Penn State's top 10 defensive prospects heading into the spring

One of the themes of Penn State’s recruiting efforts the past two years is that they haven’t been able to land the true blue-chip players that every major school covets. Just in the state of Pennsylvania alone, a few really good players have gotten away. I'm not going to name them. You know the list already.

To be fair, Penn State has done well in other regions like Michigan this past year and Virginia in previous years to help make up the difference, but James Franklin would be the first to tell you that the roster could always use more playmakers, especially those top 100 national prospects that schools like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State have been landing with regularity of late.

Despite no visits for a year now, Franklin and his staff couldn’t have asked for a better start in the Class of 2022. Seven of Penn State’s eight committed players currently hold a four-star rating, three of whom rank in the Rivals250. Six of those eight players will surely play on offense, while Mehki Flowers could play either wide receiver or safety.

But if this year’s class, which ranks seventh nationally now, is going to reach the levels of the 2018 class, which finished fifth, the Nittany Lion coaching staff will have to land at least a few of the players below. The NCAA once again extended the dead period until June 1, so visits won’t be taking place now until the summer, but there is a belief that we will actually see unofficial and official visits at some point this summer, whether it's June or July.

After speaking with sources close to the program, these are the 10 most important defensive prospects for the Nittany Lions, in order, as we head into the spring.

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Just like the offensive players that I did last week, I ran this list past multiple sources and the first two players I'm listing here garnered a lot of debate, so I felt like I had to list both. Obviously, all of these guys are really important, but I will stress that defensive tackle isn't nearly as big of a need as defensive end, and that's why sources agreed that Strickland should be toward the bottom of this list. It’s more so positional need than what they think about the player. Currently, he’s the staff's No. 2 target at defensive tackle, behind Kaleb Artis. However, because I feel good about the chances of him ending up in Happy Valley, I couldn't leave him off. With an official visit set for June 11-13, he's one for fans to watch closely in the months ahead.