Penn State Football: 5 commits in 2018 class who’ll have instant impact
By Shane Lunnen
Penn State football‘s 2018 class looks to be its best recruiting class in over a decade. What players can make an impact immediately upon arrival?
Penn State has made huge strides in recruiting since James Franklin‘s arrival in 2014. Those recruiting successes have paid off with back to back 10 win seasons, a Big Ten championship and two New Year’s Six bowl berths, winning the Fiesta Bowl this past season.
The Nittany Lions currently sit in fourth place in the national recruiting rankings on 247 Sports. This would be Penn State’s highest ranked class since 2006 when they finished seventh overall. The 2006 class included several players instrumental to the team’s 2008 Big Ten Championship. There is a good possibility the 2018 class will be huge in leading Penn State back to another conference title or even more.
Penn State needs to replace departures in several key areas. While there is current depth to fill those roles, we want to look at guys who can make an instant impact this season.
5. Jesse Luketa, 4-star LB
The Nittany Lions find themselves with limited linebacker depth with the departures of Jason Cabinda and Brandon Smith to graduation and Manny Bowen being dismissed from the team. This could leave room for four-star recruit Jesse Luketa to climb up the depth chart.
Luketa has an interesting story as he is from Ontario, Canada but transferred to Mercyhurst Prep in Erie, PA to gain more exposure from American colleges. It paid off as he had offers from several big schools including Georgia, Auburn and Ohio State. He ultimately decided Penn State was the right fit.
At six-foot-two, 240 pounds, Luketa would be best served as a middle linebacker. He also could play the outside. He’s already enrolled so having a spring to get acquainted to the system and weight room will be a big help to earning playing time this fall.