Jesse James Commits To Penn State

by Adam Bittner on Mar 28, 2011 1:07 PM EDT in Recruiting

The good recruiting news for Penn State just keeps on coming as the Nittany Lions picked up verbal No. 4 for the Class fo 2012 early Monday from South Allegheny tight end Jesse James according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and Lions 24/7.

Currently, James is not rated star-wise by any of the major services. According to the Trib, though, he was receiving interest from Pittsburgh, Maryland and Toldeo, so use that as a barometer of where he stands for now.

James has a nice frame for a tight end at 6'7" and 245 pounds. He's the second at his position to verbal to Penn State in the last three days after Brent Wilkerson joined the class of 2012 on Saturday. The Trib says James was recruited by defensive coordinator Tom Bradley and tight ends coach Bill Kenney.

Sean Fitz at Lions 24/7 has your stats on the new guy.

As a junior in 2010, James caught 34 passes for 463 yards as a tight end and on the defensive side of the ball he added 55 tackles, 18 of which were behind the line of scrimmage. He was a second team all-state selection as an offensive lineman.

Not a whole lot else out there on him right now, though. In the mean time, here is his highlight tape.

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I love him just for his name.

Welcome to Penn State!

This is BSD, the crazy stirs itself.

by Paige2PSU on Mar 28, 2011 1:23 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

+1 for so much truth.

We have a “Jesse James” store in Hoboken. I think I need to start buying some attire for my friends to wear to games.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 28, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed.

His fan club is going to have a billion name options. I hope they do something good with it.

Welcome to Penn State, Mr. James!

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for this university." "Oh, I haven't done enough." - Joe Paterno.

by dwf5095 on Mar 28, 2011 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

by MainLion on Mar 28, 2011 1:29 PM EDT reply actions 9 recs

You're winning

Selling my Big Ten Championship rings since 2005....
@ArtieFufkin10

by Artiefufkin10 on Mar 28, 2011 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Terrific.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 28, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Let me get out in front of this right now

before the 3 letter-4 number lunatic fringe comes out to play.

Despite his “lack of stars,” this kid is a Plan A offer. How do we know that? Because the staff offered him in March, which means they saw a lot that they liked. This isn’t a “fill the class offer” or a “we lost a kid we really like and need some depth” offer. This is certified.

I know next to nothing about him except for the fact that it sounds like he’s going to turn into a tackle (6’7 with room to add weight? Yup). I’m pleased with recruiting this year. It makes me wonder why they aren’t this aggressive most years.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 28, 2011 2:05 PM EDT reply actions

I'm sure that's what it is

Still, I hope we don’t lose the Taylor kid in Florida because of him.

"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.

by psume06 on Mar 28, 2011 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

"that"

of course being they expect him to be a tackle.

-J.V.Pa.

by psume06 on Mar 28, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Certainly seems like it, doesn't it?

Here’s a question for everyone. Would you rather recruit an offensive lineman that needs to drop weight or a TE/OT hybrid who has to gain it?

I’d normally say the latter, as it’s nearly impossible to find a kid who can contribute as a freshman on the line. Generally, I’d think we’d want athletic kids who look likely to add weight on our nutrition and exercise programs than a guy who got by in high school by mauling kids that were 50 pounds (or more) lighter.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 28, 2011 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions

The latter, for more or less the same reasons.

I have been watching football long enough to get why giant people would be recruited by football programs, but investing some time in physical development doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.

Also, I’m pretty sure I speak for all of femalekind when I say that it is much easier to gain weight than lose it, and I’m pretty jealous of people who are encouraged to get larger in college.

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for this university." "Oh, I haven't done enough." - Joe Paterno.

by dwf5095 on Mar 28, 2011 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

[insert SEC speed joke here]

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for this university." "Oh, I haven't done enough." - Joe Paterno.

by dwf5095 on Mar 28, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

*tackle eligible, perhaps

" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009

by BlueWhiteLife on Mar 28, 2011 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not sure he'll end up at tackle, but I agree with you about the Plan A.

Or at least, he’s not a Plan C kid. We’re looking at 2-3 TEs in this class, and I’d be willing to bet that Brent Wilkerson is the first position change if Kent Taylor, Colin Thompson, and/or JP Holtz want to come aboard.

