February 03, 2016
I don’t know the exact moment in time that National Signing Day became an actual circus. Maybe it has always been a circus. Either way, it’s currently a circus. Guys are jumping out of planes now!
4-star safety Deontay Anderson skydives his way to a commitment #NationalSigningDayhttps://t.co/Nbl1XQDWuL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 3, 2016
Even though we are talking about 17 and 18-year-olds here, signing day is vitally important to college football fans. No, they don’t give out playoff bids to the highest ranked recruiting classes, but this is like the NFL Draft for big-time programs… just way more unfair.
• Want to know where every local high school player that committed to a big school signed? Click here.
There are two Division 1 college programs that people in the Delaware Valley care about, Temple and Penn State. Here is how they did:
Commits: 20
Class Rankings:
| Ranking | |
| Rivals | 24th |
| ESPN | 15th |
| Scout | 20th |
| 24/7 Sports | 18th |
Top commits:
The first commit of the 2016 class is officially on the #PSUsigningday board! Welcome to the family, Miles Sanders! pic.twitter.com/y3dIm6lIzq
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 3, 2016
#B1G s/o to Nittany Lion @McGloinQB11 for helping us properly welcome the newest Nittany Lion to the fam! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/n81vNvKYBf
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 3, 2016
The first National Letter of Intent is in and @Shizzeee_ is officially a #PennState Wild Dog! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/JStUpl5YVk
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) February 3, 2016
Penn State doesn’t have any more sanctions, so James Franklin is operating with a full deck. Sanders is considered one of the top backs in the country by all of the sites (Scout and 24/7 have him ranked first at his position), and he’ll join this year’s freshman sensation Saquon Barkley in the backfield at Happy Valley.
Menet should eventually help an offensive line that allowed 82 Christian Hackenberg sacks over the past two seasons, and Simmons is an impressive (if undersized) pass-rusher from Beltway power DeMatha. Other players of note are Baltimore defensive tackle Ellison Jordan, Chicago area defensive end Daniel Joseph, and Rochester quarterback Jake Zembiec.
Because he’s a quarterback, Zembiec gets the highlight treatment:
In general, it seems like Penn State’s class was tied for third in the B1G with Michigan State, but clearly behind Ohio State and Michigan. Jim Harbaugh had Tom Brady and Derek Jeter on hand today, as well as Dr. Lou Holtz dabbing on people.
Franklin, who missed out on a few key late undecided commits (Corner Damar Hamlin went to Pitt, while linebacker Brendan Ferns chose West Virginia) and saw a few highly-rated players de-commit, might feel slightly disappointed with how signing day went. Still, it seems like a decent job by the Penn State staff.
Commits: 25
Class Rankings:
| Ranking | |
| Rivals | 59th |
| Scout | 85th |
| 24/7 Sports | 73rd |
Top commits:
Play for the city that raised you. #TUFB welcomes Tyliek Raynor. #NSD2016 #fuTUre16 pic.twitter.com/TXo5JX9mNp
— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) February 3, 2016
Offered. Committed. Signed.
— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) February 3, 2016
Isaiah Wright makes it official. #NSD2016 #fuTUre16 pic.twitter.com/4js2XQhbIs
OFFICIAL:
— Temple Football (@Temple_FB) February 3, 2016
Join us in welcoming Anthony Russo to the #TUFB family. #NSD2016 #fuTUre16 pic.twitter.com/eTlO2HJUEB
I went back and checked past years to see if Temple, which Matt Rhule has taken to another level as a program, did better in the recruiting rankings. The answer: Maybe a little bit, but not by a lot. Rhule does seem happy about the passing connection he inked that includes Archbishop Wood’s Russo:
Russo to Wright! Just came through!!!! pic.twitter.com/IIsTP5PeDM
— Matt Rhule (@CoachMattRhule) February 3, 2016
On the other hand, he's not so thrilled with other coaches:
Matt Rhule said this was 'most assaulted" class he's had at Temple. One reason: all the coaching changes in the Northeast.
— Mike Jensen (@jensenoffcampus) February 3, 2016
In general, the team rankings for the “mid-major” football conferences are much more volatile, presumably because their recruits don’t have quite as much exposure. In the AAC, Temple finished from 3rd to 7th according to the various sites.
10:00 p.m. update: Later in the day, the Owls landed a huge commitment from Philly defensive tackle Karamo Dioubate out of Prep Charter. Dioubate is the 91st-ranked recruit in the country, per ESPN.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
