Devon Smith Commits to Penn State

Gimme a smurf and a siren WHOOOOOO

Penn States White House victory over Illinois did more than impressed the voters on Saturday night. It also impressed the dozens of recruits that were on hand. Penn State already earned a verbal commitment from Glen Carson earlier this week. And today Devon Smith offered his verbal commitment to Larry Johnson.

Smith, a 5-foot-7, 153-pound projected wide receiver, verbally committed to the Nittany Lions on Tuesday.

"Yesterday I told my coach how I felt, and I made a pros and cons sheet for him," said Smith. "I had no cons about Penn State. I just gave him a little talk about how I felt about Penn State. He just said we were going to have a little meeting and talk about it. We had our meeting, and I called Larry Johnson this morning around 10:00, and committed to Penn State.

"I thought to myself that I have a chance of playing my first or second year, because they're losing three big starting receivers, like Derrick Williams, (Jordan) Norwood and Deon Butler, so I thought I could really play soon and be a big player at Penn State."

You read that right. Smith is 5-foot-7 and only 153 lbs. He's not going to plow over linebackers and carry a safety on his back into the endzone. But what he gives up in size he makes up for with speed. Smith is a track star at Westlake having won the 100 and 200 meter state championships this year.

Smith was a monster on the combine circuit this spring earning camp MVP honors in Baltimore and taking home the Fastest Man Award at the Rutgers camp. He also took home the 2007 State College Nike camp wide receiver MVP.

Not surprisingly Smith didn't get many offers. Only Temple, Akron, and Eastern Michigan wanted to take a chance on offering the speedster a scholarship. Undoubtedly his size was a big part of the reason, but eligibility issues also forced him to miss most of his junior year after transferring to a different school.

The challenge for Penn State will be finding a way to use him. I suspect we'll see him play a role similar to Derrick Williams. Look for Penn State to move him around on offense. Mostly he'll line up in the slot to create mismatches against slower linebackers and safeties. But he'll also lineup in the backfield and at wideout. The goal will be to get him the ball in open space where he can use his speed to avoid tackles. He may even get a shot at returning kickoffs. He's going to be an electric player to watch, but like Williams we may end up watching a dozen four yard bubble screens before he breaks a game open with a big play.

Welcome to Penn State, Devon. WE ARE!!!