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Oh, Hello: IN LB Josh Barajas Commits to Penn State

Apparently Franklin is bored with the Penn State locks, so he's going after guys locked to other schools now.

By Nick Polak

Heh.

Whoo_siren_medium

Josh Barajas, ladies and gentlemen!

Stats

Home/HS: Merrillville, IN/Andrean

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 210 lbs

Recruited by: Ricky Rahne

Starz 'n Sheetz

Stars: 4* 247Sports, Rivals, Scout

Offer Sheet: Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, NC State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Old Miss, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin

Cinema:

Check out Josh's highlights on his Hudl page here.

The Tale:

Welcome to the big time everyone. James Franklin blew me away yesterday when he persuaded Steven Gonzalez (an Ohio State favorite) to come on board, but Barajas? He was polling at a cool 100% Crystal Ball for Notre Dame before today. He also publicly named the Fighting Irish his favorite multiple times. I thought I was blown away yesterday, but this? This is crazy.

Outlook:

Josh is ranked as the #1 player in Indiana, and the #2 overall inside linebacker in the country by 247Sports (Composite rankings have him as #4 in the country). Simply put, Josh is a beast. If you take a look at his offer list, you'll see that this is a well known fact. Aside from Notre Dame, Oregon, Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin all had thrown an offer Josh's way. I don't know what Franklin says on these visits, but it is a pleasure watching him recruit.

Being the incredible athlete that he is, Josh will look to earn playing time right away. He'll be coming in to a linebacking unit that will likely feature a starting trio of Brandon Bell, Nyeem Wartman, and Troy Reeder. After those three, there still won't be a ton of depth on the Lions roster, so, with a good performance in training camp, he could find himself rotating in as the fourth linebacker in no time.

For the class as a whole, Barajas, Jake Cooper, and Kamonte Carter (if he plays linebacker) all currently make up the Linebacker U portion of the 2015 class. Due to the lack of depth at that spot, however, I expect to see one or two more commitments in this area. If Josh Adams commits, he could shift to linebacker. Jerome Baker is also still on the staff's radar, although that one will still be a fight between Franklin and Urban Meyer. Darrin Kirkland Jr. is also still in play for the Nittany Lions, as well as the newly offered and very interested Manny Bowen.

Barajas is an incredible athlete who will be a star at Penn State, write it down. I'll try to catch up with Josh later this week. You can follow Josh on twitter at @ScoopNScore11.

Josh's commitment brings the 2015 class to 11, and keeps them firmly in second place in the country according to the 247Sports rankings.

Welcome to Penn State, Josh!

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