Blue White Illustrated

Latest recruit is 'everything you look for' in a QB | P enn State landed its second Class of 2019 commitment on Oct. 26, as quar- terback Ta'Quan Roberson of Wayne, N.J., announced his intention of signing with the Nittany Lions. A three-star prospect from DePaul Catholic, Roberson has been on Penn State's radar since his sophomore season. The 6-foot-0, 198-pound signal-caller took four visits to University Park in the o6-season, beginning with a junior day in February. He then returned for the Blue- White Game in April, followed by two camps in the summer. It was a7er the second camp perform- ance at the Underclassmen Combine in July that head coach James Franklin and o6ensive coordinator Joe Moorhead de- cided to extend an o6er. Once Roberson returned for the White Out game against Michigan on Oct. 21, he knew that Penn State was the right school for him. One of the reasons why Roberson was so comfortable with Penn State was that De- Paul Catholic associate head coach Bryan Murray has longstanding relationships with several members of the Nittany Lions' football sta6. "We've been in constant contact with the coaches up there when it comes to the guys that they're recruiting o6 our team," Murray said. "I've known Franklin now for probably about a decade, maybe even closer to 15 years. Of course, E.J. Barthel is heading up their recruiting nowadays. We've known E.J. ever since he was a player. Also, Ricky Rahne recruits our school. I've known him a long time now, so we all have a pretty good relation- ship with their sta6. "From my perspective, the one thing I would say about their sta6 is that they were just honest. They took a very honest approach with Ta'Quan, and their ap- proach is very similar to the way our coaching sta6 operates. So, I think that was a level of comfort for him. We've known these guys a long time, so there's a level of trust between our sta6 and their sta6. I think that played into it. I also know that he really enjoyed Coach Moor- head. Joe is an unbelievable coach, so I think the more time that they got to spend together when [Ta'Quan] went up there, the more clear the picture became." Roberson played in a few games at De- Paul as a freshman, but he didn't become the starting quarterback until last season. Now, in his second full season as a starter, Murray said that Roberson has become an excellent leader in one of New Jersey's best o6enses. 2019 PROSPECT Now in his second season as the starting quar- terback at DePaul Catholic, Roberson is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes and has also estab- lished himself as a capable runner. Photo courtesy of Ri- vals.com

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