2027 Recruiting Thread

LB99

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I have no opinion one way or another regarding Hagans. Hagan’s Penn State duration was just too short and he was aligned to 2 of the worst offensive coordinators in PSU history.

Penn State’s WR struggles were due to poor talent evaluation, not poor player development. Penn State recruited too many WRs who were not B1G caliber receivers.

Saunders, Ivey, and Evans were simply not good enough to play in the B1G conference. They were dreadful.

Star ratings are meaningless if the player isn’t good enough. Just look at Julian Fleming. Fleming was the number one rated 5 star WR coming out of high school. Yet, Fleming was at best the 3rd or 4th option during his 3 years at Ohio State. Fleming turned out to be a total bust at Ohio State and Penn State. He simply was not good enough to be a starting WR in the B1G.

Hits and misses are part of the game for every team. Penn State’s problem: they had a very high WR miss rate under Franklin.

To be fair, Fleming was injured for almost his entire college career. Same with Saunders. Whether or not they would have been effective if they were injury free, who knows. Ivey never contributed at all. Evans showed some potential from time to time with his speed, but the passing game was such a mess, he never really got much of a chance. He didn’t do much at Washington last year either.
 

PSUForever

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Maybe PSU tried to find a way to do it and it didn't work out? Hopefully approaching Jamar Taylor (Rutgers commit) brings a flip. No doubt a flip won't be cheap but probably no where near K Taylor $.
I think we were caught flat footed with the Nebraska offer. We were not prepared for that so we either didn't have the funds to match and/or it would throw everything off with the current WRs so we couldn't match even if we wanted to.

It was managed poorly and now we are scraping and clawing to land Jamar Taylor who is not the equivalent player/playmaker that Khalil Taylor is.
 
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PSUForever

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I have no opinion one way or another regarding Hagans. Hagan’s Penn State duration was just too short and he was aligned to 2 of the worst offensive coordinators in PSU history.

Penn State’s WR struggles were due to poor talent evaluation, not poor player development. Penn State recruited too many WRs who were not B1G caliber receivers.

Saunders, Ivey, and Evans were simply not good enough to play in the B1G conference. They were dreadful.

Star ratings are meaningless if the player isn’t good enough. Just look at Julian Fleming. Fleming was the number one rated 5 star WR coming out of high school. Yet, Fleming was at best the 3rd or 4th option during his 3 years at Ohio State. Fleming turned out to be a total bust at Ohio State and Penn State. He simply was not good enough to be a starting WR in the B1G.

Hits and misses are part of the game for every team. Penn State’s problem: they had a very high WR miss rate under Franklin.
In my opinion Hagans has to share in the blame of our WR mess the last few years. Maybe those guys were not good enough but they had some talent and did not develop at all. I can't believe that Saunders just had no talent yet was a 95 rating.
 
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LMTLION

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In my opinion Hagans has to share in the blame of our WR mess the last few years. Maybe those guys were not good enough but they had some talent and did not develop at all. I can't believe that Saunders just had no talent yet was a 95 rating.
Wallace and KLS had better success after they left PSU. Pena and Ross regressed at PSU. Was it Coaching or the QB or both?
 

PSU89er

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Nov 22, 2023
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So Campbell should make the playoffs this year.
Yes, and I've said it before. The only reason people think we wont is a Big Ten arrogance that has a mind set that B12 starters are not capable B10 players.

I think the James Madison kids showed that is just nonsense. PSU returns about 20 starters. Actually we return over 22 kids that have started in a BCS football game. That is insane. I think we are going to be very good and the could be right in the mix for the whole thing. PSU isn't going to get any respect even if they go unbeaten until they win the B10 title game. The schedule is that weak.

Give me a kid that is rated a 4 star transfer over a 5 star HS kid any day, and PSU got a bunch of 4 star transfers to go with a decent base of PSU kids that we brought back. WE also got a lot of 3 star starters in the portal. IU loaded up with those kids last year.

Be honest. What position is the weak spot on this team? I'll give you some people will say left tackle while Goodman is a second year 5 star that has never started (that means he has the potential to be very good even year one.) OK, name a second position that PSU could be just weak. There isn't one. Are people going to actually argue that those DTs that started at UCLA aren't good enough to play here?

If you are talking about losing games. Im much more concerned about 2027, because I dont think we are going to bring in 15 portal kids, and we really might need that many.
 

