Penn State football: 5 recruits most likely to sign with Penn State Nittany Lions

Now we’re really getting somewhere in recruitment with Penn State. The Nittany Lions have a terrific opportunity to add a pair of top-50 or so recruiting prospects to their football team. James Franklin has to be excited about his program’s chances of landing four-star safety Derrick Davis Jr. from Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Davis is the No. 2 safety in his class, the No. 4 player from Pennsylvania and the No. 52 overall prospect in this cycle. He has 25 official offers, but has turned his attention as a recruit to these four teams: The Clemson Tigers, the LSU Tigers, the Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State. The Nittany Lions are the early leader for him.

Terry Smith is serving as Davis’ primary recruiter to Penn State. Putting one of the two co-recruiting coordinators on his radar signifieds how serious the Nittany Lions are about keeping Davis in-state and having home play for Franklin in State College. Otherwise, he’ll be going to another College Football Playoff-contending team like Clemson, LSU or Ohio State.

If Davis were to venture from Monroeville to State College, that would be a huge win for Penn State. While they could learn to live with him going to Clemson or LSU, Davis joining up with Ohio State would not be acceptable. If Penn State wants to remain playoff-viable, Franklin and his staff can’t let top-flight talent in-state go play for a division rival that has dominated the Big Ten East.