Video Breakdown: Penn State adds elusive Corey Smith
Penn State picked up its 13th commitment in the class of 2024 on Friday afternoon when Catholic Memorial running back from Wisconsin Corey Smith, committed. The four-star, 221st player in the Industry rankings chose Penn State in a landslide recruiting win for the Nittany Lions.
To prepare you for what Smith brings to the team, recruiting insider Sean Fitz and film analyst Thomas Frank Carr discuss Smith’s abilities and impact on the class. They’ll also examine how he and fellow 2024 running back Quinton Martin differ from previous runners that the team has recruited.
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Penn State raids Wisconsin for another valuable prospect
Despite offering only a few months ago, the Nittany Lions quickly worked their way to the top of Smith’s list, according to Fitz.
“Well, it’s not a long-term relationship by any stretch of the imagination. Smith, you know, picked up the offer this offseason. And Penn State, they don’t spend a ton of time in Wisconsin. Let’s start there. This is a matter of them casting a wide net positionally and nationally. Every time we talk about that running back board, we talk about how big it is and how there’s no geographical bearing on which way he [Ja’Juan Seider] likes to go.”
But despite the lack of common recruiting ground, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider once again won over a prospect from outside the region to commit.
“Corey visited twice this spring, most recently for the Blue-White Game. Very, very good vibes for Penn State coming out of the blue white game. We thought he was actually going to pop that day. It turns out he didn’t. He went home, thought about it, and watched teammate Donnie Harbor commit to Penn State last week. Then all of a sudden, Penn State now has teammates from Catholic Memorial,” Fitz explains.
However, Smith isn’t like Penn State’s current running backs. The 5-11 174-pound rusher doesn’t have the same frame as the team’s present studs. He’s much closer to a 2023 commit.
“It’s interesting the way that Penn State’s built this running back room because Penn State fans want to see Katrin Allen. They want to see the Big Ten back. I think Wisconsin fans want to see Ron Dayne. I don’t think Smith is that guy. He’s an all-around back, catches the ball well, very elusive cutter, and all that kind of stuff. But he’s not an overpowering back. I think he reminds me a lot of London Montgomery from last year, and you know your stack and kind of the same body types.:
T-Frank likes that Smith brings something new to the offense
After watching several full games, T-Frank is impressed with the entire Catholic Memorial offensive scheme.
“The thing I want to highlight first is actually his offense. You mentioned not he’s not just an inside zone, outside zone guy. They [Catholic Memorial] ran inverted quarterback options. They ran him as a jet sweep guy. He was blocking. He was doing a lot of advanced, college-level stuff. And when you fold in, as you saw in his highlight package, his ability to run routes down the field and catch the ball outside his frame, the versatility here is exceptional.,” T-Frank says.
As for skills, Smith has most of them, barring the ones that Fitz already explained.
“While he maybe doesn’t have Nick Singleton speed, you mentioned his stop-start. Smith doesn’t really lose momentum when breaking tackles and getting out into the open field. And when he gets into the secondary, I really like that because functional speed is a thing. If you get tripped up, and you slow down, it’s not as helpful.”
