Ask Around: Which Penn State commit are we not talking about enough?
Penn State’s Class of 2024 sits at 20 commitments currently. Although rankings will be shuffled at all four sites now that camps are over, the Nittany Lions are in a good spot currently, sitting at No. 9 overall in the On3 Team Rankings. For those unaware, our rankings are based on the On3 Industry Rankings, which uses all four sites to compile a cumulative score.
With players like quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer and tight end Luke Reynolds impressing at the Elite 11, their ratings will likely only rise in the weeks ahead, keeping Penn State right on the fringe of the Top 10.
But while those two have been talked about often of late, there are also quite a few players who have gone under the radar in recent months. In our most recent ‘Ask Around’ roundtable, Ryan Snyder and Sean Fitz give their thoughts on a few players who aren’t being talked about enough.
Q: Which Penn State commit are we not talking about enough?
Sean Fitz: This is a tough question because we spend so much time covering the ins and outs of a recruiting class that I feel like we talk about all these guys. There are a few that come to mind and hopefully we can discuss them before they jump in the rankings.
I’ll start with the original member of the class, offensive lineman Cooper Cousins. Because he’s an offensive lineman, because he’s been on board for so long and because there has been legitimately no drama in his recruitment from the start, we just kind of take him for granted. I can guarantee you that Penn State has not.
He was up for camp again last weekend and he’s just the type of guy that the Nittany Lions are looking to help sustain the level of line play that has made strides under Phil Trautwein. After the camp, sources noted that Cousins, once seen as the center of the future, could be a guy that can play all five positions at the next level. Those don’t come along very often. Cousins has dipped in the rankings as the process has gone on, but he’s an On300 guy and a Top 200 guy in my eyes.
Ryan Snyder: I’ll stick with the offensive line and go with Eagan Boyer. Part of that is because he’s simply not one to really talk all that much. His commitment also came the same week as Garrett Sexton and Corey Smith, two players who are a bit more open with the media. However, I’m confident in saying that Penn State’s staff looks at Boyer in a similar stature to both Cousins and Sexton. They were very excited about that commitment.
Link: Future safety Dejuan Lane opens up about his commitment for the first time
If you remember back to the spring, Boyer visited on April 1. He spoke highly of the school but also followed that up by seeing multiple SEC schools in the days and weeks that followed. With Donovan Harbour, Caleb Brewer and Sexton all committing in the previous days, plus all the other top prospects that were still available at the time (Kevin Heywood, William Satterwhite, etc.) he wasn’t someone I was focused on closely. From what I had heard, Tennessee was the team to beat.
It wasn’t until about two days before his commitment that we started hearing that Boyer was close to making a move. At the time, no one was discussing him until we reported it in the ‘S’ Zone the day before his commitment.
Following his commitment on April 25, Boyer then did a Q&A with Fitz and that’s the last time we’ve heard from him. But again, athletically, for someone who’s 6-8, 260, this is a player Penn State is very excited about. I think he’s one of a few guys in this class who are very underrated by On3 at the moment.
Fitz: Here’s a wild card. How about the top-rated guy in the class?
Quinton Martin kind of seems like an afterthought at this point, at least from an external standpoint. Maybe it’s the timing of his commitment or the positional ambiguity, but he just came to camp and lit it up.
He’s Penn State’s best running back commitment and I think he would be the Nittany Lions’ top wide receiver commitment as well. He’s just so skilled and he’s not a guy that’s close to his ceiling, which is exciting.
Link: Ranking Penn State’s top players for 2023 – No. 15 – 11
Snyder: I feel like James Franklin right now when the media asks about a position group and he responds by saying, “I’m gonna have someone mad at me because I didn’t mention their kid.”
I think there are a few three-star guys who the staff absolutely loves. I think it’s pretty clear by now that wide receiver Peter Gonzalez needs to make a major jump in the rankings, but that’s also been a popular topic lately, so I wouldn’t say we’re not talking about that enough.
With that said, I think his high school teammate, Anthony Speca, does fit that category. Currently, Speca ranks 19th in Pennsylvania, which is way, way too low. Speca was one of Manny Diaz’s most important targets coming into the class.
Cornerback Antoine Belgrade-Shorter is another player who is absolutely being overlooked. He’s pretty evenly ranked on all four sites, but I can promise you, Terry Smith loves what he sees here. Jon Mitchell ranks higher and gets much more attention, but that’s not really how Penn State sees it. They think Belgrave-Shorter can be just as good.
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