Penn State Football Recruiting: Five things we learned in August

Compared to June and July, there wasn't much to write home about last month on the recruiting trail.

That's partly by design, as the NCAA created a dead period in August a few years ago so coaches could focus on their current roster during preseason and not have to worry about rival schools getting a leg up on them on the recruiting trail.

With that said, recruiting never stops. So, what were some of the biggest takeaways from August? BWI's Ryan Snyder looks back on some of the key themes that stood out to him.

This topic dominated our message board throughout the summer. With other sites deciding to not only give quarterback Drew Allar a fourth star back in the spring, but eventually move him into the top 100 prospects in the entire country, fans were not happy with Allar's three-star rating at Rivals.

Our national staff wasn't able to see him in person until July at the Elite 11 Finals, but once they did, it was clear that he should be moved up. Out of the top 20 or so quarterbacks nationally who attended, Allar ended up finishing among the top half by not just the Elite 11 staff, but multiple outlets who covered the event. Rivals ranked him ninth overall, ahead of players like Nick Evers and A.J. Duffy, who Penn State previously recruited before Mike Yurcich took over at offensive coordinator.

"Allar was very solid at the Elite 11 where he showed off an excellent frame, a very capable arm and he only did things to prove he was beyond capable of being considered a four-star prospect," said Rivals National Recruiting Director Adam Gorney. "Do I think he was clearly one of the top quarterbacks there without question? No. But he was definitely on the high side of that second group and he had an outstanding showing all week."

Currently, Allar sits at No. 196 in the Rivals250 and is the 11th-ranked pro-style quarterback nationally. The Medina, Ohio, native is off to a good start this season, too, so keep an eye on him in the months to come.

Allar wasn't the only player who moved up in the 2022 Rivals250.

Overall, the Nittany Lions now have 10 players ranked in the top 250, which is the most we've seen since the Class of 2018, which finished with 13 prospects among the group. That class ultimately finished fifth overall in the Rivals Team Rankings, and although that seems a bit unrealistic this year with the class nearly finished, they are on pace to rank among the top 10. If that happens, it'll only be the second time we've seen that since James Franklin took over the program.

The biggest movers in the most recent update were linebacker Abdul Carter, wide receiver Kaden Saunders and athlete Mehki Flowers. Carter already held a four-star rating, but once he put up some elite numbers at Penn State's Whiteout Camp, running a 4.5-second 40-yard dash and a 4.4-second shuttle at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, he had to rank among the top 250 nationally. Add in a triple broad jump that was nearly 32 feet and those numbers are just downright freaky. You don't see that combination often.

Saunders and Flowers were already part of the Rivals250, but both made major moves. Saunders jumped 81 spots to No. 78 overall, which ranks him among the top 10 wide receivers nationally. Dominant performances at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge and the Under Armour Future 50 Camp in June were the main reasons why.

Flowers then went to The Opening in Los Angeles and was excellent at safety. He moved up 42 spots to No. 97 overall, giving the Nittany Lions just their third Rivals100 commitment, behind only Saunders and five-star defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton.

As mentioned, Penn State's Class of 2022 is basically finished, but there are a few players they'd like to squeeze in still and St. Frances offensive tackle Andre Roye is one of them. After visiting all four of his top schools - Penn State, Maryland, N.C. State and Rutgers - during the final week of July, Roye announced on Aug. 1 that he's planning to make a decision on Sept. 22, so just under three weeks from now.

It's no secret that Roye is a tough player to read. He's not one to open up very much in interviews, or really do interviews period, but our sources believe that Penn State and Maryland are in the best position here. I'm yet to make a FutureCast for Roye, but I am getting close to making one for the Nittany Lions. I want to see what sources have to say in the next week or so, but there's a lot of optimism right now in Lasch that he's leaning towards the blue and white. We'll find out soon enough.

Ok, so we've only seen a few games, and one of those was against a team in Bishop Sycamore that's apparently not even a real school, but man, how can you not be excited when you watch what Penn State's two running back commits have done to start their senior seasons?

Against American Heritage two weeks ago, whose defense features three Rivals250 prospects and three others who are already committed to Power Five programs, Allen rushed for 227 yards and three touchdowns. Adam Gorney said after that he has to seriously consider moving Allen up in the rankings after that performance. He followed it up then with 162 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a little over a quarter against Bishop Sycamore this past weekend. Sure, they're not nearly as deep as American Heritage, but his vision, burst and strength was impressive nonetheless.

Singleton has only played one game so far, but man, 281 yards rushing and five touchdowns against a York squad that played in the PIAA District III championship last season is pretty good.

We already knew that both of these guys are excellent players, but if there's one highlight to me so far over the first few weeks, it's that Penn State's already loaded backfield is somehow only going to get better in the near future.

Unfortunately for some of Penn State's committed players, their senior seasons haven't started out as planned. The injury to five-star defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton became public back on Aug. 17 when he announced that he dislocated his elbow in a scrimmage against Good Counsel the day before. The good news is that it's not expected to keep him out deep into the season. In fact, he confirmed this week that he should be back by McDonogh's third regular season game.

Two other notable injuries that we learned involved tight end Jerry Cross and linebacker Abdul Carter. Cross confirmed to Blue White Illustrated last week that he has a high-ankle sprain that should keep him out until the end of September. That injury can be tricky, but it's obviously nothing that'll hurt his long term progress. As for Carter, he was expected to play last week against Bishop McDevitt until it became clear about an hour before that he wouldn't be dressed. All we were told is that it's a minor lower-body injury that shouldn't keep him out much longer.

So, nothing devastating that'll knock guys out for their senior season, but still newsworthy nonetheless. By the end of the month, we hope to see all three out there making plays.

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