Looking Ahead To The Penn State 2011 Recruiting Class
by BSD on Feb 5, 2010 8:00 AM EST
in Recruiting
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Over the coming days Junny will take you for a walk through the incoming freshman class to acquaint you with them all once again. The ink from the fax machine is barely dry on this recruiting class, but I'm going to start looking ahead for the class of 2011. We will take a look at the major needs Penn State will have to focus on and fill when they hit the recruiting trail this spring, and we may point out a target or two for you to keep an eye on. But first, we have to get an idea for how many scholarships we have to play with. Here is the list of Penn State players on the current scholarship roster who will run out of eligibility after the 2010 season.
| Evan Royster | Brent Carter | Graham Zug |
| Brett Brackett | Lou Eliades | Doug Klopacz |
| Stefen Wisniewski | Tom McEowen | Ollie Ogbu |
| Chris Colasanti | Bani Gbadyu | Cedric Jefferies |
So that's 12 players. I'm not sure if Collin Wagner has a scholarship or not. If so you can put that number at 13. Besides this list, you can probably count on a player or two transferring after spring practice when it becomes apparent they aren't going to beat out the hot shot underclassman. Some guys may leave for the NFL a year early. Though I don't see any obvious Navorro Bowmans on this roster, nobody suspected Aaron Maybin would go pro prior to his redshirt sophomore year. Maybe Jack Crawford has a shot if he has a breakout year, but he's still relatively new to the game so I consider him a longshot.
You can probably count on one or two guys not returning for their fifth year. Also, if Penn State can get a few guys to enroll in January 2011, they can count those toward the 2010 total. Since Penn State only brought in 20 kids with this class and several of them enrolled early, it's not outside the realm of possibility. All told I would expect Penn State to have somewhere between 16 and 18 kids sign in February 2011 or enroll in January. So that should give us a good number to start with and keep in the back of our minds when we look at the major needs on the team.
Now, it's going to be a small class. The coaches are going to have to be very careful about who they offer. Nailing the assessments and evaluations is going to be critical. Because of its size, this is not going to be a top ranked class. With all the skill positions we've taken the past few years, it will most likely be a meat and potatoes class full of linemen. The recruiting services are not going to love it. So get that in your head now. You are not going to read a lot of articles about Penn State dominating the recruiting trail like we did this year. We're probably going to have to give up some big time recruits that we just don't have room for. So get ready to read articles about Wanny building his wall and Schiano giving us his New Jersey leftovers. It's going to be infuriating to listen to. Just remember, when your Pitt alum co-worker rubs it in your face because they got a verbal from a four star WPIAL receiver, ask him if the kid even had a Penn State offer.
For those of you new to BSD in the past year, over the coming weeks I will go through each position one by one. We will take a look at the depth chart and try to see if it makes sense for the coaches to pursue players at that position and how many. It's pretty early in the recruiting season, so there may not be many known targets at this time. All of that will come out during the spring evaluation period. But where there are known targets already holding a Penn State offer we will point them out to you as well.
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Question
Based on the depth chart by class from the other post, it looked like PSU had 77 scholarships already comitted for the 2011-12 academic year. So, that would leave 8 to offer for the next class. Do you really expect to lose 8-10 kids between now and then? Seems like a lot for this program.
The other chart is messed up a little. I think it is listed by recruiting year, not eligibilty,
At the minimum, we’ll have the 12 BSD posted above. But there is likely to be a few more as he said.
Black Shoes. Basic Blues. No Name. All Game.
"Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth."
Ugh. If I had known that damn chart was going to be such trouble...
If you look at the far left column, there are 13 names listed (the 12 Mike listed and Wagner, who by my accounts has a scholarship). However, the chart also lists some grayshirt candidates (who would count towards 2011 numbers). However, the staff may decide not to grayshirt anyone and carefully “encourage” certain players to give up their scholarships. Mike is taking into consideration no grayshirts and the fact that some guys may not be back in 2011 (either by leaving early or by giving up their scholarship for other reasons). I’m not convinced the 2011 class will top 15, but the staff will find out what they need and work towards that goal. That being said, just like in every other year, if a 5* kid that we’ve been high on (see Ben Koyack) waits and eventually chooses PSU, we’ll find room for him.
"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"
by Jeff Junstrom on Feb 5, 2010 8:43 AM EST up reply actions
Ok
I’m just thinking, if PSU has to “lose” 5 scholarship guys this year, the most likely candidates are the 5th years who are not really playing. That is at least 2 or 3 of the names above, maybe Wagner as well if Fera is ready. So, the real # of guys coming off scholarship next year is more likely to be in the 8-9 range, rather than 12-13. The issue to be concerned with is the 85 man limit, I think, not the annual class sizes.
