National Signing Day 2015: Welcome to Penn State, Irvin Charles

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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Prior to Irvin Charles' commitment to Penn State, the Nittany Lions had already brought in two blue-chip wide receivers in the class of 2015 in Juwan Johnson and Brandon Polk. Theoretically, James Franklin didn't need to bring in another potential star, but he did just that in Charles. The New Jersey native is a big, strong receiver who is going to maul smaller cornerbacks during his time in State College. As with Johnson and Polk, you should be excited about what Charles is going to do as a Nittany Lion.

First to commit, first to be certified @Swirvington_ Welcome to the #PSUFBFamily! #PSUSigningDay pic.twitter.com/WbUQtcc82e

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 4, 2015

Stats

Hometown: Haddonfield, NJ

High School: Paul VI

Position: Wide Receiver

Height/Weight: 6'4"/212

247Composite Rank: ★★★★ (0.8971)

Positional Rank: #38 Wide Receiver, #7 Player in New Jersey

Commitment Date: July 19, 2014

247 Crystal Ball:

High School Stats

Finding high school stats is usually brutal. For some reason, Charles has a bunch of stats available! Even if they aren't 100 percent accurate, hooray! Here's how he did as a sophomore, junior and senior in high school:

Highlight Tape

Scouting Report

Charles is, above everything else, huge. The thing that you notice when you watch his tape is that he's so much bigger and stronger than everyone that tries to cover him. Of course, part of this is because he is going up against high school aged children, and it won't be as easy as him to overpower college players, but his strength and physicality are his two biggest assets. He desperately needs to go through a speed and agility program. Sure, when he gets to his top speed, he's got 4.5 40-yard dash speed, but it takes him a while to get there. He also doesn't have the quickness and agility that he needs right now. Still, at the very worst, he will be a solid red zone target. With some seasoning, look out.

Immediate Outlook

Charles will likely redshirt for two reason. Reason No. 1 was outlined above. He needs some work in a college-level speed and agility program, and hopefully a year in which he focuses on getting Dwight Galt'd will lead to Charles becoming a matchup nightmare.

The other reason is that Penn State is loaded at wide receiver. Seriously. You can argue that it's the team's best position heading into 2014. DaeSean Hamilton, Geno Lewis, Matt Zanellato, Chris Godwin and Saeed Blacknall are all returning from the 2014 squad. De'Andre Thompkins will make his debut after redshirting last year. There's a good chance that Juwan Johnson gets some run. Having Charles is a pure luxury, and like most luxurious things, the smart move is probably letting him age a bit and breaking him out when the time is right.

Everything Else

• Irvin Charles Commits to Penn State
• Irvin Charles' Hudl
• Irvin Charles' MaxPreps
• Irvin Charles' 247 Profile

Welcome to Penn State, Irvin!