Blair10

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Dec 30, 2002
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In my opinion Hagans has to share in the blame of our WR mess the last few years. Maybe those guys were not good enough but they had some talent and did not develop at all. I can't believe that Saunders just had no talent yet was a 95 rating.

So, using your logic:

Former OL coach Phil Trautwein was at fault for 5 star J’ven Williams being a bust at Penn State?

Former WR coach Gerad Parker was at fault for 5 star Justin Shorter being a bust at Penn State?

Star ratings are just a forecast. The actual determination of talent is the player production on the field against real college competition.

Sometimes, players are just overrated.
 
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DaytonRickster

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Yes, and I've said it before. The only reason people think we wont is a Big Ten arrogance that has a mind set that B12 starters are not capable B10 players.

I think the James Madison kids showed that is just nonsense. PSU returns about 20 starters. Actually we return over 22 kids that have started in a BCS football game. That is insane. I think we are going to be very good and the could be right in the mix for the whole thing. PSU isn't going to get any respect even if they go unbeaten until they win the B10 title game. The schedule is that weak.

Give me a kid that is rated a 4 star transfer over a 5 star HS kid any day, and PSU got a bunch of 4 star transfers to go with a decent base of PSU kids that we brought back. WE also got a lot of 3 star starters in the portal. IU loaded up with those kids last year.

Be honest. What position is the weak spot on this team? I'll give you some people will say left tackle while Goodman is a second year 5 star that has never started (that means he has the potential to be very good even year one.) OK, name a second position that PSU could be just weak. There isn't one. Are people going to actually argue that those DTs that started at UCLA aren't good enough to play here?

If you are talking about losing games. Im much more concerned about 2027, because I dont think we are going to bring in 15 portal kids, and we really might need that many.
I remain concerned about WR and DE.
 
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Corner Room Breakfast

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Oct 27, 2021
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Is there a point in you comment? The three schools you mentioned have partnered with Adidas for going on 20 (or more in Indiana's case) years.

Is there a point in you comment? The three schools you mentioned have partnered with Adidas for going on 20 (or more in Indiana's case) years.
Yep. PSU's in good company with the 3 mentioned schools.
 

PSU89er

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Nov 22, 2023
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I remain concerned about WR and DE.
You are concerned that two WRs that were the starters and leading yardage receivers at Iowa State along with the best young receiver at PSU last year as a possible back up/starter isnt good enough. That is basically, B12 players aren't good enough.

DE. I think the issue isn't how good we are, but the fact that we probably dont have a bonafide high draft pick masher out there (you are comparing it to how good we have been, and our DEs have been the best in the country). Fact is, Kemajou was a very good first year player last year and Granville as an 18 year old first year player was going to start in the national semi if Carter couldn't go. If he's healthy DE is a lot less of a problem than many think. The other part, this is different defense and the DEs aren't always going to be told to come off the end like a bullet as has been asked in the past. I think the big pass rush in this defense is going to be the linebackers. They are going to do all they can to free Bacon and Rojas up, and they will be coming a lot in passing downs.
 

Marshall2323

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You are concerned that two WRs that were the starters and leading yardage receivers at Iowa State along with the best young receiver at PSU last year as a possible back up/starter isnt good enough. That is basically, B12 players aren't good enough.

DE. I think the issue isn't how good we are, but the fact that we probably dont have a bonafide high draft pick masher out there (you are comparing it to how good we have been, and our DEs have been the best in the country). Fact is, Kemajou was a very good first year player last year and Granville as an 18 year old first year player was going to start in the national semi if Carter couldn't go. If he's healthy DE is a lot less of a problem than many think. The other part, this is different defense and the DEs aren't always going to be told to come off the end like a bullet as has been asked in the past. I think the big pass rush in this defense is going to be the linebackers. They are going to do all they can to free Bacon and Rojas up, and they will be coming a lot in passing downs.
The 2 WRs production at ISU was somewhat less than what PSU received from Pena and Ross. Becht passed for about 150 more yards than PSU got from Grok and Allar.
Is the Big Twelve on par with the Big Ten? My inclination would be to say no. I will agree that PSUs schedule in 2026 is closer to a Big Twelve schedule than a typical Big Ten slate. I think because of this, most of us are optimistic in terms of a double-digit win possibility. Putting them in the mix for a NC in 2026 is just a bit bullish.
 

