J
ames Franklin had a lot to say during his
signing day news conference. Between
the recent surge in transfers and the ad-
dition of new wide receivers coach Gerad
Parker, there were plenty of topics. But
the Feb. 6 gathering at Beaver Stadium
was centered around the Class of 2019.
Here's what caught our attention:
LATEST ADDITIONS Penn State added
four new prospects on signing day,
bringing the class to 23 players overall.
Back in December, the Nittany Lions
signed 19 prospects, including elite run-
ning backs Devyn Ford and Noah Cain.
They also added linebacker Brandon
Smith, o>ensive lineman Caedan Wal-
lace and nine other prospects who were
given a four-star rating by Rivals.com.
The four prospects they added in Feb-
ruary – receiver T.J. Jones, athlete Dae-
quan Hardy and defensive linemen
Joseph Darkwa and Smith Vilbert – may
not have earned all the accolades those
above did. But as Franklin pointed out,
some of the better players in PSU's re-
cent football history were late additions
to their recruiting classes.
"Christian Campbell and Torrence
Brown are two guys we o>ered the night
before signing day, and both had really
good careers here," Franklin said. "One is
bouncing around the NFL right now, and
one had a great career for us before it
was cut short with some injuries. So
there are a lot of paths of how you get to
a certain place."
Of the recent signees, Jones is probably
the most likely to make an early impact,
as he played at Florida's highest level.
There are some quality receivers ahead of
him, so it won't be easy, but from what
I've learned in recent weeks, he's a bit
underrated. Hardy will need to add some
weight before he's ready to return kicks,
but that's where I see him making his
initial impact. He could also match up
well against athletic receivers in the slot.
As for Vilbert and Darkwa, both are
about to make a major jump in competi-
tion, but as Franklin explained, the po-
tential is there. Give Sean Spencer time
to work with them, and they could end
up contributing a@er a few seasons.
PARKER SPEAKS Signing day was our
, [then] put a shirt on of
Penn State that Coach [Ricky] Rahne
brought to me and hit the road with
Coach Rahne and go like that."
Parker also talked about some of the
recruiting territories he'll have at PSU.
"I'm going to take north New Jersey.
That's going to be a big piece for me," he
said. "My days at Purdue in the Big Ten
allowed me to kind of take the I-65 cor-
ridor and Indianapolis especially. So I'll
get a chance to stay there and work into
Cincinnati. And then, of course, we'll be
beating up the whole country to ensive
lineman Doug Nester, who signed with
Virginia Tech, raved about Parker, not-
ing that he's a very good recruiter who
will do an excellent job for the Nittany
Lions. So far, I like what I've seen.
LOOKING AHEAD Now that the 2019
class has signed its letters, Penn State's
attention has shi@ed to 2020. The Nit-
tany Lions have already earned four com-
mitments in what is expected to be a very
good class. In addition to o>ensive line-
man Grant Toutant and linebacker Derek
Wingo, who have been committed for a
few months now, PSU added two four-
star prospects in recent weeks: athlete
Curtis Jacobs and cornerback Josh
Moten, both of whom are from Maryland.
PSU is also in great shape with one of
Moten's teammates, o>ensive lineman
Aaryn Parks. Don't be surprised if Parks
becomes commitment No. 5.
When you look at the region as a whole,
there's reason for the sta> to be excited.
Already, Rivals has named six ensive line-
man Darnell Wright.
Overall, there were nine Mid-Atlantic
or New England prospects in the Ri-
vals100 this year, and 24 in the Ri-
vals250. So far, the 2020 class has 17
Mid-Atlantic and New England
prospects in the Rivals100, and 33 in the
Rivals250. When you add in the seeds
they've planted in Florida and other
states throughout the country, there's
reason to believe that the Lions' next
class could be a special one.
"I do think the region is really strong,"
Franklin said. "And that's important. It
really is important, because obviously
the closer they are, the better chance
you have to develop the type of relation-
ships that you need. So we're going to
have to take advantage of that. And that
is within a six-hour radius of campus.
We're excited about it. We've got a
pretty good start on it."
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P L A Y E R B I O S
February additions bolster a strong Nittany Lion class
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