Penn State Football: 3 early 2022 signees who’ll have instant impacts

Penn State football had a disappointing finish to the season in 2021 but signed a top recruiting class. Who are the impact players for the Nittany Lions?

It was a great start to the season for Penn State football, but a dreadful finish. After some early-season wins against Wisconsin and Auburn, it looked like Penn State might be in a position to make a push for the College Football Playoff.

After quarterback Sean Clifford went down in a game against Iowa, the season seemed to spiral out of control. The team remained competitive in games, but it was not the same team.

The other dominating storyline in Penn State’s season was the uncertainty if head coach James Franklin was going to leave Happy Valley for another job. Franklin would decide to stay at Penn State and sign a 10-year extension and one reason for that kind of extension was his upcoming recruiting class. Currently, the Nittany Lions have the sixth-ranked class in the country and the second-best in the Big Ten.

Penn State has been recruiting well under Franklin, but this is going to be the best class that he has signed. Penn State has seemed like a program that is on the cusp of taking that next step as a program, but they needed to bring more talent in. Franklin competes well with Ohio State but has not beaten the Buckeyes since 2016. This kind of recruiting class is one that can help close the gap with Ohio State and get Penn Stae closer to their goal of making the playoff.

Penn State is going to lose some talented players to the NFL this offseason and is going to need some high-level replacements to compete next season. Look for multiple guys from this class to challenge for playing time right away.

Here are the three early signees that will make an impact at Penn State in 2022.