Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1400830
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 6 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M I f all goes to plan, Alex Birchmeier will be one of multiple top-100 prospects who sign with the Nittany Lions in December 2022. For now, though, he's a class of one. The 61st-ranked prospect in the Class of 2023, who plays at Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Va., Birchmeier an- nounced on July 15 that he was ending his recruitment roughly 17 months before he can actually sign with James Frank- lin's program. His reasoning was simple: It's time to get to work. "I wanted to do this now because I want to be a leader in this class. That's important to me," he said. "I want to take on that role, and I think I can help make this class even better than their 2022 class now. Also, I've been recruited by them for a while now. I've built great relationships with everyone up there, so I just felt like this was the time to make it happen." As is the case with all of Penn State's top prospects, Franklin and his staff took a team approach with Birchmeier. Early on, tight ends coach Ty Howle had a big role in building the relationship, and as time went on, running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider and offensive line mentor Phil Trautwein played bigger parts. Franklin was also heavily involved. "Traut is just a great guy," Birchmeier said. "He's young, but he has a lot of ex- perience. Between the NFL and his expe- rience at Boston College, then Penn State last year, I can see how well he develops offensive linemen. He's the kind of coach who gets guys to the next level, so that definitely piqued my interest. "Al of their coaches are amazing. Al- most all of them helped recruit me at once. Between Seider, Franklin and Howle, they made me feel like Penn State was home right from the start. They felt like family as soon as they started talking to me." In August 2020, Birchmeier and his family drove to State College to take a self- guided tour of campus during the NCAA's dead period. That trip helped put the Nit- tany Lions in the driver's seat, but it was his visit this past June that allowed him to truly see everything the football program had to offer. "That was probably the main reason why I committed now," he said. "I took visits to Notre Dame and [Virginia] Tech, too, but Penn State blew them out of the water. From the facilities to how I was treated there, and then the campus, it was all just amazing. That was a big part of all this." Birchmeier earned 30 verbal scholar- ship offers, with Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma and Oregon all attempting to get him on campus. In the end, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Virginia Tech were the three schools that gave him something to seriously think about. Notre Dame and Virginia Tech both hosted him in June, with the Fighting Irish being the program he considered the most. However, throughout all of that, the Nittany Lions were the team to beat. At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Birchmeier is versatile enough to play all five offensive line positions once he gets to the college level, although he sees himself as an inte- rior player. "I feel like my length is best for guard, or really any of the interior spots," he said. "I feel like I'm just built better for that com- pared to tackle, but if they need me to play tackle, I'm open to doing that role. I just want to play wherever the coaches need me and wherever gets me on the field first. Whatever is best for the team." ■ Rivals100 OL Gives 2023 Class A Strong Start RYA N S N Y D E R | S N Y D E R 4 2 0 8 8 @ G M A I L . C O M At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Birchmeier is versatile enough to play all five offensive line positions in college. PHOTO COURTESY BIRCHMEIER FAMILY A member of the Rivals100, offensive line- man Alex Birchmeier earned offers from 30 other schools, including Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame. Let's break down what makes him so appealing to so many Power Five schools. STRENGTHS Build: Build is about more than just how tall you are and how much you weigh. Body pro- portion and composition are incredibly impor- tant, too. Birchmeier is a phenomenal-looking athlete with great lower-body mass and very little wasted weight. Movement skills: Birchmeier not only looks the part, he moves like it, too. He's a textbook pulling guard with great snap out of his stance and an efficient line to his blocking assignment. Tenacity and finish: At his best, Birchmeier shows great confidence as a blocker, especially for a sophomore, and will lay into defenders when given the chance. AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT Balance: Birchmeier still has some growing to do as a pass protector. He's a natural run blocker and is on his toes a lot, even in pass pro. Learning to sit back in his stance and anchor against defensive tackles will unlock his length and lower-body power on a more consistent basis. Hand usage: He's still in the early stages of his growth as a football player so it's natural to have some technical deficiencies. He doesn't always make the most of his length, latching onto defenders wide instead of getting his hands inside into their pads and making solid, controllable contact. PROJECTION Center: With his size, movement skills and ability to pull, Birchmeier would make a great athletic center with the power to move tackles off of the ball. Tackle: At present, Birchmeier isn't quite long enough to be an ideal project at tackle. But high school juniors can still grow. If he does, his quickness and straight-line speed would make him a candidate to play on the outside. — Thomas Frank Carr P L A Y E R E V A L U A T I O N COMMITMENT PROFILE ALEX BIRCHMEIER