National Signing Day 2015: Welcome to Penn State, Robert Windsor

One of the final additions to the 2015 class fills a position of need for the Nittany Lions--and comes from deep inside Big Ten territory.

By Cari Greene@NotCarlotta Feb 4, 2015, 10:53am EST

Welcome to Black Shoe Diaries' coverage of National Signing Day 2015. We're here to make sure that you know exactly who the newest Nittany Lions are, where they come from, and what we can expect of them. Each of these reports will include their vital information, their high school statistics, highlight tape analysis, outlook for their freshmen seasons and more. We sincerely hope you enjoy getting to know the stars of tomorrow. If you've been reading along with our recruiting coverage all year, we appreciate the support and are glad you hung around with us for the ride that was the 2015 recruiting class. If you are a new reader, welcome! We're glad you're here, and we hope you stick around for 2016!

To navigate your way to other members of the 2015 recruiting class, simply head back to our draft board and click on the player of your choice.

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Soon after they missed out on Christian Wilkins, James Franklin and co zeroed in on Robert Windsor--and they weren't disappointed. It took a few months after he got the initial offer, but the Wisconsin product pulled the trigger on an official visit in January, helping round out the 2015 class and solidifying Sean Spencer's Wild Dogs for years to come.

The #PSUSigningDay celebration rolls on with a spirited welcome to @Wild_Windsor from future Coach @spencechaos! pic.twitter.com/Ok40jQTY9J
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 4, 2015

Stats

Hometown: Fond Du Lac, WI

High School: Fond Du Lac

Position: Athlete/DE

Height/Weight: 6'5"/278

247Composite Rank: ★★★ (0.8367)

Positional Rank: #81 Defensive Tackle, #4 Player in Wisconsin

Commitment Date: January 25, 2015

247 Crystal Ball:

High School Stats

Robert doesn't have any high school stats available on Maxpreps (probably because it's Wisconsin and he didn't play on the Packers).

Highlight Tape

Scouting Report

Wisconsin isn't known for its overwhelming talent, and though Windsor has tremendous upside, a lot of his highlights came while overpowering lesser competition. Windsor definitely has a nose for the ball and isn't easily fooled on the field. 247 Scouts were concerned he's not quite ready to take on double teams--something that most Penn State DTs will have to learn to fight through--and he'll need to refine his technique a bit to compete at the next level.

But overall athleticism and quickness, as well as a good feel for where the ball is most of the time, isn't something you can teach--and the rest will come with time with this staff, and in the Penn State program. Despite the fact that he is a good deal larger than his opponents in the video and the gif, you can still see the natural quickness and nose for the ball. Some added (good) weight paired with D1 experience could lead to Windsor chasing down Big Ten quarterbacks one day.

Immediate Outlook

With almost the entirety of the two deep at defensive tackle from 2014 returning to the squad in 2015, Windsor is likely a lock to redshirt his first fall in Happy Valley. Windsor is also on the smaller side, weight-wise, for a defensive tackle, so he'll likely use the extra year to fill out his frame.

Windsor will also use the extra time to refine his technique, better learn the three-tech, and learn the ropes from All-Big Ten caliber DTs, Anthony Zettel and Austin Johnson. If he can put on that necessary weight and performs well on the scout team, he could be one of the underclassmen hearing their name called in 2016, when Anthony Zettel has moved on, possibly taking his partner in crime (Austin Johnson) with him.

National Signing Day 2015: Welcome to Penn State, Robert Windsor