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wouldn't approach those of some previous classes. But even though much has changed at Penn State in the past three months, the usual caveats apply: None of these prospects have played any college football, recruiting rankings are highly speculative and the final analy- sis is years away. On signing day, Feb. 1, O'Brien said he felt that a recruiting class needs at least two years to establish itself before evaluations start to become meaningful. "I could care less about player rank- ings," he said. "What I care about is that we found the right fit for Penn State with all these prospects. The credit goes to the assistant coaches for going out there and finding what we were looking for, which means good students, good citizens, good football players." O'Brien said that if someone were to scrutinize the Patriots' roster, that per- son would "find guys who were high- ly ranked coming out of high school and plenty of guys not ranked at all coming out of high school. "All I care about," O'Brien continued, "is our staff, our players, what they feel about the guys who are coming in here to help us win games. That, to me, is the most important thing." Steven BENCH QB, 6-3, 206 Cairo, Ga. Cairo High When Bill O'Brien first came to Penn State, he made it clear that he and his assistant coaches would use their connections in the Southeast to expand Penn State's recruiting terri- tory to states like South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and even Alabama. Within their first few days on the job, O'Brien and his assistants handed out at least three offers to potential recruits in that region. The first and only one to bite? Steven Bench. The Southern signal caller had com- mitted to Rice just before Christmas, but once Penn State began reaching out, the prospect of playing major Di- 12 M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 2 SIGNING DAY PLAYERS 2012 THE vision I football grew more ap- pealing by the day. Then on his official visit during the Jan. 21 recruiting weekend, Penn State extended a scholarship offer. That offer – along with a look at Beaver Stadium – proved irresistible. "The thing about playing in front of 100,000 people is that it kind of sounds like it's almost exaggerated a bit," Bench said. "The fact that I'll get the opportunity to do that is just a dream come true almost." Prior to his senior season, Bench played quarterback for Bainbridge (Ga.) High and ran a veer-oriented of- fense. Lacking a big statistical profile, he was overlooked by Southeastern Conference schools except for Missis- sippi State. After transferring to Cairo, he threw 20 touchdown passes his senior sea- son while leading the Syrupmakers to the Georgia State AAA semifinals. He is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals. PHIL GROSZ'S ANALYSIS Bench really got the opportunity to shine his senior year. Playing in a veer offense as a junior at Bainbridge, he passed for 803 yards and six touchdowns. At Cairo, he threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 20 TDs in a pro-style offensive system. Bench has 4.7-second 40-yard speed and is capable of throwing the ball 70 yards downfield. He should fit perfect- ly into the system O'Brien plans to run at Penn State and could be one of the biggest sleepers in this class. Da'Quan DAVIS CB, 5-11, 172 Towson, Md. Calvert Hall College High Just as it did last year with corner- back Adrian Amos, Penn State went to Calvert Hall toward the end of recruit- ing season seeking a defensive back. And as was the case with Amos, Davis could end up giving the Nittany Lions a lift when he sees the field. Davis' best attribute is his affinity for playing man-to-man and press cover- age. He figures to get a chance to do just that in Ted Roof's aggressive de- fense. Photo courtesy of Davis family LEAP YEAR Davis (3) shined for Calvert Hall his last two seasons at the Baltimore-area school, breaking up 15 passes and intercepting six others during his senior year. However, both Davis and high school teammate turned Penn State recruit Trevor Williams almost never made it to University Park. They were original- ly committed to West Virginia, but the departure of defensive coordinator Jeff Castee and cornerbacks coach Dave Lockwood compelled them to re- consider their options. When Penn State extended scholar- ship offers to both players on Jan. 17, they were tempted to commit on the spot but ended up taking an official visit to University Park the next week- end. A few days with Amos and Dono- van Smith convinced them to join the Nittany Lions. PHIL'S ANALYSIS Davis had an exception- al senior season as a boundary corner- back, winning All-Met recognition from The Baltimore Sun. He has 4.5- second or better 40-yard speed, good ball reactions and the ability to play press coverage. In addition, he's phys- ical and shows good run-support ca- pabilities. Davis totaled 48 tackles, six interceptions and 15 pass breakups his senior year at Calvert Hall. DOWREY OL/DT, 6-3, 279 Winchester, Va. John Handley High Derek Initially, Dowrey was a relatively unknown name among Penn State re- cruiting enthusiasts. As of last May, it was unclear whether he figured into the Nittany Lions' plans. Dowrey had visited Penn State a few times as a junior, but his contact with W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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