Ryn0113

Sophomore
Nov 8, 2021
104
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To be fair, Fleming was injured for almost his entire college career. Same with Saunders. Whether or not they would have been effective if they were injury free, who knows. Ivey never contributed at all. Evans showed some potential from time to time with his speed, but the passing game was such a mess, he never really got much of a chance. He didn’t do much at Washington last year either.
Evans was the only WR in that class to have any kind of on-field production. I remember him catching a few deep shots, not being able to separate on any route, other than a go route and quitting on the route that ended the ND game, when Drew threw the INT.

That class is a shining example of why we might be on the right track, not giving high schoolers crazy money.
 

DaytonRickster

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May 29, 2001
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You are concerned that two WRs that were the starters and leading yardage receivers at Iowa State along with the best young receiver at PSU last year as a possible back up/starter isnt good enough. That is basically, B12 players aren't good enough.

DE. I think the issue isn't how good we are, but the fact that we probably dont have a bonafide high draft pick masher out there (you are comparing it to how good we have been, and our DEs have been the best in the country). Fact is, Kemajou was a very good first year player last year and Granville as an 18 year old first year player was going to start in the national semi if Carter couldn't go. If he's healthy DE is a lot less of a problem than many think. The other part, this is different defense and the DEs aren't always going to be told to come off the end like a bullet as has been asked in the past. I think the big pass rush in this defense is going to be the linebackers. They are going to do all they can to free Bacon and Rojas up, and they will be coming a lot in passing downs.
It's not, B12 players aren't good enough, it's a matter of utilization of the receivers. Let's see what the new WR coach and OC Mouser can do to benefit the passing game.

DE is a question because of Granville's health status (missed Spring) and depth.
 
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TheWizardofCamelot

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FWIW, because I keep seeing it mentioned - Khalil Taylor decommited from PSU before Franklin was fired. We lost him shortly after the UCLA game. His reasoning was straight up that Franklin didn't develop WRs. And have you noticed Taylor never gave Tech the light of day? This isn't a Campbell or PSU perception thing right now.

This is strictly a money thing - Nebraska/Rhule is desperate to get their offense going and they're willing to break the bank on this class to get things cleaned up. Also worth noting, Fitz recently said on the BW podcast that their QB commit is getting a ton of attention from SEC schools. What if Rhule goes 6-6 again? What if the QB jumps ship? Nebraska plays Oregon, OSU, Indiana, Washington, @Illinois, @Iowa. If I were a betting man that's 5-6 losses alone. This one isn't over yet.
 

LMTLION

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FWIW, because I keep seeing it mentioned - Khalil Taylor decommited from PSU before Franklin was fired. We lost him shortly after the UCLA game. His reasoning was straight up that Franklin didn't develop WRs. And have you noticed Taylor never gave Tech the light of day? This isn't a Campbell or PSU perception thing right now.

This is strictly a money thing - Nebraska/Rhule is desperate to get their offense going and they're willing to break the bank on this class to get things cleaned up. Also worth noting, Fitz recently said on the BW podcast that their QB commit is getting a ton of attention from SEC schools. What if Rhule goes 6-6 again? What if the QB jumps ship? Nebraska plays Oregon, OSU, Indiana, Washington, @Illinois, @Iowa. If I were a betting man that's 5-6 losses alone. This one isn't over yet.
Yeah, I don’t think Nebraska keeps that qb. Not just SEC schools but OSU has an eye on him too depending on how their room progresses in the fall.
This stuff is so crazy nowadays. Jenkins is already being talked about as a flip candidate nationally with Pitt and Michigan the leaders. He may never land at Colorado.
 
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PSU4U

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The biggest hole in our '27 class is WR (Captain Obvious statement). The miss on Taylor (assuming he ain't coming) feels like a miscalculation and poor forward planning by the GM and Campbell. What I mean is I think they should have seen this coming or been better prepared for this kind of outcome. What is the average payday for mid-high 4 star guys? Is Taylor an anomaly at $1 million? What did Dean get to flip to Georgia? What did Hall get at Auburn?

I think the staff needed to have a backup plan ready with a high 3 star guy that they had built a relationship with and even got a commitment from prior to Taylor bolting. Maybe we don't have the budget, meaning to pay Taylor whatever it was we had budgeted and pay this high 3 star guy. Then in that case at least have a good relationship with a backup that we could get. Or if that wouldn't work then we needed to cool on Taylor and pursue the high 3 star guy. My point is there were strategies to avoid simply being totally empty handed like it appears now.