I see what youre saying, but there will likely be even more of those kind of guys next year.
The 8-9 number you have, plus a few more 5th year guys in 2011 who are “nudged” out. Either way, the class will be small.
"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"
by Jeff Junstrom on Feb 5, 2010 9:01 AM EST up reply actions
I think adding three or four is safe
This past year the early projections were that there was only room to take 14 kids. I said we would come in around 18. We signed 20.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
by BSD on Feb 5, 2010 9:34 AM EST up reply actions
You'd be surprised at the skill positions still needed
I think there will still be some fancy athletes in this class, not just a bunch of mudders and trench hogs. I’m putting together a post of likely targets, at least the names being thrown around already. Steelers fans will recognize two names right away in Polamalu and Poteat.
"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"
You might be right
I haven’t really examined where the needs are yet.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
by BSD on Feb 5, 2010 9:20 AM EST up reply actions
Basically, it's safety, safety, and safety.
Twitter: @scrappled
scrappled.com
"When it’s third-and-10, you can take the milk drinkers and I’ll take the whiskey drinkers every time" - Max McGee
by Run Up The Score on Feb 5, 2010 9:38 AM EST up reply actions
-25
"I AM A DIEHARD REDSKINS FAN, CAPS, LEAFS, AND I LOVE WATCHING TENNIS. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL"
by ReadingRambler on Feb 5, 2010 9:50 AM EST up reply actions
Oh, come on!
It gave me a chuckle.
"I thought the kid we were using had the potential to be a good quarterback, and I blew that one." - Joseph V. Paterno
Maybe so
…but I still have a soft spot for puns.
"I thought the kid we were using had the potential to be a good quarterback, and I blew that one." - Joseph V. Paterno
by leeharvey418 on Feb 5, 2010 10:03 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I always give in.
But I recognize how cheezy they are.
by PSUinBOSSton on Feb 5, 2010 10:13 AM EST up reply actions
The Pun
Is a totally underrated comedic vehicle. Although the quality does vary, it’s effect is usually defined by the delivery.
It looks like you were already feeling sheepish about using this one, and so included the question mark, practically soliciting Rambler’s negascore. Granted, most of his scores are of this variety—zing!—so I’m not certain you would necessarily have avoided it had you gone with something stronger, like a ‘Word. Always saftey first.’
Anyway, I personally hope you keep giving in. I’m a big fan.
"We just forgot our pants. Nothing against the team or anything like that." -- take a guess
I think we'll see Chesnut, the other CB (can't think of his name) from Jersey, I believe, and then hopefully Huggins.
And, from the Chart, I don’t think we’ll load up to heavy on the linemen – aside from DB, we’ve pulled in more of those than anything the last 2-3 years.
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
Oh, and the Safety who has the name of a guy who was offered a scholarship to play lax at Hopkins.
He’s not the other DB i was referring to, though.
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
little Royster, too
and Maikia Polumalu
NittanyWhiteOut.com. Arguably the second best Penn State blog I know of.
Thats who I was talking about with the Hopkins reference.
But are they brothers? I knew the oldest Royster, kinda knew Evan, but have no idea if they had a 3rd, and if so, why he’d be in NJ instead of Fairfax.
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
Chestnut and Polamalu
are both from Pottsgrove (40 miles NW of Philly), the same school that produced Brent Carter.
Both are tough kids.
'People are about as happy as they decide they want to be'
by Pete the Streak on Feb 6, 2010 6:17 AM EST up reply actions
Just off the top of my head
Obvious needs are safety and defensive end, and it’ll depend on what the coaches see in the incoming linemen as to whether they needs tackles, guards, DT’s, etc. Wouldn’t be shocked to see another QB, either.
We should be fine at LB, RB, FB, and WR for another year.
Twitter: @scrappled
scrappled.com
"When it’s third-and-10, you can take the milk drinkers and I’ll take the whiskey drinkers every time" - Max McGee
by Run Up The Score on Feb 5, 2010 10:02 AM EST reply actions
My view from 30,000 feet
Safeties and cornerbacks. Probably a linebacker or two. We have a lot of young studs, but so far nobody has really proved themselves. Definitely need a tight end. I’d say three offensive linemen and three defensive linemen. That’s a stable in every class.
I think we’re a bit overloaded at running back. So unless a five star kid REALLY wants to come to Penn State, we probably won’t get one of those. We should be ok at wide receiver and quarterback. If we do take a quarterback, it’s going to be a Matt McGloin type kid who works his tail off on the scout team to keep Newsome, Jones, and Bolden honest.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
RBs
Huggins is a certified stud. There are people saying that he’s better than Lattimore. If he wants to be at PSU he’ll be there. I don’t think the log jam at RB is as bad as you think. You have to protect against injuries.
