Blue White Illustrated

F O O T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G New commitments bolster 2021 class Tengwall's announcement ignites a spring surge, as Penn State welcomes six new prospects | P enn State's 2021 recruiting class took a major step in the right direction in recent weeks, as James Franklin and his sta: added six players, four of whom hold four-star ratings. The Nittany Lions' April surge actually began in late March when they added one of the most coveted o:ensive linemen in the nation in Landon Tengwall of Olney, Md. A four-star prospect from Good Counsel High, Tengwall is the country's 9;h-ranked o:ensive tackle and is rated as the No. 27 overall player by Rivals.com. If he holds onto his spot in the Ri- vals100, Tengwall will likely be a five- star prospect by the time he signs in December. Since the start of his fresh- man season, he has earned 30 scholar- ship offers. Penn State was one of the first schools to show serious interest, and it proved to be a good decision, as Tengwall began visiting shortly after his freshman year. Fast-forward to this past fall, and it was clear that he would end up at one of three schools: Penn State, Michigan or Notre Dame. By Christmas, it was down to the Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish, with Franklin and his sta: in the lead. At the time, he hoped to take two more visits to Notre Dame, as well as one more trip to Penn State, then announce during the week leading up to the Blue-White Game. But once it became clear in mid-March that he wouldn't be able to do that, Teng- wall decided not to wait, announcing his commitment about a week later, on March 26. "It was just the right time for me to an- nounce. I wanted to take more visits, but I knew that Penn State was the right school for me," Tengwall said. "I was leaning that way for a while and I wanted to help get things going in my recruiting class. I wanted to help the coaches start bringing in some other good players." Oh, things got going all right. Just two weeks a;er Tengwall committed, three of the top prospects in assistant coach Tim Banks' hometown of Detroit all an- nounced their commitments within 24 hours, the 9rst of whom was safety Jaylen Reed on April 9. In addition to Banks, Reed said that Franklin had a big impact on his commitment. "I talked to Coach Franklin every single day," Reed said. "That really helped my decision, because you don't normally talk to a head coach every single day. I know I'm a priority for them when the head coach is taking time out to speak with me every single day." A Rivals250 prospect from Martin Luther King High School, Reed is the highest-ranked player in Penn State's batch of April commitments, placing 233rd in the nation and 10th at safety. Over the past two years, he earned more than 30 scholarship o:ers, including of- fers from Florida, Georgia, Michigan State, Oregon, Tennessee and USC. In 2019, Reed primarily played linebacker, recording 119 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and six sacks. He also forced eight fum- bles. Reed's pledge brought Penn State's class to four commitments, and it only took 22 hours for the total to nearly double, with three more players announcing their de- cisions the following day. Two of those and 9nal defensive breakout candi- date. He played in 10 games as a true freshman last fall, but it wasn't until November, when Penn State faced Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State and Rutgers in consecutive weeks, that he caught my attention and con- vinced me that he would be the fron- trunner to begin the 2020 season as the starter at the 9eld cornerback spot. Wilson 9nished last season with 18 tackles and was tied with John Reid, Jaquan Brisker and Tariq Castro- Fields for the team lead with two in- terceptions. The way that Wilson performed last November and in the Cotton Bowl convinced me he was Penn State's best cornerback on the 9eld in the 9nal 9ve games of the 2019 season. It was an unexpected performance. Coming out of his junior high school season at Avon Old Farms Prep in Avon, Conn., in 2017, Wilson was a consensus four-star cornerback prospect. But when he transferred to Windsor (Conn.) High for his senior season, he was not allowed to play football. He became the forgotten member of Penn State's Class of 2019. No one is overlooking Wilson now. It's my 9rm belief that he has the best ball skills of any cornerback on the Nittany Lions' current roster. I'm convinced that before he leaves Penn State, he'll become a 9rst-team All- Big Ten performer. I'm sure by now readers fully un- derstand why I think so highly of this Penn State defense. Never before have I named 9ve players on defense as having a legitimate chance to enjoy breakout seasons. But Mustipher, Isaac, Oweh, Smith and Wilson all deserve that type of recognition. It's one major reason why I believe Penn State will challenge Ohio State for the Big Ten East Division title and have a legitimate chance to play in the College Football Playo: if the 2020 season turns into a reality. ■

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