Recruiting Q&A: Breaking down Penn State football’s 2023 class with 247Sports
Penn State is slated to add 247Sports Composite team rankings’ No. 13 recruiting class in the country to its roster this week when the 2023 high school seniors are allowed to put pen to paper and sign with their new schools on National Signing Day.
The Nittany Lions’ group includes 23 commits currently, with its top two being offensive linemen according to the 247Sports Composite player rankings. J’ven Williams leads the way with a five-star rating as the No. 30 player in the country.
We spoke to recruiting analyst Tyler Calvaruso who covers Penn State recruiting for 247Sports to break down the class, including what it means for the program, where its strengths lie and much more.
Note: This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
Centre Daily Times: What are the strengths of this class for Penn State?
Calvaruso: I really like what they’ve done in the secondary. You add a guy like King Mack, who’s so versatile and just so fast. I mean, he projects as a corner at the next level but he’s a guy who could really do it all for you — playing the nickel, playing over the top in a one high look. And then there’s DaKaari Nelson, who I think just speaks to the versatility of the defensive back group they have. Now he’s 6-3, 200 pounds already and you look at him and you think, ‘Oh, that’s a guy who might grow into the SAM (linebacker) role.’ But then you go watch the tape and he’s lined up in the nickel, he’s strong in coverage over the top. And just those two, and then you factor in guys like Elliot Washington and Conrad Hussey. And Zion Tracy, I mean, he was a speed demon, who really blew everyone away at camp. I really, really like what they’ve done in the secondary so far this cycle.
CDT: What are the weaknesses of the class?
Calvaruso: I think the offensive line is something that they’re really looking at. They kind of missed on a bunch of their guys who are high on the board, guys like (Michigan commit) Evan Link, Stanton Ramil who wound up committing Michigan State. So I think it’s kind of a work in progress there. It feels weird saying that, because you have J’ven Williams, who’s a five star, and you have Alex Birchmeier, who our pro comparison on 247 is (Indianapolis Colts guard) Quenton Nelson. I think that speaks to his upside pretty clearly. When I say O-line I think more specifically tackle is probably the area that they want to focus on. Just because Birchmeier is an interior guy, they prefer to use J’Ven on the inside and Anthony Donkoh is kind of a guy who could go either way, but he might be one who projects on the interior as well. So tackle is definitely an area they probably want to get better at. And they’re definitely trying through the portal and through high school recruiting as well. There’s Chris Otto down in Florida, that they’re still going after. So the book is not closed on their tackle recruiting, that’s for sure. But we’ve got to see where it goes from now until February.
CDT: How can this class impact the trajectory of the program?
Calvaruso: I think you add this class onto last year’s class, which is essentially going to go down as a foundational class, right? I mean, we already saw it this past season. Guys like Singleton and Kaytron Allen and you have Drew (Allar) stepping in at quarterback next year, Dani Dennis-Sutton on the defensive line, as the year went on, he started just playing more and more. And I think you’re gonna see a similar impact from a lot of the guys in this class. Tony Rojas at linebacker is a guy who has a chance to come in and play early. J’ven had a dominant senior season. You know, sometimes you don’t really like to play offensive linemen as freshmen, but they did it with Drew Shelton. This staff has shown time and time again if you’re good enough to play and you impress on the practice field, it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or whatever, you’re going to see the field. And there’s a lot of guys in this class who have that early impact potential. So I think it’s another building block class to go along with such a strong young core that they already have.
CDT: Who can make the biggest early impact for Penn State?
Calvaruso: (Andrew Rappleyea) is an interesting one, because he just got bumped into our top 247. And he’s just so athletic at tight end. And I see a lot of (Pittsburgh Steelers tight end) Pat Freiermuth in him. He’s come along so nicely throughout his high school career, he started out as kind of a raw prospect, just more of an overall athlete. And he’s really come in to his own as a pass catcher and a receiver. Guys like him, Mason Robinson, they just added. He’s not going to blow you away with his athleticism coming off the line of scrimmage. But he’s a technician and his hand placement is really good. And the strides that he made from the junior year to his senior year are really, really impressive. And I think (Penn State defensive line coach) John Scott, Jr. gets his hands on him and you develop him for an entire offseason that can be a guy who makes an impact early on. I think King Mack will have a chance just given the versatility and speed that I talked about. Rojas is another one. I could go on and on about a lot of these guys, Jameial Lyons on the defensive line potentially, I think DaKaari could be one of those guys. So I think the fact that I could speak to so many players being potential early impact guys in year one just really speaks to the quality and the depth of the class.
CDT: What kind of impact can the offensive line class have, if it’s missing true offensive tackles?
Calvaruso: That’s a good question, because there’s only so many spots on the interior. You know, there’s only really so much you can do with certain guys. The sentiment that we’ve heard just throughout this cycle really is that J’ven can play tackle. I’m not sure it’s necessarily what they want to do with him when it’s all said and done, I think they prefer him on the interior. But he can play tackle, and they think he could play that position at a really high level. I’ve harped on the lack of maybe a true tackle, but at the end of the day, guys like J’ven, and even Donkoh can play on the outside and be high impact players. That might not be where they project when it comes to the NFL in a few years, but they could get it done in the Big Ten. They’re gonna keep looking to add, no doubt, like I said. But the current group that they have, they can make it work at tackle. I think the 2024 cycle, they’re gonna go look to go even harder at the position to kind of address that need of not having maybe a true tackle.
