BlueWhiteIllustrated.com - Grading out the 2010 recruiting class

October 12, 2009

Phil Grosz
BlueWhiteIllustrated.com Publisher

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By Phil Grosz
Blue White Illustrated Publisher

Probably the worst kept secret associated with Penn State's recruitment of its Class of 2010 went public Oct. 5. Preseason All-American linebacker Khairi Fortt (6-3, 220) from Stamford High School in Stamford, Conn., announced at a news conference at his high school that he had selected Penn State over Georgia.

Fortt was the Nittany Lions' 19th verbal commitment for their Class of 2010. With Fortt's announcement, the Nittany Lions have now received verbal commitments from 14 four-star recruits according to Rivals.com.

The Nittany Lions currently have the No. 1-rated recruiting class in the Big Ten by Rivals.com and the G&W Recruiting Report, among others, plus three recruiting services have Penn State's Class of 2010 ranked among the top five recruiting classes in the country.

Following Fortt's verbal commitment, one service had Penn State's class ranked second in the country behind Oklahoma. The G&W Recruiting Report places them No. 4 behind Texas, Oklahoma and LSU. Rivals.com ranked Penn State's Class of 2010 fifth behind Texas, LSU, Oklahoma and Florida.

In addition to the 14 four-star recruits Penn State has received verbal commitments from, Joe Paterno and his staff have done a remarkable job of recruiting for need.

In many instances how well a team recruits for need gets overlooked by recruiting services. It usually is all dependent upon the number of players recruited and the total number of four- and five-star recruits that sign with a particular school on national-letter-of-intent day.

That has never been the case with Paterno and his coaching staff.

"We don't pay any attention to recruiting services," Paterno told the media back in February. "In many cases they really don't have any idea what they are talking about. I've had coaches on my staff that have over 30 years experience coaching at this level. There is no need for us to get the opinion of any recruiting service."

At this point in the recruiting process, Paterno and his assistant coaches just might have done their best job ever during the Paterno Era in recruiting for need.

To highlight that point, let's take a position-by-position look at how well Penn State has recruited for need with its Class of 2010.

Quarterback: Daryll Clark graduates after the 2009 season and freshman Kevin Newsome is projected to be the only scholarship quarterback on Penn State's roster for the 2010 season. So, it wasn't hard for Paterno and his staff to figure out that recruiting one or two blue-chip quarterbacks had to be priority No. 1 on offense.

That's the exact reason why Penn State targeted early three Top 10 -rated quarterbacks in Robert Bolden from St. Mary's Preparatory School in Orchard Lake, Mich., Barry Brunetti from University School in Memphis, Tenn., and Paul Jones from Sto-Rox High School in McKees Rocks, Pa.

Brunetti is Rivals.com's No. 3-rated dual-threat quarterback in the country. Bolden is Rivals.com's No. 2-rated dual-threat quarterback in the country, and Jones was not only rated Pennsylvania's top quarterback prospect in the Class of 2010, he also presently is rated Rivals.com's No. 7 pro-style quarterback in the country.

The fact Penn State landed verbal commitments from both Bolden and Jones by mid-July not only placed Penn State in the position to end up having recruited the No. 1 quarterback class in the country for the Class of 2010, it also enabled them to fill its biggest depth need on offense.

With only one scholarship quarterback on Penn State's roster after this fall, depth at the quarterback position had to be one of Penn State's biggest concerns for the upcoming 2010 season.

Bolden and Jones more than adequately fill that need. The fact that Jones plans to enroll at Penn State in January will give him the opportunity to participate in the Nittany Lions' 2010 spring practice session.

If it was essential that Newsome enrolled at Penn State this past January with an experienced quarterback like Clark on the roster, just imagine how critical it is to the program for Jones to participate next April in spring practice with an inexperienced quarterback like Newsome projected to be the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback in 2010.

Penn State has recruited some great quarterbacks in the past like Wally Richardson from Sumter, S.C., Kerry Collins from West Lawn, Pa., and Rashard Casey from Hoboken, N.J.

Richardson and Casey, when they arrived at Penn State, were the No. 1-rated dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, and Collins was Pennsylvania's top-rated quarterback coming out of high school. But when they arrived on campus, Penn State's situation at quarterback wasn't nearly as barren as what will exist when Clark graduates.

Bolden and Jones' arrival on campus next January and June will come at the perfect time.

Paterno recruited his first No. 1-rated quarterback class when Penn State's greatest recruiting need on offense was at the quarterback position.

It was perfect timing on Paterno's part, and proved once and for all that Paterno still hasn't lost his magic recruiting touch.

Quarterbacks needed - 2. Bolden and Jones are the perfect fit.

Grade: A+

Running Back: With Evan Royster, Brent Carter, Brandon Beachum, Stephfon Green and Curtis Dukes all projected to return at running back for the 2010 season, along with Joe Suhey at both running back and fullback, landing more than one high profile running back in the Class of 2010 would have to be considered a luxury.

Penn State filled that need exactly with the player they wanted when preseason All-American Silas Redd from King & Low Heywood Thomas High School in Stamford, Conn., announced for Penn State on May 3.

Redd, who is the sixth-rated running back prospect in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.com and the top running back prospect in the Northeast by the G&W Recruiting Report, will provide Penn State with another tailback that has Green-type speed.

