What On3’s Ryan Snyder said about Penn State’s 2025 recruits ahead of the early signing period
The early signing period begins Wednesday and Penn State currently has 25 commits who are set to join the program as part of its 2025 recruiting class.
We spoke to On3’s Ryan Snyder, a recruiting analyst covering the Nittany Lions, to break down the players the team is adding for next season.
Here’s everything he said about the class.
Centre Daily Times: What are the strengths of the class?
Ryan Snyder: If you want to talk positionally, certainly defensive end. It hurts to lose Jayden Woods (to Florida). Don’t get me wrong. Good player. But when you have a guy like Chaz Coleman, who you pull in late, an athletic freak — that should have fans very excited. I think Dayshaun Burnett had a very good season at Imani Christian as well. You have Lavar Arrington’s son (LaVar Arrington II) who could play linebacker, could play edge. We’ll see long term. It depends on how he grows and things like that. But it’s another really, really strong year for edge. Cortez Harris, too, who put up some really good athletic numbers. He didn’t play a lot this year. I think he only played about four or five games, but I think he had 7.5 sacks in like, four or five games, I believe it was. Pretty good stats there as well. Keep an eye on Yvan Kemajou too. We have him listed as an edge. I think he’ll grow into an interior guy. But he’s another player that I think they’re really happy with with his development. I look at edge as a strength.
As far as the class overall, I look at it as a very solid base when it comes to those top 150 to 400 kind of players. They got a lot of those guys. It’s been a struggle at times to get those top 100, especially top 50 or so prospects. That’s been the case in the NIL era for the last couple of years for Penn State. And I think missing out on a couple of those guys hurts a bit, but there’s a ton of players in this class that, in my eyes, are above average to good in a ton of different categories. A B+, A- kind of prospect, there’s a ton of those guys in this. Might be missing a little bit on the top, top guys, but there’s a base here of some really good players. I think all but six or seven guys rank in the top 500. With the way On3 does it with the industry rankings, top 400 are all four star players. There’s a lot of guys who are really kind of on the bubble of being four star prospects, depending on if a couple other sites rank them differently. And I think Penn State is really happy with with that core base.
CDT: What are the weaknesses of the class and where could the staff make additions still?
Snyder: I think everybody’s looking at quarterback because Bekkem Kritza has kind of gone back and forth between Miami Central and Chaminade-Madonna. I will say he’s had a very good couple of games now, since he’s made that transfer, and I think Penn State’s seen that a bit. But obviously they’re trying to add Bryce Baker, the North Carolina commit right now, who sounds like he’s going to drag things out past signing day. We’ll see. I don’t want to say it’s a total weakness, because I think Kritza is so unknown. There’s a lot to like about his arm strength and things. But when he’s gone up to Miami Central and some different places, he hasn’t always fared well. But right now he’s playing at Chaminade, which is a prominent powerhouse school, and he’s putting up some good numbers. He’s just an unknown still, and when you get to the end of the class like this, you don’t want unknowns.
As far as other true weaknesses, I think it kind of comes back to some of those prominent guys in the region they’re missing out on. We don’t know if they’ve 100% missed out on (four-star cornerback) Brandon Finney yet, but it kind of feels like he’s trending toward staying at Oregon. And he’s an elite cornerback prospect. There’s a lot of guys, though. You go back to (four-star quarterback) Matt Zollers and depending on what happens with (four-star tight end) Andrew Olesh, maybe he’s a guy they miss out on. So I don’t really look at any one position like they really missed out on a bunch of guys at this spot. But if there’s a weakness or an area they really need to improve on, or they’ll want to improve on, it’s finding a way to get more of these elite guys within the region to stay within the region. Because that’s been a theme that I think a lot of fans would point to.
CDT: Who could make an early impact on this group?
Snyder: Everybody’s gonna want to point to receiver. I think Matthew Outten is a guy who, for an Andy Kotelnicki offense, he’s really exciting. Just because he can do so much. He’s done a ton rushing the ball. Obviously he’s a great receiver. He kind of has a running back build as a receiver. So I look at Outten as somebody who’s intriguing from that perspective.
When I look at positionally, and then I’m trying to look at a depth chart and think of guys that could make an early impact, there’s not a ton of guys that honestly jump out right away because I do see a lot of guys that are going to need another year or two. But again, wide receiver makes a lot of sense as far as someone who can get on the field and, corner, maybe too, but I think they’re pretty good at corner. I never want to point to offensive lineman, but I do think they’re really excited about Malachi Goodman and just his fundamental base. He’s a B+, A prospect in so many categories. But again, it’s offensive line, and that’s never a position that’s really easy to jump on the field. I think if you look at linebacker, that’s a position they certainly need depth at. But Alex Tatsch has a shoulder injury. Lavar Arrington II, we’ll see. He might play edge, might play linebacker, either way he needs time to put on weight. I think Cam Smith is going to be a guy needs to put on weight as well. He’s only around 200-205 pounds right now. So I don’t see a ton of guys right now that really pop and make sense. But talk to me after spring ball and it’ll be a different story.
CDT: Who stands out as potentially underrated in the recruiting rankings?
Snyder: I think Yvan Kemajou is a really good guy to start with. He kind of reminds me a little bit of Xavier Gilliam, where there’s a really good fundamental base. He’s a little bit undersized, so he’s a three star basically everywhere. But the progression he took this year was really impressive, just from a technique perspective and some of the plays he made, we just weren’t seeing that a year or so ago. And I think he’s been a guy that behind the scenes, we’ve been interested in seeing — would On3 move him up? And they might still. So he grabs my attention a bit. I think Xxavier Thomas, too, deserves a mention there. He’s right now, the fourth or fifth lowest ranked guy in the class. But he’s also a player who goes to Central Catholic, which is a school James and the whole staff have praised relentlessly when it comes to how those guys come in prepared. His brother, Rodney, is in the NFL, so good bloodlines there. And Thomas has always flown under the radar. He’s never been all about the media. He’s kept a low profile. So he’s always flown under the radar. But there’s a lot of things there that remind Penn State of a Daequan Hardy kind of player. At the end of the day, he doesn’t have that size to be that outside corner that ends up being a top 50 draft pick or something like that. But if he ends up being a Daequan Hardy — who played 1000-plus snaps at Penn State and made a lot of different impact plays in different moments — to me, that’s out-playing a mid three star rating. Tiqwai Hayes is another one who’s always been a three star, and in my eyes, has always been overlooked a little bit when it comes to his production. We don’t have 40 [yard dash] numbers and stuff on him, so that’s what everyone has always wondered. But Hayes has been an incredibly productive back. Chaz Coleman, too, is a three star. But On3 also has him as a top 200 prospect. It’s a little different with Coleman just because we personally are incredibly high on him, and I think a lot of fans see that already. I’d go with Thomas, Hayes and Kemajou as three guys that I think can really outplay their ratings.
