Penn State Football: New 2022 crystal balls for Nittany Lions
Penn State football has been pushing hard for Jaeden Gould, a defensive back out of New Jersey and it looks like that effort is starting to pay off.
The 2021 recruiting class left something to be desired amongst Penn State football fans, as the Nittany Lions signed the No. 21 class overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as sixth in the Big Ten.
One thing that hurt the Nittany Lions’ recruiting ranking was the fact that it signed just 16 recruits. Eight of them were four-star prospects, so even though the quantity was less, there was still some very good quality.
But so far in 2022, Penn State football is building a class with both quantity and quality, as the Nittany Lions already have 11 verbal commitments and according to some recent crystal ball predictions, more could be on the way.
A crystal ball flip for Penn State
One of the top targets left on the board for Penn State is four-star defensive back Jaeden Gould out of Bergen Catholic in New Jersey.
Gould is a 6-foot-2,190-pound defensive back who some see as a corner and others see as a safety. In the 247 composite rankings for 2022, he ranks 145th overall, 17th among corners, and second in the state of New Jersey.
Gould was also trending with crystal ball picks to Big Ten rival Michigan, until just recently, when those predictions started to flip in favor of Penn State.
Steve Lorenz and Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider both changed their picks from U-M to Penn State and did so with confidence levels of six and seven. Brian Dohn, a top reporter in the Northeast also changed his pick to Penn State.
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Gould is set to visit Penn State on June 11 and while he could take other visits, the Nittany Lions have moved into the pole position.
In other good news, Penn State is also starting to trending with projections to land four-star safety Christian Driver out of Texas. He’s 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, and is ranked No. 210th overall, as well as 14th among safeties.
Post-spring Big Ten Power Rankings. dark. Next
One prediction came from Sean Fitz, the Penn State insider for 247 sports, as well as a pick from the Texas 247 site, which is a pretty good indication that Driver is a Penn State lean.