Taylor had shown he was following the money as Nebby has always been in play until he disingenuously said he was canceling his OV visit there. Then what do you know? The offer gets bigger from Matt Rhule and suddenly Nebraska is the best visit he has had. He clearly is playing us against them with the game "who's the higgest bidder?" and who cares if I play on a 7-5 /6-6 team for 3 straight years.

My point is this guy seems to have played us or should I say he and his family played us and we should have been better prepared for this Murphy's Law scenario to unfold. These primma donna high 4 star guys will do that to you.

Maybe we have someone in mind as a backup to Taylor. I dunno. Or maybe the backup is to prioritize and spend in the portal next January. Just seems like we should at least have two HS WR recruits in the '27 class.

I do think Campbell has done a solid job with this '27 class. I like that we just got the CB out of Texas and the Alexander pickup is an excellent one. With that said, I do think it is fair to be critical of him over this Taylor miss. Not saying we should be paying Taylor $1 mill but the seemingly lack of a contingency plan is poor planning.
I think they have the money but want to spend most of it in the next portal for "28". I expect them to raise the anty for Taylor maybe not to the Neb amount but close enough that he will commit to PS where he really wants to be. Just my opinion.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
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Evans was the only WR in that class to have any kind of on-field production. I remember him catching a few deep shots, not being able to separate on any route, other than a go route and quitting on the route that ended the ND game, when Drew threw the INT.

That class is a shining example of why we might be on the right track, not giving high schoolers crazy money.
Maybe. Except talented high schoolers like Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams do exist and can contribute on day one.
 

TheWizardofCamelot

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We covered this a few pages back - but with the current state of NIL, is the crystal ball or RPM worth anything anymore on these sites? At least from a user and/or fan perpsective? What a bunch of BS. These people are about as unreliable as the local weather man these days. They all literally said some of these recruitments are in the bag a week ago - and now they're in the bag to another school. This site says Wiltfong has 92% accuracy with his RPMs...LOL. What a joke, just do away with these things.
 

LionsAndBears

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We covered this a few pages back - but with the current state of NIL, is the crystal ball or RPM worth anything anymore on these sites? At least from a user and/or fan perpsective? What a bunch of BS. These people are about as unreliable as the local weather man these days. They all literally said some of these recruitments are in the bag a week ago - and now they're in the bag to another school. This site says Wiltfong has 92% accuracy with his RPMs...LOL. What a joke, just do away with these things.

The RPMs still tell us where a kid WANTS to go, just not necessarily where a kid WILL go.
 
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bdgan

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It is an assumption on my part, nothing more. I'm puzzled as to where the big NIL $'s are that Kraft alluded to? Was he blowing smoke or was the money used/being committed elsewhere?
Players talk to each other about how much money they're getting. I assume he's being careful not to offend existing players and commits by offering disproportionate money to the next recruit even if it's a position of need and he can afford it. Of course all top teams are facing the same predicament.
 

Bison13

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It might not just be the kid wanting to go to the School with the biggest offer, it might be the parents or their handlers making them go to the school with the highest offer. I’m at a basketball event right now in the life. Where there’s a top 25 recruit in the country that my friend and I are watching. They’re going rate for this kid about 700 K but his dad‘s being an idiot and basically telling everybody that he’s going to take nothing less than 1 million. By doing that a couple schools just crossed him off their list and now a bidding war for that kid is down to schools and he may not even get the 700.
 

PSU89er

Junior
Nov 22, 2023
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PSU should never lose a highly rated Pa. recruit to present day Nebraska. Period.

High school kids should not take money to play college football. Period.

Nor rule says he is going to the shuckers. Colorado is tossing a bag at him as well. If PSU gets outbid by a large margin. They can either jack it up or walk, and this staff has shown they will walk. I have no problem with that.
 

bdgan

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There is not that much of a difference between Taylor who Nebraska got at QB and Wood.
Are you saying that we lost both because of money?

