as well. So getting him back is massive. He’s been very open with the media about his recruitment as well.”
Find out if Snyder thinks Penn State can get Smith back on campus for an official visit and which other players stand out this weekend.
