National Signing Day 2016: Welcome to Penn State, Tyrell Chavis

Welcome to Black Shoe Diaries' coverage of National Signing Day 2016. Our goal is to make sure that you know everything you need to know about every member of Penn State's 2016 recruiting class, including what fans should expect from them, some highlight tape and more. We truly appreciate you taking the time to follow along with our coverage of all things Penn State recruiting-related over the past year, and we can't wait to continue to ramp up our coverage for 2017. So whether you've been reading the site for years, or a first-time reader who just stumbled upon Black Shoe Diaries, we hope you stick around.

To read up on all of the other members of the 2016 recruiting class, simply head back to the main draft board, where recruits will be added as their official letters of intent roll in.

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Penn State's recruiting class had a bit of exodus with regards to defensive tackles as signing day approached. First it was Christian Colon, then Karamo Dioubate, and finally Michael Dwumfour. However, in Tyrell Chavis and Antonio Shelton, they have filled that gap relatively quickly. Chavis has had an interesting journey to State College, starting off as a well-regarded defensive line recruit out of Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, where he played with Christian Hackenberg. He committed to Mike London and UVA, and redshirted his freshman year, before ultimately transferring to Nassau County Community College. As someone from Long Island who once took a summer class at NCCC once, moving to Happy Valley will be like winning the lottery for the big tackle.

A Happy Valley welcome to our newest Nittany Lion - @tyrell_chavis! #PSUsigningday pic.twitter.com/NNQcN5psAM

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 3, 2016

Vitals

Position	Defensive tackle
High School	Fork Union Military Academy (Va.)
Height/Weight	6'4"/320lbs
247Composite Rank	(0.8863)
Positional Rank (JuCo)	#3 defensive tackle, #3 player in Virginia/New York
Positional Rank (Combined)	#37 defensive tackle, #9 player in Virginia/#1 in New York
Commitment Date	July 18, 2015

Highlight Tape

Scouting Report

Chavis is a grown-ass man, at 6'4" 320lbs and 21 years 8 months of age. Despite that, he'll only be entering his junior season. He has fantastic strength and moves incredibly well for a guy his size. It's highlight film against JuCo competition, so take it with a grain of salt, but there are at least three instances in his video library where he takes down a running back from behind His motor is strong and paired with good moves on the guards and centers he faces, he gets in the backfield quite a bit for a big guy. As is typical with most guys playing at a vastly inferior level of competition, Chavis often just overpowered the guys he was playing against, so he'll have to use his hands more, but already has a pretty darn good bull rush. He has a ton of power and a pretty good amount of polish, and is comfortable in his own skin.

Outlook

Chavis is likely to make the biggest impact this coming season of any player in the class of 2016. The hole left by Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson in the middle of the line is massive, and he'll be needed to help fill it. Odds are there will be a pretty consistent level of rotation at the spots, especially early on, but Chavis has the current skillset and some upside to him to be a valuable contributor in 2016 and, if all goes well, a high-end one 2017. There's a reason he was chased by Auburn, Texas, and Miami.

Everything Else

• Tyrell Chavis Commits to Penn State
• Tyrell Chavis' Hudl
• Tyrell Chavis' 247 Profile