Redd will give the Nittany Lions another home run threat at tailback.

If Penn State also is able to land Rivals.com's No. 2-rated running back prospect in the country in Marcus Lattimore from Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C., Paterno will have recruited the No. 1 running back class in the Big Ten.

Lattimore is scheduled to take his official visit to Penn State on Nov. 7 when Penn State hosts Ohio State at Beaver Stadium.

Running Backs needed - 1. Redd fits the bill. Lattimore now is a luxury.

Grade: A

WIDE RECEIVER: With Penn State having signed six wide receiver prospects in its Class of 2009 (Justin Brown, Curtis Drake, Brandon Felder, Shawney Kersey, Christian Kuntz and Devon Smith), Penn State offered five wide receivers in the Class of 2010 but targeted just three.

Those three were Adrian Coxson from City College High School in Baltimore, Md., Alex Kenney from State College, Pa., and Levi Norwood from Midway High School in Waco, Texas.

At the end of July, Coxson, Kenney and Norwood had all verbally committed to Penn State. Norwood is the younger brother of former Penn State wide receiver Jordan Norwood. Coxson is the G&W Recruiting Report's top wide receiver prospect in ACC Country. Kenney made the G&W Recruiting Report's preseason all-Northeast team as an athlete on offense.

Not only are Coxson, Kenney and Norwood the perfect match for need at wide receiver for Penn State, a solid argument can be made that these three provide the Nittany Lions with the best wide receiver class in the Big Ten.

Wide Receivers Needed - 2 or 3. Coxson, Kenney and Norwood provide the perfect mix.

Grade: A-

Tight End: With both Andrew Quarless and Mickey Shuler Jr. graduating this fall, plus the departure of Brennan Coakley, that leaves just redshirt sophomore Andrew Szczerba and redshirt freshman Mark Wedderburn as scholarship tight ends for the 2010 season.

That's why it's imperative Penn State lands at least one, but preferably two, tight ends in its Class of 2010.

Penn State landed a major part of that objective back on July 27 when Kevin Haplea from North Hunderton Regional High School in Annandale, N.J., verbally committed to Penn State.

Haplea was rated by the G&W Recruiting Report as one of the top two tight end prospects in the Northeast along with Blake Barker from Cambridge, Mass., who was offered by Penn State but verbally committed to Stanford in June.

It appears Penn State still might not be done recruiting tight ends for their Class of 2010 because Ethan Farmer (6-2, 255) from Tarbor City, N.C. and Alex Smith (6-5, 245) form Cincinnati, Ohio, are still considering taking official visits to Penn State.

Tight Ends Needed - 1 or 2. Haplea may end up being the only tight end Penn State signs.

Grade: B-. Big downgrade from Quarless and Shuler.

Offensive Line: With 10 players that are redshirt freshmen or players with sophomore or junior eligibility returning for the 2010 season, and the fact Penn State signed seven offensive linemen (Mark Arcidiacono, Nate Cadogan, Frank Figueroa, Adam Gress, Ty Howle, Eric Shrive and John Urschel) in the Class of 2009, landing more than three or four offensive linemen in its Class of 2010 was not a high priority.

With verbal commitments from Miles Dieffenbach from Fox Chapel, Pa., Luke Graham from Harrison City, Pa. and Thomas Ricketts from Wexford, Pa., Penn State has landed the top rated center, guard and tackle, respectively, in western Pennsylvania.

Dieffenbach is Rivals.com's No. 4-rated center prospect in the country, Graham was a G&W Recruiting Report preseason all-Northeast selection and Ricketts is Rivals.com's top-rated offensive line prospect in Pennsylvania and the 18th-rated offensive tackle prospect in the country.

When Dieffenbach and Ricketts verbally committed to Penn State back on June 2 and June 3, it came as an monumental shock to Nittany Lions fans.

That's because Dieffenbach and Ricketts were expected to be University Pittsburgh legacy recruits. Dieffenbach's father, George, is the women's tennis coach at Pitt. Ricketts' father, Tom, was an offensive lineman at Pitt and a first-round NFL draft choice by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Offensive Linemen Needed: 4. Penn State is three-fourths of the way there with Dieffenbach, Graham and Ricketts. It could end up being the best offensive line class in the Big Ten for the Class of 2010.

Grade: A-

There you have it. An A+ grade at quarterback, an A grade at running back, an A- grade at wide receiver and an A- grade at offensive line.

The only area on offense where Penn State hasn't at this point received at least an A- grade for need is at tight end.

Penn State has landed a superb tight end prospect in Haplea, but Szczerba, Wedderburn and Haplea don't come close to providing what Quarless, Shuler, and Szczerba have given to Penn State the last two years. That's why tight end was been given a B- grade.

In our next BWI edition, we'll show you how well Penn State has been recruiting for need on defense with its Class of 2010.

Once you've read that Phil's Corner, I think you'll understand why I believe Penn State's Class of 2010 has a chance of becoming Paterno's best class he's recruited for need ever during the Paterno Era.

Phil Grosz is the publisher of Blue White Illustrated.

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Eastern Illinois coverage

As always, Blue White Illustrated provides the best, most insightful game coverage anywhere. Take a look at our game story, the highs and lows of the game, statistics, game grades and our weekly 'At the Game' feature column.

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Don't miss any of these stories, plus of course, Varsity Views, Scorecard and The Tail End!

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