Video Analysis: Penn State is on a roll at defensive tackle with T.A. Cunningham
Penn State football picked up its fourth defensive tackle in the Class of 2024 on Saturday when four-star defender T.A. Cunningham committed to the program. The 6-6, 280-pound defensive lineman had around 50 offers during his recruiting process, but Penn State became the dominant team in his recruiting journey over the last year.
To help Penn State fans better understand why this former five-star defensive line prospect has become a sleeper in the class, recruiting insider Sean Fitz and host of the BWI YouTube channel, Thomas Frank Carr, discuss his recruiting journey.
And journey it’s been. Fitz explains the long, rocky road that unfolded for Cunningham over the last three years. To hear the full story, check out the video below. Make sure you subscribe to Blue White Illustrated on YouTube so you don’t miss breaking new content.
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Penn State has been busy this summer, adding big bodies to the middle of its defensive class for 2024. A big turnaround in the recruiting process has been new defensive line coach Deion Barnes. While Penn State’s staff recruits as a unit, Barnes has gotten some impressive players across the line at a difficult position, according to Fitz,
“It’s been pretty remarkable. I mean, Deion’s more personal than John [Scott Jr]. I like John a lot, and I’m going to say that every time. But Deion, is more personable, more relatable. He’s been through it. He’s not far removed from it. And I think that that comes into play with a lot of guys. So to stack a defensive tackle class like this, after what we’ve seen over the last five, or ten years of defensive tackle recruiting, is pretty remarkable. And it’s not so much the guys they got; it’s not the guys they missed. It’s the fact that they had so many options,” Fitz said.
But with Cunningham, things haven’t been straightforward. He’s gone from an early favorite to land in the top 50 players nationally to a mid-four-star player committed to Penn State. There’s a reason, according to Fitz.
“His first offer came from the University of Georgia. Not sure if you’ve heard of them or not, but he was a freshman playing in the Georgia League Classic and Georgia, on the heels of that, offered him which any time that you are, you know, just a bigger kid that can move like that’s going to draw the attention of a lot of schools.”
Check out the video to find out what happened next.
Cunningham fits need for defense
With several athletic, aggressive linemen in the class, the team needed a body type to balance out those skills. Cunningham is raw, but has the skills to fill a role that Penn State needs, according to T-Frank.
The main thing for Penn State fans looking for that big, nose tackle-type body, Cunningham is the guy you want. He’s the base model of what you’re looking for in terms of the size, length, the athleticism to be a big guy, clog the middle but not be an immovable object that just eats up space.”
Penn State has four defenisve tackles in the Class of 2024 and 24 overall prospects with a verbal commitment.
