THE SKINNY
Hometown/High School: Brooklyn, NY (Canarsie H.S.)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-5, 220 pounds
Ranking: ★★★★ (0.9625 247Sports Composite — No. 79 overall)
Notable Offers: Auburn, Florida, LSU, Miami, and Texas A&M
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE TALE
Penn State offered Adisa Isaac on National Signing Day last February 7, and since then, the New York City defensive end has been a familiar face around State College, visiting Happy Valley five times within the last year. It might have taken longer than expected — Isaac was on commit watch heading into the Lasch Bash — but the four-star defensive end finally made the call for the Nittany Lions, and is poised to sign with the program on Wednesday.
Isaac becomes the 16th prospect in Penn State’s 2019 class with at least four-stars, and he joins Brandon Smith, Devyn Ford, and Caedan Wallace as top 100 prospects in the class.
THE OUTLOOK
At 6-foot-5, Isaac has the ideal frame that Penn State is looking for in a defensive end prospect: long, lanky, and athletic. But Isaac is much more than just a raw prospect — he’s actually a pretty good football player right now. He’s able to beat offensive tackles with speed, power, and does a great job using his hands to fend off blockers. While Isaac will need to get bigger in the coming years (he’s just 220 pounds right now), he has all the tools to be an All-Big Ten caliber defender down the line.
That being said, I wouldn’t expect to see Isaac much next year. Not only does he need to add mass, but Penn State is actually pretty set at defensive end in 2019. Even if Shareef Miller leaves for the draft, the Nittany Lions will still have a three-deep of Yetur Gross-Matos, Shane Simmons, Shaka Toney, Daniel Joseph, Jayson Oweh, and Nick Tarburton. So while Isaac should see some snaps in blowouts as true frosh, Penn State should be able preserve his redshirt next season.