Things are going to move quickly with this class, a nice change from last year. Read into that the SPECULATION reasons you want, but I wouldn’t be surprised if an additional handful of recruits aren’t on board by the B/W game (or the Sunday thereafter).

@EpicTripod
SBN - Pittsburgh
Success With Honor

by Jeff Junstrom on Mar 28, 2011 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions

The delay in the ability to actually offer kids

may have something to do with how aggressive the staff is. In years past, if a kid had a written offer, he could tell that the school was serious regardless of how many times they called him or wrote to him. This year, that’s the only way of telling a kid how serious a school is until August. Maybe it’s caused PSU’s coaches to be a bit more aggressive in their contact with players.

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 28, 2011 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions

We weren't "aggressive" in years past because we couldn't be

Last year was the perfect example. From a fan’s perspective, could things have been handled better? Yes (whether it was that way for the coaches is up for debate). However, the fact remains that we needed to be extremely careful WHO we offered and WHAT they played, and that’s exactly what we got. We were very thin on DE’s, so we got a bunch of them. We always need linemen, got a bunch of those too. I don’t think Kiffen himself could have snake-oiled a QB into entering into PSU last year, so we only got a few of the “flashy” kids, and suddenly it’s the end of the world. We don’t oversign like an SEC school does, so unlike the Alabamas, Auburns, and Ole Miss’ of the world we were actually limited to following the rules and having the legal number of scholarships available this year.

I don’t deny we lost out on a some prospects I was excited about, but that happens. It’s a dirty business, but if you would have told me during last season that we’d go from second to last according to website rankings in the B1G to the top four, I’d have told you to GTFO.

by dawsonPSU10 on Mar 28, 2011 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions

A pleasantly large human being with a fairly awesome name?

Fantastic. Welcome to the family!

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for this university." "Oh, I haven't done enough." - Joe Paterno.

by dwf5095 on Mar 28, 2011 2:07 PM EDT reply actions

So many comments....so many comments...so many comments....

Must.refrain.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 28, 2011 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh, go on

And give the Bear a hug.

jtothetweet
"Cats been getting hookups on tatts since back in '01". - former buckeye Antonio Pittman

by jtothep on Mar 28, 2011 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow... I'm not accustomed to this kind of fast start in recruiting

…but I like it. I’m excited to see what the rest of recruiting season will bring.

He is one tall kid… I’ll be interested to see if he makes it as a TE or an OT.

by newenglandnittanylion on Mar 28, 2011 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

What because of last year?

Because the year before that, we had two 4* commits by JANUARY (Paul Jones, and Mike Hull).

But if you’ve only been following recruiting for a year, I totally understand your surprise.

by dawsonPSU10 on Mar 28, 2011 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions

this

last year was not the norm. Though so many seem to think so. Even the dark years, that actually had a couple good classes on paper that ended up being horrible, had early commits. PSU was the leader in getting early commits at one time. Last year was a bizzare year for recruiting that started horrible and ended okay.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin

by BMAN13 on Mar 28, 2011 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Welcome!

" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009

by BlueWhiteLife on Mar 28, 2011 2:48 PM EDT reply actions

You people who love his name make me sick.

Probably the same people who think Tressel’s a great man.

This is further proof that JoePa is not simply running an outlaw program, he’s embracing the image too.

"Use their guts to lubricate our single leg attacks!" - Lycurgus

by ReadingRambler on Mar 28, 2011 3:05 PM EDT reply actions

You act like Jesse James was a blood thirsty robber/murderer

Everybody kills, robs, steals from stagecoaches, whatever.

Snark aside, I never did quite understand the celebrity status he and his fellow outlaws of the times has garnered. I guess it has more to do with their portrayal in movies/shows/books, etc produced about them then their actual exploits. At least I hope so.

It's even possible that Jim Tressel drinks out of the toilet

by jman07 on Mar 28, 2011 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions

I thought we were talking about the motorcycle guy?

/popcultureruinsbrains

by MainLion on Mar 28, 2011 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Well

The motorcycle guy does have some weird Nazi fetish

by Brett Brown on Mar 28, 2011 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions

he is also stupid

My coach is better than your coach

by letsgopsu on Mar 28, 2011 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Wellllllllll

then you’re probably not going to like to learn that we offered a kid from NY named…Mikal Myers.

" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009

by BlueWhiteLife on Mar 28, 2011 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, baby! Yeah!

by dawsonPSU10 on Mar 28, 2011 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions

this needs an image

My coach is better than your coach

by letsgopsu on Mar 28, 2011 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Only when he commits does he earn a photoshopped picture

by dawsonPSU10 on Mar 29, 2011 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

We'll see later.

I try to keep my items fresh and relevant*. The relevance here is still in question.

Yeah right.

by MainLion on Mar 29, 2011 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, what's up there.

Can’t find any info on him anywhere?? Is he a legacy or something?

People will always forget what you do, and they will always forget what you say, but they will never, ever forget the way you make them feel.

by PaJoe on Mar 28, 2011 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions

we're also offering Michael Moore

Fire Dan Snyder

by Cari Greene on Mar 29, 2011 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

A few interesting stats to point out

-whether he is 6-6/6-7 or 6-8 really doesn’t matter; he’s big and young with a frame that can take on some more size. He ‘seems’ to be a little faster than the TE whom verbaled the other day. His stats noted he can bench 350# – phenomenal (read: phenomenal) . I hope that’s a fact, and not hyped. There might be 1 or 2 college Sr TE’s that can claim that strength every year; this kid isn’t a Sr in HS yet. This could and should be a key, on the field physical notification.

There are few blue-chip HS Sr’s DL/OL/LB’s that can bench 350# plus. What’s more, when you take a kid of Jesse’s (not Jessedot) height, (read:wingspan) even if he is a solid multi-sport athlete, that is unheard of…if you told me he benched 300# – I still would be very impressed.

If you read AC’s comments above, he noted JJ will probably fill-out and become a tackle; which certainly could happen. But with good speed, great size and potentially crazy physical strength – I’d like to expose that in a TE…or even DE. This is a ‘good’ problem to have!

" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009

by BlueWhiteLife on Mar 28, 2011 3:17 PM EDT reply actions

I am not saying benching 350 #s is weak

but I think you are mistaken by the number of HS players that can bench that. My team wasn’t that big but there were a few of us that could bench that. I would also bet that almost all of the SR college TE’s can bench 350 +

I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed.

by psupride on Mar 28, 2011 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Question 1: which is more 'impressive': benching 350+ once or 225 20+times?

Q2, separate question: which is more ‘useful’ to ‘football players’ (left intentionally generic by position)?

jtothetweet
"Cats been getting hookups on tatts since back in '01". - former buckeye Antonio Pittman

by jtothep on Mar 28, 2011 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm gonna go with 350 for more impressive

and break it down by position – line, 350; LB/RB, 225; WR/DB, neither – neither have any bearing.

Justifications:

(1) In college, I benched 315, but could rep 225 14-15 times. Frankly, I was pushing myself to get anywhere near 315, and 225 was pretty easy, even at those reps. 350 is SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult (for someone who weighed 190) than 315, and it is more impressive to me for that reason.
(2) Line: they need “low endurance, fast twitch” strength to create separation at the line. Obviously, we want some endurance on the line, but I think fast-twitch strength is more important.
(3) Middle guys: more endurance, same fast twitch. I guess 225 is close to this.

-J.V.Pa.

by psume06 on Mar 28, 2011 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Since I was commenting from memory

and in reading ‘prides comment, I did a few quick google’s…but the loop kept ref’g 225 reps…which is understandable.

I did hit-up Quarless, specifically; and did find he benched 400# for the packer’s (in their camp, or so it seemed). IMO, Q has a strong build. But was still impressed that he benched 400#. So I could be overstating in the above.

“350” is quite a measurable though…but not an average for 17/18 yr olds. My comment might be better served as…for a 6-5+ HS TE…350# bench is rare.

" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009

by BlueWhiteLife on Mar 28, 2011 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions

The 225 reps vs avg max

can equate pretty consistantly; say within a few pounds.

I did 225 also 15x’s this past fall on a 3rd set…and somewhere within a month or so of that time did 1 rep @ 315; so you can see just between you and I that this is a stat you could probably glean off a chart.

" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009

by BlueWhiteLife on Mar 28, 2011 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions