Committany Nation: Search for Another QB, Young and Parsons Visiting, and More

Penn State Offers Kansas QB

The Nittany Lions are taking their time finding a replacement for Justin Fields, but James Franklin and Co. finally sent out an offer to a quarterback earlier this week, offering Kansas product Jace Ruder. We detailed how well Ruder fits into Joe Moorhead’s offense last week so it’s no surprise that he picked up an offer.

Ruder is currently making the rounds, having already visited Florida State and Georgia this week with a trip to North Carolina coming this weekend. As highlighted by his six 247 Crystal Ball predictions to the Tar Heels, many believed that Ruder would be leaving Chapel Hill committed, but that may no longer be the case. North Carolina picked up a commitment Thursday afternoon from four-star quarterback Tyler Shough, and while Larry Fedora would happily take two quarterbacks in the 2018 class, it remains to be seen if Ruder feels the same way.

Best case scenario for Penn State is that Ruder doesn’t want to be a part of a two-man quarterback class — and thus, holds off committing — giving the Nittany Lions the chance to get the Kansan to State College for a visit.

Parsons and Young Returning To Campus

Two of Penn State’s top defensive targets will be back in Happy Valley this weekend as five-star Micah Parsons and four-star Isheem Young will be with their high school teams for Penn State’s 7-on-7 tournament.

This will be Parsons’ third visit in the last two weeks, and will be Young’s fourth visit since February. With Young looking to decide sometime in late June or early July, this will likely be his last visit to Penn State before he announces. 17 of 18 247 Crystal Ball predictions have Young ending up with the Nittany Lions.

Chris Bleich...?

As first reported by Sean Fitz, Penn State hosted former offensive line commit Chris Bleich on a visit Thursday. This is certainly an odd move considering the Nittany Lions now have three offensive linemen committed, and are in good standing for Rasheed Walker, TJ Bradley, and Christian Armstrong. My guess is that this is just simply a case of Penn State not burning any bridges, but it’s hard to see a scenario where the Nittany Lions reunite with Bleich.

Penn State Making The Cut

The Nittany Lions made the top lists of a bunch of prospects:

Four-Star CB Houston Griffith (Chicago, IL) — Top 7

Four-Star DT Trevor Trout (St. Louis, MO) — Top 9

Four-Star CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart (San Diego, CA) — Top 16

It’s highly unlikely that Penn State lands any of the above prospects, but hey, another Big Ten Title and who knows which croots come knocking.