Blessed & Honored: PSU Offers 2019 Defensive End, While Two More Commits Plan To Enroll Early

LIONS OFFER VILBERT

One time basketball prospect Smith Vilbert has made the transition to football, and if his offer list is any indication, he made the right choice. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound North Jersey product has notable offers from Baylor, Nebraska, Oregon, and Virginia, and as of Friday afternoon, can now add Penn State to his list.

Vilbert visited Penn State for the Ohio State game back in September, and now with an offer in hand, it looks likely that he’ll be back in Happy Valley sometime before deciding.

With his size, athleticism, and how quickly he’s made the jump to football, I would be very surprised if Penn State was his last big time offer. Vilbert is extremely raw, but he’s exactly the type of player programs will want to take a chance on down the stretch. We’ll see if he signs in December or February, but if he waits until February, I have a feeling his final schools will be a “who’s who” of college football.

STRANGE AND DIXON ENROLLING EARLY

Penn State received more good news earlier this week, with Ryan Snyder of BWI confirming that tight end Brenton Strange and linebacker Lance Dixon are enrolling in January for the Nittany Lions.

This now means that 10 — QB Taquan Roberson, QB Michael Johnson, WR Emery Simmons, JUCO OT Anthony Whigan, TE Brenton Strange, LB Brandon Smith, LB Lance Dixon, DB Tyler Rudolph, CB Marquis Wilson, and CB Keaton Ellis — of Penn State’s 17 commits will be enrolling early which, to point out the obvious, is very good news for James Franklin and Co.

Dixon, specifically, should benefit greatly from this move. He’s a little undersized at 201 pounds right now so a full offseason with Dwight Galt should have him in the 225-pound area come preseason camp. While Penn State’s linebacker depth should actually be pretty good next year, Dixon — and Smith, too — are talented enough to crack the two-deep right away.