Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 10 7 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M W hen the 2020 recruiting cycle came to a close, there was quite a bit of debate over just how well the Penn State football program had fared. The Nittany Lions did sign two players who ended up in the On3 Industry Ranking's retrospective top 100 — linebacker Curtis Jacobs (No. 36) and tight end Theo Johnson (No. 74). However, there was an even split be- tween three- and four-star prospects, with each group numbering 13 players. Star ratings are not the metric by which classes are ultimately judged, of course. And with respect to Penn State's 2020 group, those ratings were off the mark in many cases. Two of the three-star players in PSU's 2020 class — tight end Tyler Warren and offensive lineman Olu- muyiwa Fashanu — went on to be named consensus All-Americans, while eight of the four-star pros- pects hit the transfer portal before making a major impact at Penn State. Two members of the 2020 class — center Nick Dawkins and de- fensive end Zuriah Fisher — are still active with the Nittany Li- ons and are getting set to wrap up their careers this fall. The other 25 have moved on. Here's a look back at how the group fared. Element Surprise Some of the less-heralded players in PSU's 2020 recruiting class ended up being its biggest stars G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Tyler Warren's historic senior season included a spectacular performance at USC in which he caught 17 passes for 224 yards. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Of