◊ Was it a great haul? Maybe. Was it a very good one? Totally.
I've been telling people all day, that this is the kind of recruiting class that pays big dividends down the road. There are eight or nine guys that could step in and contribute right away in 2009, while others will benefit from a redshirt year, much in the way Stephfon Green did in 2007. Penn State addressed every need going into this season, particularly at WR and DB. There was a lot made of Jelani Jenkins passing over PSU for Florida, but he wasn't a need this year.
I think the biggest pickup, outside of landing Kevin Newsome a few weeks ago, was WR Justin Brown. From what I hear and have seen on highlight tapes, he's a fantastic receiver prospect. Penn State went big this year on WRs, with every one of them being at least 6'2" with good speed. It would have been nice to pick up another QB, though, even a two-star kid. Depth there is still troublesome.
But moving on.
In the defensive backfield, Derrick Thomas, Stephon Morris and Darrell Givens could see playing time right away, either on special teams or in mop-up duty. With so many losses on both sides of the passing game, Penn State did very well for itself today. And with that, I introduce to you, Penn State's freshman class of 2009:
| Pos._Name_____________ | Stars | Verbal | HT/WT/40 | Hometown/School |
| QB Kevin Newsome | 4/4 | 12/16/08 | 6'3"/215/4.55 | Portsmouth(VA)/Churchland |
| RB Curtis Dukes | 4/3 | 7/2/08 | 6'2"/235/4.5 | Philadelphia/IndianRiver |
| WR Justin Brown | 4/4 | 2/04/09 | 6'3"/209/4.35 | Wilmington(DE)/Concord |
| WR Brandon Felder | 3/3 | 5/27/08 | 6'3"/165/4.5 | OxonHill(MD)/OxonHill |
| WR Shawney Kersey | 3/3 | 1/19/09 | 6'2"/180/4.5 | Woodbury(NJ)/Woodbury |
| WR Christian Kuntz | 2/2 | 7/4/08 | 6'4"/190/4.46 | CampHill/Trinity |
| OL Eric Shrive | 5/4 | 5/15/08 | 6'7"/290/5.1 | Scranton/WestScranton |
| OL Mark Arcidiacono | 4/2 | 4/30/08 | 6'5"/285/-- | Philadelphia/St.Joe's |
| OL Ty Howle | 3/3 | 3/23/08 | 6'2"/290/5.4 | Bunn(NC)/Bunn |
| OL Adam Gress | 3/3 | 7/2/08 | 6'7"/290/5.22 | WestMifflin/WestMifflin |
| OL Nate Cadogan | 3/3 | 7/11/08 | 6'6"/250/5.0 | Portsmouth(OH)/Portsmouth |
| OL Frank Figueroa | 2/2 | 5/15/08 | 6'4"/275/-- | Alexandria(VA)/Edison |
| OL John Urschel | 2/2 | 1/19/09 | 6'3"/275/5.1 | Buffalo(NY)/Canisius |
| DL Sean Stanley | 3/4 | 2/04/09 | 6'1"/247/4.81 | Gaithersburg(MD)/Gaithersburg |
| LB Glenn Carson | 4/3 | 9/29/08 | 6'3"/220/4.6 | Manahawkin(NJ)/Southern |
| LB Gerald Hodges | 4/4 | 12/12/08 | 6'3"/210/4.5 | Paulsboro(NJ)/Paulsboro |
| DE/TE Gary Gilliam | 3/2 | 11/13/08 | 6'7"/245/4.80 | Hershey/MiltonHershey |
| DE Jordan Hill | 2/2 | 01/5/08 | 6'3"/290/4.70 | Steelton/Highspire |
| CB Derrick Thomas | 3/4 | 5/12/08 | 6'0"/173/4.48 | Greenbelt(MD)/E.Roosevelt |
| CB Stephon Morris | 3/3 | 5/26/08 | 5'9"/175/4.4 | Greenbelt(MD)/E.Roosevelt |
| CB Curtis Drake | 3/2 | 6/11/08 | 6'0"/170/4.68 | Philadelphia/WestPhila.Cath. |
| DB Ste. ObengAgyapong | 3/3 | 5/9/08 | 5'11"/185/4.5 | Cheektowaga(NY)/JFK |
| DB Malcolm WIllis | 3/3 | 4/29/08 | 6'1"/185/4.65 | IndianHead(MD)/Lackey |
| DB Darrell Givens | 4/4 | 5/10/08 | 6'1"/178/4.5 | IndianHead(MD)/Lackey |
| DB/WR Devon Smith | 3/3 | 10/1/08 | 5'8"/145/4.34 | Waldorf(MD)/Westlake |
| DB Mike Wallace | 2/-- | 1/22/09 | 5'10"/185/4.55 | Olney(MD)/OLOGC |
| K Anthony Fera | 3/3 | 10/22/08 | 6'2"/230/-- | Houston(TX)/PiusX |
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