Friday Mailbag: Jaeden Gould, June Commitments & Diamonds in the Rough

Blue White Illustrated's Ryan Snyder has started a new Friday feature, opening up his Twitter notifications for fans to ask any recruiting question they'd like. Now, even those who don't subscribe to BWI will get the opportunity to ask questions. With official visits underway, there's plenty to discuss. Check out this week's answers below.

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Gould is already out in Los Angeles this weekend visiting USC and then after that, Penn State is the only official visit he has scheduled, which takes place next weekend, June 11-13. He was originally planning to go to Michigan, but that visit has been cancelled now, so this is setting up well for the Nittany Lions. I logged a pick for him back in March, and although there have been some ups and downs since then, we always knew his interest in Penn State was strong. Now, whether he commits during his visit or not is hard to say. He’s consistently made it clear to myself and colleagues that he wants to go home after visits, talk it over with family, then decide. At one point, July 3 was a date he discussed, but now it looks like he’ll be done taking visits in mid-June. Because of that, I think we’ll see him move up his decision date, but only time will tell. If I had to bet, I’d lean towards him not making a commitment while on campus, but then deciding in the days that follow.

I have to go linebacker here. Currently, the plan is to take two this year, and for awhile, we thought Ken Talley would fill one of those spots, but at 240-plus pounds now, all signs point to him playing defensive end. We know the staff loves Shawn Murphy, but it feels like he’s aiming to play down south. Like Talley, Jaishawn Barham has also put on weight in recent months, so could he potentially grow into a defensive end? That’s still to be determined. When you look at the guys in that next tier, you’ll find two prospects from Florida (Wesley Bissainthe & Omar Graham Jr.), one from Georgia (Joshua Josephs) and Moses Walker from New York City. Penn State is pushing hard for Walker, but there’s a belief that he may stay close to home and play for Rutgers. His visit to Penn State at the end of the month (June 25-27) will go a long way in determining that, however. So, there isn’t one player, currently, who I can confidently say Penn State should land. It feels likely that Penn State will have to send out a few new offers, but that may come after the southern prospects visit this month. I could see them landing one of those three.

Is it possible? Sure. I wrote earlier this week that 3.5 would be my over/under for June. As I mentioned above, Gould makes a lot of sense for a June commitment. He was originally planning to take three or four official visits and is now down to just two, both of which come in the first half of the month. So that’s one that I could realistically see. I just did a big piece on WR Cristian Driver yesterday. He has just one official visit set to Penn State in two weeks, June 18-20, plus one unofficial set to Wisconsin the week after that, June 25-27. I logged a FutureCast for the Nittany Lions yesterday and I think he could decide this month. That’s two.

That leaves just two more out of literally hundreds of players that will be on campus. Just about every summer we see offers go out at camp with a commitment soon following. The chances of that are high, especially this year with coaches not being able to scout in person for almost 16 months. They’ll host a ton of prospects that they really like already but just want to confirm one or two things. On top of that, I would expect at least 50 prospects in next year’s class to also make their way on campus before June 27. Could one of them get excited and make an early move? History says someone probably will.

This is a fitting question for this weekend considering Whiteout Camp is Sunday. Although that camp also features dozens of top prospects, many of whom already have a Penn State offer, I expect quite a few others who are hoping to earn one. I’ve talked about LB JR Strauss a lot over the past few months. He holds 17 scholarship offers, although most are from the Group of Five level. I know he has fans inside the Lasch Building. I’ve been comparing him to Tyler Elsdon, who weighed a bit more than Strauss when he camped, but put up similar testing numbers leading up to the offer. Back in March, Strauss ran a 4.55-second 40 and had a 4.22-second shuttle earlier this year. If he posts those kinds of numbers again, I think he’ll get an offer and could even commit this month.

Two others to keep in mind are OL David Siegel and DE Tajae Broadie. Just yesterday, Phil Trautwein hosted Siegel on campus. This summer, 2022 players taking an unofficial visit can workout with the staff for an hour, and from what I was told, Trautwein was impressed. An offer hasn’t come yet, but one could in the weeks ahead. Georgia Tech, Louisville and Vanderbilt have all offered already and he’s set to camp at a ton of schools this summer. I could see him blowing up.

Broadie, from Middletown, Pa., holds 10 offers already from some decent schools like Cincinnati, Minnesota, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Schools are mixed on whether he’s a tight end or a defensive end at the next level. Penn State will work him out as a defensive end Sunday, which remains a position of need this year.

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