Penn State stands at No. 1 in Class of 2022 football recruiting rankings

Aug. 3—Penn State will begin preseason football camp later this week as the No. 1 team in the country, at least in the Class of 2022 recruiting rankings.

After a whirlwind July, which included the commitment of Gov. Mifflin running back Nick Singleton and 11 other rising high school seniors, the Nittany Lions moved to the top spot in the Rivals and 247 Sports rankings this week.

"They (Penn State coach James Franklin and his staff) put to bed the idea that going 4-5 last season would have a carryover effect in recruiting," said Ryan Snyder, recruiting analyst for Blue-White Illustrated and Rivals. "It's a stress off their shoulders going into preseason camp. They're feeling very good right now.

"When momentum picks up in recruiting, it just snowballs. It was a fun month and a busy month for them. I know the fans are excited."

Rivals has Penn State at No. 1, followed by Big Ten East rival Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU and Florida State. The Lions are at the top of the 247 Sports rankings, followed by Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame and LSU.

Fourteen of Penn State's 24 committed players are at least four-star prospects, including defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, who gets five stars from Rivals. Ten are from Pennsylvania, including Singleton, Manheim Township wide receiver Anthony Ivey and Downingtown West offensive tackle Drew Shelton.

"Pennsylvania is loaded this year," Snyder said. "Pennsylvania has 13 four-star players this year, and that hasn't been the case in recent years. Penn State has eight commitments from Pennsylvania high school players and two from Lackawanna (Junior) College.

"This is the second-deepest year in Pennsylvania in the past two decades. Pennsylvania is incredibly deep and Penn State was able to take advantage of that."

Another prime factor behind the Lions' success has been hosting players on campus for the first time in 15 months. The NCAA did not allow any official visits from the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 until June.

"Penn State was probably hurt the most of any school with not being able to host kids on visits during the pandemic," said Brian Dohn, national recruiting analyst for 247 Sports. "Getting them back on campus to where kids can interact with the coaches and players, see what the community's about and walk inside Beaver Stadium....that's always been the recipe for success there.

"They were able to do that again in June and you saw the byproduct of that, especially in July."

There are many highly regarded players in the class, but both Dohn and Snyder praised Dennis-Sutton, a 6-5, 253-pound lineman from the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md., who picked Penn State over defending national champion Alabama and Georgia.

"He's incredible and so mature for his age," Snyder said. "He's so driven and very goal-oriented. He's really put on some lean muscle mass. He looks like (former Penn State end) Jayson Oweh did coming out of Blair Academy.

"He's been absolutely dominant on the camp scene. Now we have to see him when he puts the pads on. He's everything you would want in a weak-side defensive end."

Both analysts raved about Singleton, the four-star running back from Mifflin who committed last month. Rivals has him as the 124th overall prospect and the No. 8 running back in the nation, and 247 Sports has him at No. 71 overall and as the No. 5 running back.

"I love him," Dohn said. "He's an athletic freak. Look at his track times and then you look at his tapes. It's comical at times watching kids trying to tackle him. He's not going down on first contact. Kids are bouncing off of him.

"He has great vision, burst, speed. His game fits the Big Ten running style of power. And he's a great kid."

Snyder said he's been prodding Rivals to rank Singleton even higher.

"I love him," Snyder said. "He's one of the best-looking prospects they've gotten since I can remember. Some of his numbers are just incredible for his size (6-0, 215). He's a very smart player. He doesn't dance around. He's sneaky quick.

"Everything off the field about him is pretty much perfect. There's no baggage there. He's a natural leader and incredibly mature for his age."

Penn State has never finished No. 1 in the national recruiting rankings, according to Snyder and Dohn. Neither one could remember the last time the Lions were No. 1 this late in a recruiting cycle.

Snyder said he expects Penn State's Class of 2022 to be the best or second-best group since Franklin arrived in 2014. He expects the Lions to finish somewhere between fifth and eighth because they're near their limit and because other top programs have more scholarships to offer.

"Being No. 1 for now gives you momentum and positive PR," Dohn said. "It makes people say, 'Hey, something's going on there. Look at all those high-ranked kids committing.' If you're a high-caliber kid, you may want to join them."