"I'm colonel cool! And I'm the captain on this rocket to the stars!"
That was my point above with Huggins. I hear he's an almost certain 5*.
As for depth – I know we’ve had good luck with LBs coming back from knees injuries, but I feel like those could have a bigger impact on RB. Hope I’m wrong for Beachum’s sake, but I’m leery of counting him as as good as he was without seeing it…
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
Always tack on 3-4 lineman
It’s got to be a constant pipeline. You never know what’s gonna happen with those guys. That said, I love this OL class for 2010.
"I'm colonel cool! And I'm the captain on this rocket to the stars!"
Disagree on the RB.
We’re going to need at least 1 RB in this class with Royster, Carter, and Green all leaving the program within the next two seasons. That only leaves Beachum, Dukes, and Redd (Zwinak at FB).
My class breakdown:
QB – 1
RB – 1
FB – 0
TE – 1
WR – 2 (with one being an ATH)
OL – 3
DE – 2
DT – 1
LB – 1
CB – 2
S – 2
That’s a class of 16, which might be too large. If we top out at 15, then just bring in one pure WR.
Nice spread (TWSS)
I tend to agree with these numbers, and if every class was like this, we wouldn’t have the depth holes outlined in the Infamous Chart post.
"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"
by Jeff Junstrom on Feb 5, 2010 10:55 AM EST up reply actions
It's not just about classes
Sometimes things happen you don’t anticipate that create holes in the depth chart. Kids transfer. They suffer career ending injuries. Some leave a year early for the NFL forcing you to step up your recruiting for that position by a year. Five star studs don’t work out. It’s a constantly fluid situation you have to try to anticipate and react to. It’s all part of the game.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Understood.
But sometimes it would be nice to see a better spread like the one outlined above, as opposed to being in the situation of needing to take 15 OLs.
"Have I ever told the story of when I met Miley Cyrus?"
by Jeff Junstrom on Feb 5, 2010 11:11 AM EST up reply actions
That's one of my biggest gripes with the way PSU handles their recruiting.
Our classes tend to load up on one position or another. Scholarship management seems to be a lost art with our coaching staff. If we would have just taken a step back instead of loading up on 27 kids last year. there was an opportunity to re-balance our classes.
If you think about it, with the 85 scholarship limit, the average incoming class should be 22-23 kids. That leaves room for an attrition rate of 1-2 kids per year (which is pretty normal) to keep the number at 85. A higher attrition rate? More walk-ons earn one-year scholarships.
A class size of 22 would allow you to bring in the following every year:
QB – 1
RB – 1.5 (at least 1 every year, 2 pure tailbacks in the year you don’t get a FB)
FB – 0.5 (1 every two years)
TE – 1
WR – 3
OL – 3
DE – 2
DT – 2
LB – 3
CB – 2
S – 2
That’s 21 ships, which leaves room to bring in a placekicker and punter on ship every few years as well as landing a 4th OL in some classes. Plus, there’s also flexibility to bring in more of the ATH-type guys that could fill multiple roles or just be special teams terrors. To me, this seems pretty easy. It just takes discipline from the staff.
TWHS, doofus.
"I AM A DIEHARD REDSKINS FAN, CAPS, LEAFS, AND I LOVE WATCHING TENNIS. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL"
by ReadingRambler on Feb 5, 2010 11:09 AM EST up reply actions
I mean, seriously, I expect better from a veteran.
"I AM A DIEHARD REDSKINS FAN, CAPS, LEAFS, AND I LOVE WATCHING TENNIS. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL"
by ReadingRambler on Feb 5, 2010 11:15 AM EST up reply actions
Rene Portland told me they didn't exist.
"I AM A DIEHARD REDSKINS FAN, CAPS, LEAFS, AND I LOVE WATCHING TENNIS. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL"
by ReadingRambler on Feb 5, 2010 11:56 AM EST up reply actions
That's what she said
/refusing your right to say it to yourself
And besides, the Infamous Chart Post had more holes than depth.
/waiting….
"We just forgot our pants. Nothing against the team or anything like that." -- take a guess
I wouldn’t be surprised if we grab 3-4 safeties in this class. They’re a position that it seems you never know if they’ll work out until they get into practice. Plus it seems that they tend to be great athletes so they can always make the switch to LB or WR or something like that if it doesn’t work out.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
I hope so
It’s been a long time since Penn State had one of those dominating safeties that owned everything between the hashes.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
We’re just waiting for that ultra-rare guy who’s athleticism matches his football IQ. Hard to recruit that, and so I’d imagine they’ll go after a bunch of good athletes and hope that one or two of them get an immediate grasp of the system.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
also
I’ve heard Bradley said “2011 is the year for safeties” to some 2010 recruits; that to mean indicates more then just two schollies.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
Two pretty good candidates
In Sheldon Royster and Maika Polamalu (though Polamalu is listed as a RB, I think people see him more as a safety). I see a lot of DB’s in this class, but I wouldn’t go more than 3 S in one class.
