Meet The 2018 Class: Three-Star DT Judge Culpepper

The son of Florida Gator great Brad Culpepper, Judge Culpepper went into his recruitment with an open mind. He visited a number of schools during the winter and spring, making trips to Alabama, North Carolina, and LSU among others. His last visit was to Penn State, and it was apparently a pretty successful trip as Culpepper would commit to the Nittany Lions two months later, becoming the first defensive tackle in the class.

Highlights

Scouting Report

Much of Culpepper’s highlights are of him at tight end or defensive end, but Culpepper will be making the switch to defensive tackle at Penn State. At 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, Culpepper has an impressive frame, carrying his weight extremely well. He shouldn’t have any problem adding on 40 pounds, and should still maintain much of his quickness even at 315 pounds.

For being a taller interior lineman, Culpepper does a good job of keep his pad level low in order to maintain leverage against smaller offensive linemen. He’s able to beat defenders by utilizing his long arms to disengage, or by shocking opponents with his quickness. While at times he’s prone to over pursue the play, he displays a great motor by working his way back to the ballcarrier.

Outlook

Culpepper has the versatility to play both the 1-Tech or 3-Tech on the defensive line, but I’d expect him to be play the 1-Tech longterm. He’s just scratching the surface physically, and should end up a similar player to Robert Windsor, who also came to Penn State around the same height and weight.

Culpepper was originally going to enroll early, but later decided against, choosing to enroll with the rest of the class in June. Because of it, it’s very much likely that he redshirts. While Penn State could use some depth at defensive tackle, a redshirt year to gain a better understanding of the position and to pack on pounds should serve Culpepper well.