Penn State's busy recruiting day

All of the major recruiting Web sites are buzzing today with the rumor that one of the nation's top offensive linemen will commit to the Nittany Lions in the near future. That, coupled with the verbal from another highly regarded lineman, is cause for celebration among Penn State fans. Frankly, it's been a pretty damn good two weeks for Penn State recruiting.

Eric Shrive (West Scranton HS) is rated by Scout.com as a five-star recruit and the third best tackle for 2009. He's a four-star according to Rivals.com. (Not that the stars matter anyway, as previously discussed) Towering around 6'7", Shrive has the physical build to play early. He also fits Joe Paterno's preference for lean agility over mass. Shrive weighs between 285 and 300.

Since I hate the star rankings, I'll give you my opinion on how to correctly judge Shrive's potential on the collegiate level. Look at which schools offered him a scholarship: Pitt, Rutgers, Tennessee, Virginia, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Illinois, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, NC State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma. Most of those schools know how to recruit. A few more know how to get to BCS games. If they think Shrive can play, then he must have at least some talent.

Adding to the good news was Edison HS (Alexandria, VA) lineman Frank Figueroa. His good size (6'4" 275) indicates that Penn State is shifting its focus for lineman. More emphasis is being placed on size. Although he's not ranked very high, Figueroa will add precious depth to the offensive front. As of today, Penn State has seven verbal committments, most of which are top-50 position prospects. Not bad for late spring.