Tag: Peter Gonzalez

Biggest theme of Penn State’s 2024 class: balance

Penn State’s 2024 class offers one of the more balanced recruiting hauls in the country.

With the first and busiest day of the college football early signing period behind us, we can confirm that Penn State signed all 25 of its Class of 2024 commits earlier today. It was a “drama-free” signing day according to [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] who spoke after all the commits had signed. The class is now locked in for next year so let’s break it down.

Penn State returns a boatload of starting-caliber players from last season but will lose several starters to the NFL with more expected to announce in the coming month. Penn State has never been a heavy transfer portal school and relies mainly on keeping its returning players intact while reloading with a strong freshman class.

This years’ class is ranked 14th in the country by 247Sports Composite and 16th by On3. With 12 offensive commits and 13 defensive commits this year’s group is evenly balanced eluding to the fact that Franklin and his staff want to add quality depth around the board and fill in any neccessary holes from departing players.

From a positon standpoint is was more of the same type of balance across the board:

  • 7 skill players: QB [autotag]Ethan Grunkemeyer[/autotag], running backs [autotag]Quintin Martin[/autotag] and [autotag]Corey Smith[/autotag], wide recievers [autotag]Josiah Brown[/autotag], [autotag]Tyseer Denmark[/autotag], and [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag], tight end [autotag]Luke Reynolds[/autotag]
  • 5 offensive lineman: [autotag]Eagan Boyer[/autotag], [autotag]Caleb Brewer[/autotag], [autotag]Cooper Cousins[/autotag], [autotag]Donovan Harbour[/autotag], [autotag]Garrett Sexton[/autotag]
  • 6 defensive lineman: [autotag]Liam Andrews[/autotag], [autotag]DeAndre Cook[/autotag], [autotag]T.A. Cunningham[/autotag], [autotag]Xavier Gilliam[/autotag], [autotag]Jaylen Harvey[/autotag], and [autotag]Mylachi Williams[/autotag]
  • 5 secondary players: cornerbacks Antoine Belgrave-Shorter, Kenneth Woseley, Jon Mitchell, and safties Dejuan Lane, and Vaboue Toure
  • 2 linebackers: Kari Jackson and Anthony Specca

No one position or side of the ball dominated the 2024 recruiting cycle for Penn State, but thats a good thing because it shows that Penn State has talent everywhere. Three wide recievers were added to arguably the worst room in 2023 and a playmaking running back was added to a room featuring two former 5-star recruits. The trenches were reloaded with talent and many of the offensive line commits should challenge for starting spots in their first year.

In the time of the transfer portal and NIL perhaps a early signing day like the one Penn State had today is not exciting, but it does not matter Franklin’s method of “underpromise, overdeliver” method still produces wins. It has in the past. Penn State’s 2024 class is balanced, solid, and most importantly adds talent across the board which is key for sustained success.

Follow Charlie Strella on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram.

Early Signing Day Tracker: Say hello to Penn State’s Class of 2024

The early signing period for college football is officially open as schools around the country are locking in their entire, if not the vast majority, of their recruiting classes for the Class of 2024. Penn State will be among the schools expecting …

The early signing period for college football is officially open as schools around the country are locking in their entire, if not the vast majority, of their recruiting classes for the Class of 2024. Penn State will be among the schools expecting to receive signed National Letters of Intent from their verbal commitments to make things official. There could always be a player or two who hold off until the traditional signing period in February for one reason or another, but Penn State is hoping for a pretty simple and straightforward opening to the early signing period.

Here is a look at each player who committed to Penn State in the Class of 2024 recruiting calendar and an update on which players have signed in the early signing period.

Penn State makes top five for four-star wide receiver in 2024

Penn State is in the final mix for a coveted four-star wide receiver in 2024.

The ball has started to get rolling for Penn State in the class of 2024 with wide receivers. They gained three commitments from the position in one week after sitting at zero for the majority of the 2024 recruiting cycle.

The Nittany Lions were able to flip [autotag]Tyseer Denmark[/autotag] from Oregon which started the momentum. Later in the week, they picked up commitments from [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag] and [autotag]Josiah Brown[/autotag] on the same day.

New wide receivers coach [autotag]Marques Hagans[/autotag] is looking to keep his foot on the pedal during his first recruitment period with Penn State.

On Tuesday, the Nittany Lions got some surprising news when four-star wide receiver Jonathan Paylor included them in his top five schools. It comes as a surprise because Paylor has not taken a single visit to Penn State in an official or unofficial capacity.

The other schools on his list are South Carolina, North Carolina, NC State and Maryland.

Paylor is a consensus four-star prospect in the class of 2024. On3’s industry rankings have him as the 185th best player in the country and the number 29 overall wide receiver.

