The month of July has already been one of the best months for Penn State football recruiting in quite awhile. Since the calendar has flipped from June to July the Nittany Lions 2022 recruiting class has added eight players. The Nittany Lions also added borderline five-star 2023 offensive lineman Alex Birchmeier, who is a top-50 prospect in the 2023 cycle.

SHORING UP THE FRONT SEVEN

Penn State has already added a trio of defensive line commits this month. Four-star defensive tackle Zane Durant and three-star defensive tackle Kaleb Artis committed to the Nittany Lions of the 4th of July.

Durant is a defensive tackle for the Nittany Lions, but like Kevin Givens has done in the past and Hakeem Beamon is expected to do this season Durant could bump out to defensive end against run heavy teams. Artis is a defensive tackle all the way and was arguably the staff’s top defensive tackle target. If his senior campaign goes as expected, look for him to receive a bump to four-star status.

Four-star Pittsburgh defensive end Tyreese Fearbry also joined the class on the 4th of July. Fearbry was a huge recruiting win for James Franklin and his staff as defensive end is a huge need this cycle and Fearbry was viewed as close to a Pitt lock.

Penn State also added their first linebacker commit of 2022 when three-star Philadelphia native Keon Wylie made the call on July 3. There are many people who will tell you that Wylie is the best football player in the city of Philadelphia. While he has played primarily defensive end in his high school career thus far, he has the frame and athleticism needed to be a quality box linebacker for the Nittany Lions.

As we will get to it does not appear that the Nittany Lions are done with the defensive front seven this month. This includes Fearbry not being the biggest front seven recruiting win of the month, either.

ANOTHER BIG HAUL AT RUNNING BACK

Entering July the Nittany Lions did not have a running back commit. Now, they have two of the best running backs in the country in the fold in the form of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Both Singleton and Allen were great recruiting wins for the Nittany Lions. Singleton is an elite, top-100 back and an in-state product. Penn State also had to hold off a late surge by Notre Dame to secure Singleton’s commitment.

Allen’s June official visit to Penn State was viewed as nothing more than a courtesy visit. However, on the visit the staff blew Allen away on their way to securing a commitment. JaJuan Seider continues to prove his worth as one of the best recruiters in the country.

TWO MORE ADDITIONS

Penn State also added to their offensive line and defensive back class this month. On July 2 JUCO offensive lineman JB Nelson. Louisiana cornerback Jordan Allen then jumped on board on July 17.

When Penn State’s cornerback board took the hits of Jaeden Gould and Jayden Bellamy committing elsewhere, as well as the staff cooling on Keenan Nelson Jr., Allen became an important target for the staff. To their credit, despite Allen having never visited campus, they were able to close out Allen’s recruitment and seal the deal.

FOUR MORE COMMITMENTS ON THE HORIZON

Before the month ends three more of Penn State’s top targets are set to commit. The first of these three will come on Thursday when the staff’s top 2022 target, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, will announce his college decision.

Dennis-Sutton is one of the top defensive end prospects in the cycle. The Maryland native is an elite game wrecker on the defensive side of the ball and is the type of game wrecker that is needed in order to reach the College Football Playoff. Penn State has led for much of the recruitment and remain the favorites to land DDS on Thursday despite a late charge from Georgia. This would be one of the biggest recruiting wins in recent cycles and it appears James Franklin and company are on the brink of securing the recruiting win.

Shortly after, four-star Florida defensive back Cam Miller is set to make his decision. Miller announced Tuesday that he will be choosing between Penn State and Virginia Tech on Monday, July 26, with the Nittany Lions considered the favorite. Both 247Sports crystal ball predictions are in Penn State’s favor.

Later this month a pair of safety targets will announce their college decisions. Four-star Texas product Cristian Driver will announce on July 29 and three-star Maryland native KJ Winston will announce on July 31.

The Nittany Lions currently hold all of the 247Sports crystal ball predictions for both Driver and Winston. Driver appears to be close to a slam dunk for the Nittany Lions. While they will continue to battle Maryland until the end, it also appears that things are trending positively for the Nittany Lions with Winston. Driver and Winston paired with Tyrece Mills (if he does not end up at SAM) and Mehki Flowers would give Penn State one of the best safety classes in the country this cycle.