Taylor 4*, 96 rating, offers from Mia, GA, OSU, Alabama, Oregon
Wood 3*, 88 rating, offers from UConn, UMass, Syracuse, and WVa

If we can believe what's published PSU has similar money to Nebraska and Virginia Tech but somehow Nebraska got Taylor and VT got Bourque (4*, 94 rating, offers from FL, UM, GA, Mia).
 

PSU89er

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Nov 22, 2023
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It's not, B12 players aren't good enough, it's a matter of utilization of the receivers. Let's see what the new WR coach and OC Mouser can do to benefit the passing game.

DE is a question because of Granville's health status (missed Spring) and depth.

So your not worried about the WRs, you are worried about the scheme. We are going to throw to the TEs a alot. That is Campbells offense and that isnt changing. We are going to be in 2 TEs most of the time.

DE. Kemajou was starting at the end of the year, and Ezeogu started a full season at Iowa State. McPherson played a lot of reps at Colorado as a freshman, and this doesn't include Granville. I will agree DE is probably one of our weaker postions, but if we had all of those reps coming back and they were all at PSU last season. WE'd be saying the position is stacked.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
10,481
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113
Now do you want to make a massive list of talented high schoolers over the last couple of years that barely contributed day one. WE can start with a tight end that went by the name of Olesh.
You can bash Olesh all you want, which seems to be a daily thing here, but guys like the ones I pointed out do exist and they are highly productive on day one. No matter what though, that is all projection.
 
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LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
10,481
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So your not worried about the WRs, you are worried about the scheme. We are going to throw to the TEs a alot. That is Campbells offense and that isnt changing. We are going to be in 2 TEs most of the time.

DE. Kemajou was starting at the end of the year, and Ezeogu started a full season at Iowa State. McPherson played a lot of reps at Colorado as a freshman, and this doesn't include Granville. I will agree DE is probably one of our weaker postions, but if we had all of those reps coming back and they were all at PSU last season. WE'd be saying the position is stacked.
You named three guys and a guy coming off of a major injury for two spots. Yes, DE is a concern and it is thin with depth.
 

LB99

Heisman
Oct 27, 2021
10,481
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MacNit

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He'll get 4. If PSU doesn't win 10 in three of the next four years and see the playoffs once or twice (in addition must beat Ohio State at least once and Oregon as well).....there will be widespread unrest.
There are luxury boxes to sell and without measurable improvement over Franklin's record....it will be hard to sell "excellence at the highest level."
But back to recruiting, did you see Notre Dame just got a commit from a top 100 #12 rated receiver in the nation? They now have 2 five stars and 11 four stars. Why aren't "real" PSU fans asking why ND is so far ahead of PSU in recruiting?
We have. according to sources here, the biggest Addidas deal in college football and Kraft promised increased NIL resources.
Where are the game breakers?
I guess we’ll see!
 

MacNit

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Sounds like a lot of excuses and excuses are for losers. "Our donors" never produced top 10 money for Franklin. So there's that. It makes perfect sense to fire an "unsuccessful coach" and then refuse to give the new coach resources to succeed.
1 win in a dozen years is all that needs be said. Other than that, did we ever beat a team of equal or more talent? You almost have to try and be that bad.
 
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PSUFTG

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The 2 WRs production at ISU was somewhat less than what PSU received from Pena and Ross. Becht passed for about 150 more yards than PSU got from Grok and Allar.
Is the Big Twelve on par with the Big Ten? My inclination would be to say no. I will agree that PSUs schedule in 2026 is closer to a Big Twelve schedule than a typical Big Ten slate. I think because of this, most of us are optimistic in terms of a double-digit win possibility. Putting them in the mix for a NC in 2026 is just a bit bullish.
I think it would be difficult (and kind of inane) to try to identify "strengths and weaknesses" of a roster that is nearly completely new. But I do think one can identify obvious "question marks", where there is just not anything compelling to make one feel comfortable that things are in place (that is going to be more common everywhere, with the New World Order of college football).

For PSU:
Both lines - from tackle to tackle on offense, and end to end of defense are absolutely huge question marks. There is not a single player who is coming into the year with a track record of success at a major college program.

The WR spots - definitely. A couple guys with modest levels of success at ISU (as someone pointed out in an earlier post) and that's it.

If you are hoping for more than "MOTR" (middle of the road) out of the QB spot, that is also a huge question mark (because that is the track record of the guy who is pretty much the default leader in 2026)

You could add some level of "question" to just about every other spot as well, but I think those are the primary ones.