The 5’9″ 170 pound receiver is a speed type of player who lines up in the slot, backfield and returns kicks for his high school team. Although he plays on the perimeter and backfield, he’s expected to become a full time wide receiver at the collegiate level.

Paylor has visited every single program in his top five except for Penn State. He just finished his official visit to South Carolina during the weekend of June 23rd.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has South Carolina as the massive favorites to land him with a 91.6% chance. Penn State is not even listed on the machine which shows how surprising their inclusion was.

It doesn’t seem like it’s realistic to land Paylor, but maybe the coaching staff can work their magic.

Follow Brad Wakai on Twitter and TikTok

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=12]

Josh Pate reacts to Penn State’s latest wide receiver push in recruiting

Late Kick host Josh Pate was impressed by Penn State’s recent string of wide receiver commitments for 2024.

Penn State had an incredibly productive week on the recruiting trail by addressing a position of need in the Class of 2024. Penn State started the week off by landing a commitment from four-star Philadelphia wide receiver Tyseer Denmark, who had previously been committed to Oregon and went into the weekend with a pair of commitments from Josiah Brown and Peter Gonzalez to add to the receiver group. It was just what the recruiting class needed as Penn State continues to put together one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.

Penn State’s big week of receiver commitments caught the eye of Josh Pate, host of the popular online show and podcast Late Kick with Josh Pate. Pate dug into some of the big moves on the recruiting trail across the country with some quick thoughts on Georgia‘s latest haul, the momentum being built at programs like Florida State and Texas, and the buzz in Happy Valley with its latest string of commitments.

“It’s a magical thing when all of a sudden it looks like quarterback is going to be played a t a little bit higher level than it’s been played at your respective university, then all of a sudden your wide receivers start saying ‘I want some,’ and you as a coaching staff get to select which ones you take instead of taking whatever you can get,” Pate said of Penn State.

And he has a valid point.

Penn State is expected to move forward with Drew Allar, one of the top quarterback recruits in the Class of 2022, as its starter for the 2023 season. Allar will succeed Sean Clifford, whom he backed up numerous times and replaced in relief on multiple occasions last season, including in the Rose Bowl. James Franklin has yet to officially anoint Allar the starter, but the writing has been on the wall and it is essentially the worst-kept secret heading into next season.

Penn State also hired a new wide receivers coach, Marques Hagans, with the purpose of rejuvenating its recruiting prowess with the receiver position. Penn State was already busy locking up multiple commitments for its Class of 2024 before jumping in with some receiver help, but perhaps it was worth the wait.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=12]

Penn State gets second instate WR with commitment from Peter Gonzalez

Penn State landed another wide receiver in the Class of 2024

Friday was shaping up to be a big day for Penn State, coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] and new wide receivers coach [autotag]Marques Hagans[/autotag]. After landing the first wide receiver of the 2024 recruiting class and the first under Hagans earlier this week, there was a big possibility more were on the way.

Those expectations turned into reality when three-star Pennsylvania wide receiver [autotag]Peter Gonzalez[/autotag] officially committed to the Nittany Lions.

Gonzalez is a native of Pittsburgh and plays his high school football at Central Catholic. He is a 6’2″ 200 pound prospect who is a consensus three-star according to the major recruiting sites.

On3’s industry rankings have him listed as the 159th overall receiver in the country and 29th best player in the state of Pennsylvania.

Despite that, Gonzalez was a priority for Franklin and his staff who offered him a scholarship even after his knee injury in January of 2022. Gonzalez joins his high school teammate, [autotag]Anthony Speca[/autotag], in the Nittany Lions’ 2024 recruiting class.

Gonzalez was getting recruited hard by Virginia Tech, who were in his final three schools. However, he felt he had built a connection with Penn State.

When speaking with Ryan Snyder of On3 about his decision, Gonzalez said, “Honestly, through the ups and downs, they’ve been pretty consistent. They were one of the first schools to offer me and Coach Smith has been consistent the whole way.”

Gonzalez also added, “They’ve been very honest with my family, which we value a lot. After everything I’ve been through and everything I’ve done, I feel like I’ve truly earned my spot there. I feel like I earned the respect of the people there, which makes it feel like home.”

Coach Hagans also played a major role in the decision.

He told Snyder, “At camp, I was able to be coached by him and I feel like his style fits me well. I can tell based on his past work that he knows how to develop receivers and really be a coach. Some guys want players who can do it all already. He’s someone who can develop you into a better player.”

Hagans now has his second Pennsylvania wide receiver commitment in his first recruiting cycle.

Follow Brad Wakai on Twitter and TikTok

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=12]