Head Coach James Franklin and the Penn State football program currently have the fourth best recruiting class in the nation with their crop of 2022 prospects. They also, outside of the academies, have the largest class with 25 current commits.

The large class, which beyond just quantity is filled with major quality (1 5-star & 13 4-stars) gives the staff some flexibility down the stretch. For instance, is there a high school prospect out there that the Penn State staff has a great relationship with and feels like they can come in and contribute immediately? Will there be someone in the portal, a transfer either from the JUCO or FBS ranks that could slide in and immediately upgrade a position group?

With limited space left the staff has put themselves into a position where they can either hold tight, go Best High School Player Available, or take an immediate help/depth piece from the transfer market.

At this time if you are the Penn State staff, you really hang your hat on being an evaluator, not only of high school prospects, but your own roster. Evaluate, access, plan, close. You don’t have to force anything or trick yourself into loving a prospect that may have flaws you didn’t want to admit. Nope, now you just truly access your roster and see how or if you can make it better with a prospect or prospects from now until you come back from winter break.

There really is no holding tight though when working for Coach Franklin, there is always the next class to consider and young prospects to evaluate. So while they can be choosy down the 2022 stretch, you can bet your bottom dollar they are feverishly working to build another Top10 class in 2023.

However, that’s for many future discussions, for now let’s go through the 2022 position groups and highlight a few things.