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F E B R U A R Y 4 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 8 When you looked back at Penn State's 2015 recruiting class, it wasn't difficult to figure out where the four offensive linemen were ultimately going to end up. At 6-foot-8, it was clear that Ster- ling Jenkins was going to play tackle, and it was just as clear that the 6-4 Ryan Bates was ideal for guard. But this year's offensive line prospects – Will Fries, Alex Gellerstedt, Connor McGovern and Michal Menet – are all within two inches of each other. Geller- stedt and Fries are the tallest at 6-6. McGovern is 6-5, with Menet at 6-4. When listening to James Franklin, it was pretty clear, to me at least, that he and his staff are really embracing this. "Everybody has [Fries] slated as an of- fensive tackle, and we do as well," he said. "But if you look, he played a lot of guard in high school, he's a big, physical guy. Menet's a guy who I think has the athletic ability to play tackle, has the in- telligence to play center, has the power to play guard. I'd say the same thing for McGovern. Typically, centers are cen- ters only or they're centers and swing guys to guard. But I would not [rule out] McGovern [playing] tackle for us as well. Gellerstedt is the one guy, at this point in his career, who is probably a true prototype tackle." Whether they designed it this way or not, mixing and matching these four could make a real difference pretty quickly. While last year's class was good, I think it's pretty clear that the staff just brought in its best group of of- fensive linemen. Both McGovern and Menet have already proven themselves against the best, while Fries was one of the first offensive linemen to land an offer from the staff this cycle. As for Gellerstedt, he attended camps at PSU during the past two summers. In fact, he camped at Penn State twice this past summer, so the staff knows more about him than anyone else. After all the ups and downs of the past few months, it's important to remember just how good this group of linemen re- ally is. If you had asked Penn State fans at the start of this recruiting cycle to name the team's biggest need, there's no doubt which position group they would have cited. As it turned out, that posi- tion group was the staff's biggest suc- cess. Give credit where credit's due. From listening to Franklin, I also learned that PSU is going to have a ter- rific battle between those four players in the near future. Competition brings out the best, and that's exactly what Penn State really needs. The absence of any real competition on the offensive line was arguably the team's biggest issue these past two seasons. Early signing period? When asked if he would be in favor of an early signing period, here's what Franklin had to say: "Yes, yes. Yes, I would. I would love an early signing pe- riod. I'll answer that question as quick as possible. Yeah, I do. I think an early signing period would make sense. And I think you could put something on there so that if there was a change at the head coaching position, that would [nullify a player's letter of intent] at that point." Franklin went on to add, "I probably have a little different opinion on this. I think the early signing period should be for the kids who wanted to go to Penn State their whole life and don't really want to go anywhere, so let's get those guys locked up. They don't want to go on any other visits or do any of those things. This is just the school they wanted to go to. So why not get those guys locked up? At each state and each school, there are kids like that. That ac- tually helps the schools that are maybe wasting their time recruiting a kid, as well. So I do think it makes a lot of sense." I don't think I could have said this any better myself. I've tried to make this point in the Lions Den message board, but I still see many fans continuing to argue that this is a negative for the play- ers. One important point to bear in mind is that a few current rules would have to change. For example, official visits would have to start earlier in the process. At present, those visits can't begin until September of a player's sen- ior year, but for many, official visits during the season aren't possible, as their high school teams play on Satur- day. That's especially true for many prospects who live in the region's major cities. If we're being honest, those are often the kids who need official visits the most. An early signing period, at the very least, would have to ensure that official visits begin after a player's junior year of high school. He and his family would then have almost three months in the summer to see all of their favorite schools, and then, if he so chooses, sign with a team in August, right before the season gets going. If not, at least that player has been able to see many of his top options. A setup like that is even more impor- tant when you consider that these coaches are no longer the only people bugging players day in and day out. As much as I hate to admit it, my col- leagues and I are part of this issue. The media scene that surrounds recruiting is on a completely different scale today than it was only a few years ago. Every school has multiple sites now, which ba- sically means that every time someone hears some bogus rumor, the player in question is going to deal with multiple reporters on a given night. Trust me, this happens behind the scenes regu- larly. It also becomes pretty annoying. Guys like Fries, Shane Simmons and Ellison Jordan would have loved an early signing period. I know because I talked to them about it. While it wouldn't have started until late in the overall recruiting process, it would have spared those Linemen are strength of PSU's class R Y A N   S N Y D E R | B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D S I G N I N G D A Y N O T E B O O K

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