We've already offered this kid too
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=4589236 name is Caputo, he’s got offers from Pitt, Ohio State, and Purdue. Projects as a safety or LB. With those early offers I’d imagine he’ll be a 4 star kid, and he’s from PA, not to mention the vowel at the end of his last name. You KNOW Joe loves his Italian safeties.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
He plays for Palko's old man.
Never bothered to think about it, but i wonder how many West Allegheny guys end up in State College. For what it’s worth, though, Palko probably would have been a pretty good safety.
Agree for the most part
I’d maybe say move 1 from WR and no QB next year and put them on the D, maybe at DT. Our WR depth is out of control at this point, unless someone switches to the other side of the ball, and one of Jones and Bolden will RS, which should space them out. I can’t see us landing a 4-5 star QB this class after getting 2 last class, and we don’t have the numbers to grab a 2-3 star backup QB.
Agree with everything except WR.
The redshirts we passed out last year (and I feel like D Smith will get redshirted this year) created a bit of separation among the WR ranks.
I would anticipate 1 WR, and while we’ll get an ATH, unless he’s stellar, he won’t be at WR. He’ll be a RB/DB/DQB.
And I hate to jinx it, but I made my opinion known on Silas Redd long before he committed, so I feel safe saying I think we pull Koyack for that TE. His name (Polish?) just sounds like PSU.
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
D Smith, really?
I’d be shocked if he RS. He’s a gadget player, and a returner, and we’ll need both in next year’s pass-phobic offense.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
Yes, but he's in the doghouse.
Why waste a year of his when we have The Drake (who allows for MORE gadgets) and Joe isn’t going to play him anyways?
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
damn
didn’t know about the doghouse. too much lill wayne music I guess?
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
He was skipping class
And I think there was something else. Nothing like a DUI or anything, but a few minor infractions that I have to presume will take a while to work out. If he’s out of the house by fall, then no RS. Otherwise, I don’t see why you don’t use it.
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
Ha! Little (sic) Wayne reminds me of Seantrel Henderson's dad. Sean, his name is
/Dick Doc Tressel’d
"We just forgot our pants. Nothing against the team or anything like that." -- take a guess
Off topic, this will be featured in my upcoming BSD ads post (sometime this spring):
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2074/ad4y.jpg
Mike, what kind of smut are you letting these people post here?
"I AM A DIEHARD REDSKINS FAN, CAPS, LEAFS, AND I LOVE WATCHING TENNIS. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL"
what about the one
During the Ohio State or Purdue games that had something to do with depression and getting help. I laughed my ass off.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
Punter Returner
Is it too much to ask for one of our more dynamic players to return punts this year?
Non of this Royster, Zug, or Astorino business..
Devon Smith, Justin Brown, Silas Redd…something…anything.
Also must have Fera handling kickoffs so the other team doesn’t start on the 40.
Big Ten Titles for everyone.
The new strategy
We saw Justin Brown in the bowl game with a good return. Paterno likes this new strategy where he’ll use a risky kid with potential for a big play when we have good field position. But on punts where we’re going to catch it inside our own 20, you’re going to see Astorino or Zug, the “hands” guys, who just make the fair catch. Our best hope is that Brown or Drake can prove themselves to be good hands guys.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Well Brown dropped one in the bowl game
but with the conditions I can’t say it was completely his fault. The fact that he got time there shows that there will probably be a change from last years strategy. I’d love to see The Drake back there. He’s got a little wiggle to him that would help him break that first tackle and get a big gain.
I wouldn't be surprised to see something about that in the spring.
My friend on the team back when I was there said that Norwood was taking returns in the spring and the coaches loved it. This was before his sophomore year.
Did we ever see Norwood take a punt in a game?
Point being, we’ll see some crazy returners in the BW Game, and they’ll look great, and they’ll rarely touch the field in that position again.
"Every player we have, someone-maybe a parent, a grandparent, someone-poured their soul into that young man. They are handing that young man off to us. They are giving us their treasure, and it's our job to make sure we give them back that young man intact and ready to face the world."
-J.V.Pa.
If that's the case
then I’d rather see Suhey out there instead of Astorino or Zug. He’s got good hands and he might actually be able to make it a few yards forward without fumbling.
"Every time you go to that cook-off you get drunk as a poet on payday!"
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