Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1454229
M A R C H 2 0 2 2 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M His burst is incredible. Penn State has had a lot of success with shifty, speedy receivers in recent years. I expect Saun- ders to be the next in that line. 5 Abdul Carter Carter is just a freak athlete. Pe- riod. There isn't a player in this class that I've talked about more from a test- ing perspective. A 4.5 40-yard dash, combined with a 4.4 shuttle is pretty damn impressive at 6-3, 235 pounds. Add in a broad jump that surpassed 10 feet and we're talking about a special athlete here. I'll be very curious to see what Penn State does with Carter, a four-star pros- pect who is listed as the nation's No. 22 linebacker in the On3 Consensus. If he's able to maintain his current size, line- backer is possible; he's definitely going to start his career there. But if he gets much bigger, it's hard to see Carter not rushing off the edge. Either way, he's going to make an impact, and I could see it being sooner rather than later. 6 Kevin "KJ" Winston Jr. I wrote before the season that if any player in this class deserved a fourth star, it was Winston. Now he's a four-star on all three of the main re- cruiting sites. On3 is the one site that has him inside the national top 250 — he's No. 211 overall and ranked 22nd at safety — and I think it's justified. That's not to pat myself on the back. I wrote that because I think Winston's 4.8 40-yard time from the Baltimore Under Armour Camp —in which he was running into a headwind — has kept many of my colleagues from buy- ing in on him. When you put on the film of the Maryland defensive back, you'll find a player who really made an impact for DeMatha last year. I didn't watch every team in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, but those who did have no issues with Winston earn- ing The Washington Post's Defensive Player of the Year award. 7 Drew Shelton I saw much more of Shelton during his junior season than I did this past year. The two things that always stood out to me were how well the four-star prospect from Downingtown (Pa.) West moves and how well he finishes his blocks. He will need to learn to use leverage better at the next level, but you can say that about so many high school offensive linemen. Shelton, the No. 130 offensive line prospect in the On3 Consensus, is ar- guably the most important player in this class outside of the three five-star prospects. He absolutely has to reach his potential. Penn State needs impact linemen immediately. I don't expect Shelton to push for playing time this year, but he needs to be a success when the time comes. 8 Tyler Johnson I can't emphasize enough how high the coaching staff is on John- son. I remember speaking to a source a few hours after the On3 Consensus three-star receiver worked out for Penn State back in June. I asked just a quick question about how his workout went, looking for a brief answer. What followed was a 15-minute discus- sion about how they think they found someone special here. We know the Johnson put up some excellent testing numbers that day, run- ning a sub-4.5 40-yard dash and a 4.2 shuttle. However, it was his route run- ning and hands that really impressed. Johnson put up some big numbers at Magna Vista during his last two seasons of action, totaling nearly 2,500 yards and 26 touchdowns. He wasn't playing against Virginia's top schools, but if he's able to keep making plays when he gets to this level, schools up and down the East Coast will be wondering how they missed on Johnson. 9 Zane Durant I haven't seen Durant in person, so I'm trusting the people I know who have seen him. He appears to be an incredible athlete for his size (6-1, 255). A four-star defensive tackle in the On3 Consen- sus, Durant has the quick twitch that schools covet, along with excellent bal- ance. He looks like a player who could really be a force in the middle down the road. Strength is not an issue here. His coach at Lake Nona (Fla.) High, Anthony Paradiso, used him in a bunch of different ways, allowing him to play running back and even throw the ball at times. That's not something we see all that often from players who are being recruited as defensive linemen. Penn State believes it has found a special player. 10 Beau Pribula I've been high on Pribula since I watched him play the first game of his junior season at Central York (Pa.) High. He wasn't facing the best of competi- tors that evening — the Panthers won 55-0 — but he completed 70 percent of his passes that night for five touch- downs and no turnovers. Little did I know at the time that he would go on to become the Pennsylvania Class 6A Player of the Year a few months later. A three-star prospect according to the On3 Consensus, Pribula doesn't have the physical tools of someone like Drew Allar, but this young man is a winner in every sense of the word. There's no way I'm keeping him off this list. ■ Dennis-Sutton, a defensive end, is the highest-rated prospect in Penn State's class, ranking No. 23 overall in the On3 Consensus. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER