With National Signing Day 2018 just weeks away, we look at the five most important commits in the Penn State recruiting class.
Coming off a successful 2017 season in which the team won 11 games and finished in the Top 10 of the final AP poll, the Penn State Nittany Lions entered the offseason with momentum. The on-field success the program has had under head coach James Franklin has carried over to the recruiting trail as well, and the Nittany Lions enter the final stretch of the 2018 cycle ranked among the best in the nation.
As of Monday, the 2018 Penn State recruiting class was ranked No. 4 in the country and second in the Big Ten in the 247Sports Composite team rankings. Only Georgia, Ohio State and Texas currently have a more talented crop of newcomers, according to the various recruiting outlets. The class currently includes 23 players – six early enrollees already on campus, 16 players who have signed letters of intent and will join the program this summer, and one more hard commit expected to put pen to paper on the traditional National Signing Day, Feb. 7, with a few uncommitted players still in the mix to add their names to the list in the coming weeks.
Despite fielding a roster already well stocked with talent, there should be plenty of opportunities for early playing time for newcomers. Penn State must replace 11 senior starters from last year’s team, and a total of 13 seniors listed on the two-deep depth charts. Also, elite playmaker Saquon Barkley left for the NFL following an outstanding all-around junior season.
With holes to fill as the Nittany Lions take aim at a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff spot, we take a closer look at the five most important commits of the 2018 Penn State recruiting class.
5. Jesse Luketa, Linebacker
The first name on our list is linebacker prospect Jesse Luketa, who signed with the Nittany Lions during the early signing period and enrolled in January. Luketa comes in ranked No. 238 overall in the 247Sports Composite, and ranks tenth nationally among high school inside linebacker recruits, and is also capable of playing on the outside (some recruiting outlets even list him as an outside linebacker). He is also the No. 10 player from Pennsylvania, and choose to stay close to home despite offers from more than a dozen high-profile college programs across the country, such as Georgia, LSU, UCLA, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 238 pounds, Luketa has good size for a linebacker, and won’t need to add weight in order to compete at the collegiate level. That’s important since he will be on campus for spring practice, and also because the Nittany Lions must replace two starters in the linebacker corps – Brandon Smith and Jason Cabinda.
Cabinda, a three-year starter who led the team with 60.5 tackles and 11 run stuffs from his middle linebacker spot last season, will be difficult to replace. Smith, the fourth leading tackler from last year’s squad, was a starter at outside linebacker and the No. 2 middle linebacker on the Penn State depth chart.
Luketa should be on the shortlist for early playing time opportunities. In addition to prototypical size, Luketa is a good downhill player and solid tackler already and should improve his technique and finishing ability with experience at the next level.