National Signing Day 2015: Welcome to Penn State, Jonathan Holland

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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Jonathan Holland was one of James Franklin's big tests against some big time names in the recruiting world. From the time that Penn State offered Holland his scholarship, he received offers from Florida State, Georgia and Clemson, just to name a few. James Franklin proved up for the challenge though, and showed that his DMV connections are still alive and well.

From the #DMV to Happy Valley, welcome to our newest Nittany Lion, @JonHolland_COO! #PSUSigningDay pic.twitter.com/ElUJ6uGn5s

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

Stats

Hometown: Potomac, MD

High School: The Bullis School

Position: Tight End/Defensive End

Height/Weight: 6'4"/240

247Composite Rank: ★★★ (0.8662)

Positional Rank: #25 Defensive End, #14 Player in Maryland

Commitment Date: May 3, 2014

247Sports Crystal Ball:

High School Stats

These aren't Holland's full stats from senior year, but they at least provide a small look into what his senior season looked like.

Highlight Tape

Scouting Report

Holland is a unique talent, and it's easy to see why he was coveted by so many big name schools, including the at-the-time defending national champions. He has the ability to play on either side of the ball in college, and Penn State was even so impressed with him that they left it up to him to decide where he played. Despite being the size of defensive end, he still shows off the ability to find space in the defense and get separation. He will never be the type of tight end to stretch the field and surprise a linebacker with his speed, but if he can continue his great progress with finding the ball at its highest point, he will be a fantastic red zone option for his quarterback.

Immediate Outlook

With Holland's decision to play tight end in college, I would be a little surprised to see him play right away as a freshman. With Adam Breneman, Mike Gesicki, Kyle Carter and Brent Wilkerson all sitting ahead of him on the depth chart, not to mention fellow 2015 commit Nick Bowers fighting for a spot as well, there is little room for Holland to get any playing time. Then again, we thought the same thing about Mike Gesicki before this past season. So in reality, it all falls on Holland. If he comes to camp and shows the coaches that he will not be ignored, they'll draw up plays for him and he will be part of the tight end rotation. If he shows up and is still a bit raw (which is likely), they won't have any qualms with slapping him with the redshirt to give him a chance to learn under all of the fantastic tight ends that Penn State has on the roster.

Everything Else

• Jonathan Holland Commits to Penn State
• Jonathan Holland Interview (Post-Commitment)
• Johnathan Holland's Hudl
• Jonathan Holland's MaxPreps
• Jonathan Holland's 247 Profile

Welcome to Penn State, Jon!