Penn State White Out camp standouts: Skill positions
On Saturday, Penn State held its annual White Out camp at the team’s practice facility. For those that don’t know, it’s a more selective camp than the four prospect camps the team runs throughout the summer. Because of that, the talent and number of players to track were much deeper than a normal setting.
While it’s not a comprehensive list, here are the standout players that Blue White Illustrated observed during the afternoon at the Penn State facilities. The offensive and defensive lines worked outside, while the skill players and defenders worked inside. I spent the camp’s first half observing the defensive and running backs. Here are my observations.
Receivers, defensive backs and skill players
The Class of 2026 was well represented at the Whiteout Camp on Saturday. Trinity High School running back Messiah Mickens stood out despite being one of the younger runners in the camp. While just a sophomore, he’s already got offers from Penn Staten, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Michigan, Alabama, and dozens more.
While it’s very early in the process, Penn State is in a good position. Mickens is a fan of Nick Singleton, and early indications are that his two favorite schools at the moment are Ohio State and the Nittany Lions. However, he’ll draw even more attention from down south eventually. After seeing him in person on Saturday, it’s clear why the 5-10 200-pound running back has so many offers. He looks like the real deal.
What? A big safety visiting Penn State?
Blair is the second-ranked safety in the Class of 2024 per On3, and at 6-4, 182, he looks the part. He also performed that way, with great explosive testing numbers and a solid 40 times. Blair looked fluid going through testing drills and, despite his height, turned well in positional drills. He even got some individual coaching from safeties coach Anthony Poindexter.
Blair was pretty clearly the top defensive back at camp and stood out from the pack. His work in the early one-on-one periods confirmed that he’d got the skills to be an elite defensive back.
Saxton Suchanic
But right behind Blair was Central York defender Saxton Suchanic. While he didn’t run as fast as you might like for a defensive back, he put up some of the best explosive numbers of the camp. His broad jump of over ten feet was among the best in attendance, as was his shuttle time.
He did well in the coverage drills and got his hands in to break up a pass during his first rep. He also had good coverage in the seven-on-seven portion of camp.
Xxavier Thomas
Pittsburgh Central Catholic defensive back Xxavier Thomas looked good going through drills and had solid coverage during the one-on-one portion of the event. He’s on the smaller side at just under 5-10, but he tested very well and has a great reach to compensate for his smaller frame.
Also, he has the bloodlines to play in college. His older brother, Rodney Thomas II, played safety for the Indianapolis Colts and was on hand to support his little brother.
I got to see less of the receivers than any other group but Cyrus showed legit speed on Saturday and was a nightmare to cover. He broke open easily on an intermediate route for a nice catch and run. His sub-4.4 speed matches his track times from this spring. At 5-10 172, this 2025 receiver has the skills to make up for a smaller frame. He doesn’t currently hold a Penn State offer but has a good number of other offers including Texas A&M, West Virginia, Pitt and Virginia Tech.
The post Penn State White Out camp standouts: Skill positions appeared first on On3.
