Coming into Signing Day, Penn State had most of it’s class finalized.  Yes, we know signing day can hold some surprises in store (see: Henne, Chad and Shaw, Michael), but very few of our prospects had even looked elsewhere.  Had Larry Johnson left for Illinois, some leeching would have been probable, the guy was the lead recruiter on 13 of 27 recruits this year.  But he stayed, and signing day promised to be a pretty straightforward one.

We had 26 guys in the bank, and two guys who nobody really had much of a feel on: linebacker Jelani Jenkins who, we were told was down to PSU and Florida.  wideout Justin Brown, who we thought might have committed weeks ago, was down to us and Rutgers.  Then there was cornerback Jim Noel, a BC-verbal who Penn State looked at very late in the game, but few expected the Lions to get him.  When he signed his letter of intent to Boston College, few hearts were broken.

Jenkins was the most high-profile recruit on PSU’s radar in the recruiting season.  Ranked the #9 overall prospect by ESPN’s Scouts Inc, and as the #1 outside linebacker on both Rivals and Scout.com.  Not only is the kid crazy fast, but he sports a 4.0 GPA and is 16.  In other words, he’s the perfect recruit.  He handled his recruitment professionally, giving a speech before announcing for Florida live on ESPNU at 11:00 AM yesterday.

I was really dissapointed that Jenkins chose Florida over Penn State.  In fact, I was pretty surprised.  I mean, we’re Linebacker U-you’d think any prospective linebacker would love to come here.  We’re also just 3 hours away from his home in Maryland.  Instead, he’s heading down south, and he’ll make his parents take a nice little flight down to Gainesville 7 times a year if they want to watch his games.

It’s a big loss, but it’s not like Penn State isn’t absolutely stacked at linebacker for the next few years.  Jenkins would’ve been icing on the cake, not a player of desparate need, which is why I’m not too concerned.  For next year, there’s Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman, then we’ve got Michael Mauti, Nate Stupar, Chris Colasanti, Mike Zordich, and Mike Yancich, and Glenn Carson waiting in the wings.  And don’t discount 2010 commit Mike Hull, who I’m told is nothing like Josh.  I would’ve loved if Jenkins had chosen to come here, but I was more concerned about Brown.

Justin Brown had visited State College close to a dozen times throughout his recruitment, and most fans thought he was a lock to come here.  However, as the process dragged on, Rutgers seemed to get more and more confident in their chances of landing the 4-star wide receiver ranked #9 at that position by Scout.com.  After losing out on Jelani Jenkins, Brown was a must get.  With our trio of great wide receivers leaving after this season, PSU needed an impact player who could step in immediately.  No offense to Curtis Drake, Shawney Kersey, or Christian Kuntz, but Brown is the one receiver who will be able to chip in from day one.  His 6’4 size sub-4.5 40 time, and great hands make him a player I can’t wait to see on the field at Beaver Stadium.  Oh, and he’s such a great athlete that he was a 3rd-team All-State punter.  Then again, that state was Delaware.

What I’m saying is getting Justin Brown was more important to this program than landing Jelani Jenkins.  In Brown, we get an impact wide receiver who might get a chance to start as a true freshman.  As great as Jelani Jenkins probably will be at Florida, I’m not going to lose any sleep over him.  But I would’ve lost sleep if we’d whiffed on Brown.  The 27th commit to this class was probably just as important as any from #1 to #26.

I’m very happy with this draft class.  We addressed just about every need and did it in style: we got a great looking QB in Kevin Newsome, brought in enough wide receiver recruits that a couple of them just have to pan out, added plenty of depth along the offensive and defensive lines, and vastly improved a pretty thin secondary.  We might not have landed that top recruit in the country, but when have we, outside of 2005?  Frankly, I’m confident enough in Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary, and Larry Johnson to know that we’ve reloaded enough to get Penn State right back in the Rose Bowl.  It’s not going to be easy to replace this year’s seniors, and that’s obvious.  But the quality and quantity of this class, rated #10 by Scout.com, and #15 by ESPN, is not something I have any problem with.

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