Penn State Football: 3 signees who’ll have instant impact in 2020

Penn State football and James Franklin signed the No. 15 recruiting class in 2020 and they’ll get plenty of early contributions.

James Franklin continues his hot recruiting at Penn State as he tries to keep pace — at least somewhat — with Ohio State and Michigan. The Nittany Lions have the talent to contend for and win Big Ten titles and that won’t change in 2020.

The Nittany Lions are bringing back some important pieces on offense in 2020 such as starting quarterback Sean Clifford and breakout running back Journey Brown. Defensively, though, Penn State will be forced to reload with seven starters departing, and that’s where the Nittany Lions may need to turn to their incoming recruiting class.

Which incoming signees will have an immediate impact on the Nittany Lions?

The defensive line is losing some key players from the 2019 squad such as Antonio Shelton, Robert Windsor and Yetur Gross-Matos. The former two are on the interior which is why four-star defensive tackle Coziah Izzard could have an immediate impact.

Although he’s not enrolled early, which would help tenfold, the 6-3, 281-pounder has incredible size and he played all along the defensive line at the high school level. He may not have the height and lean body to be an effective end, but he is strong enough to bring some force to the defensive line’s interior.

Izzard is listed as the No. 238 overall prospect in the class as well as the 24th-ranked defensive tackle, according to 247Sports.

If Penn State is going to reload defensively, Izzard may be a prospect it’ll want to lean on.