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Tale of the Tape: Breaking down new Penn State commit Joey Schlaffer

Penn State tight ends coach Ty Howle added another piece to his tight end room Saturday in Exeter Township prospect Joey Schlaffer. Schlaffer is the half-brother of former Penn State center Michal Menet and chose the Nittany Lions over schools like Maryland and Tennessee, both of which he visited. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound high school receiver plays a unique role as a true dual position player for Exeter, lining up both out wide as a receiver and in-line as a tight end

How does he fare at each position? We’ll get to his interesting combination of skills in his film evaluation..

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Strengths

Frame and Tools: The tight end position is one of the quintessential positions that defines “bigger, faster, stronger” in football. Schlaffer stands at nearly 6-foot-5 and has massive growth potential. Once fully developed, his ideal size could be around 240-250 pounds.

Added to that are Schlaffer’s above-average movement skills for a player of his length. He’s developing a good burst off the line of scrimmage and has legit speed, running the 40-yard dash in the high 4.6’s. That size and speed, combined with great arm length make him close to ideal for the position at an early age.

Receiving Skills: Schlaffer is developing in real-time during his 2021 season and has significantly improved his route running skills since Week 1. He’s got a great release off the line of scrimmage for a player of his size and pairs that with some head fakes and shakes at the top of his routes. His hands are very good at the catch point and he has good body control to go up and get the ball. The Exeter Twp. receiver also has some highlight-level plays with one-handed grabs and catches in traffic that are genuinely impressive regardless of competition level. His work in this area for a tight end is firmly above average.

Pad Level: The good news for Schlaffer’s long-term development is that he spends time at both receiver and at tight end in the Exeter's offense. The best part of his blocking technique, which is quietly excellent, is that he has very good pad level for a player of his size. He comes off the ball low with no upward movement and engages defenders with a low base to win the battle at the point of attack. As he develops physically, the early mastery of this skill will make him an exponentially better blocker.

Areas of Development

Strength: The flip side of Schlaffer’s blocking profile is that he simply does not have the meat on his bones to really make an effective difference as a blocker currently. On top of that, Schlaffer doesn’t quite have the tenacity and nastiness present in above-average blockers. He typically gives a quality effort, though consistency there can be spotty, but the rest has to fall into place for the junior tight end to be a difference-maker in the run game.

Agility: One of the biggest areas that Schlaffer has developed this season is his route running. He makes good cuts, especially at high speeds on linear routes such as deeper slants and posts. The issue is that while his technique is good, his actual movement skills lack the ability to make explosive cuts currently. That's all still in development. The good news is that his pop off the line of scrimmage has improved over time as he’s gotten bigger so his ability to change directions with urgency will likely just improve naturally to a degree.

Recruiting Podcast: Joey Schlaffer commits, could Josh Miller be next?

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Projection

Tight End: Schlaffer is an interesting case study in Penn State tight end prospects. He is very much an amalgamation of skills that is essentially right down the middle when compared to the recent Penn State starters. He has good blocking techniques like Pat Freiermuth, but currently has the tenacity and power of Mike Gesicki. He’s got some of the same movement skills and receiving ability as the Miami Dolphins tight end, but still has to work on his contested catch and leaping abilities to stand out. He’s an efficient short area receiver with good routes like Freiermuth, but doesn’t currently have the tackle breaking abilities that the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie showed early in his career. In the end that makes him the mean of those two players - which is to say a very good prospect that could be a truly well-rounded player. His development path to his own style should be fascinating.


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