Penn State Secures CRITICAL Wide Receiver Official Visit | Regional Camp Recap

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It’s been a busy week of Penn State football recruiting. The Elite 11 regional in State College and the Baltimore Under Armour Camp featured some of the region’s top talent at every position this past weekend. The Nittany Lions had top targets at each camp and Blue White Illustrated was at both to see how things played out. We’re diving deep into those performances today on the BWI Live Show. Plus, wide receiver’s coach Marques Hagans secured an official visit from a top target on his board in Quincy Porter Jr.

Join the show today at 10 a.m. on YouTube or catch the replay conveniently embedded in this article or on the channel. Want more content? Subscribe and enable notifications so you don’t miss any breaking news, highlight videos or live shows.

Penn State gets Official Visit from Porter

Porter is widely regarded as the team’s top wide receiver target in the region, if not overall. So, how and when did Penn State land an official visit for the 6-3 wide receiver? Ryan Snyder broke down the news on the site earlier this week and discussed the situation on today’s show.

Meanwhile, Sean Fitz took a deep dive into the team’s three running back recruits in the 2025 class. What did he find, and what new information did he gather this week? He’ll highlight some of that on today’s show, but for the full details, check out his article.

Messiah Mickens, Kevin Brown, Tyler Merrill, and seven other Pennsylvania players made the On300 update for the Class of 2026 this week. So what else did we learn about the early rankings for the next cycle? We’ll dive into the update with Fitz and Snyder.

UA Baltimore and Elite 11 recaps

We already touched on the Elite 11 during Fitz’s recruiting recap on the Tuesday BWI Live Show. But today we’ll dig deeper on the conversations Fitz had with the team’s top quarterback prospects he spoke with after the event.

Meanwhile, Snyder was in Baltimore to see the bulk of Penn State’s top skill position and trench targets this past weekend. What did he learn, and who did he talk to? Join the show to find out!

Penn State Secures CRITICAL Wide Receiver Official Visit | Regional Camp Recap

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[Music] welcome to the number one Pense football recruiting and talk show on the internet radio anywhere it’s pwi live I’m Thomas Frank Carr Ryan Snider Sean Fitz we’re here to talk about Penn State’s latest recruiting news a big full stack show coming up today here’s what we got coming up we have the Elite 11 we’re going to get into some of the conversations and some of the performances we touched it on the live show on Tuesday we’re going to revisit some of those conversations Ryan is here who was at Under Armour in Baltimore so we’re going to get to his view of all of that for the first time this week there was an on 300 update for the class of 2026 still too soon but good information to have we have a running back Deep dive and an official visit set for Penn State for one of the team’s top prospects but that’s not all we’re talking about today we’re talking about what you want to know as well so drop your thoughts in the chat which is spicy today we started at 10:02 and Dawn if you’re not five minutes early you’re 15 minutes late and you should probably quit uh we also have Mecha engineer who’s got a question we’ll get to you later on in in the show today but gentlemen how you doing today how was uh how’s the week going for you Ryan wonderful um going to try and stop out a big 33 practice later today tyer Denmark Kenny wosley are out there going to go check out those guys say hello had a fun time with the Phillies game last night it’s Memorial Day Weekend yeah man can’t complain this is this is it this our last weekend before uh everything really takes off yeah and there’s a lot of stuff to talk about this week Fitz what are you thinking about as we get the show started here today thinking about a little bit of everything I said in the chat my recycling got out so longtime listeners of the show can can rest easy now that bit is continuing um but no we’re we’re just uh we got this Memorial Day weekend holiday weekend then we get back into official visits which are the big thing and then Camp season of course comes with that um so there’s there’s gonna be plenty to talk about the next couple of weeks and one of the biggest things to talk about here to start the show is our show sponsor who makes a lot of this possible and that is my perfect franchise if you want to take the next step in your career which is to work for yourself if you have corporate experience or maybe you’re an expert in a certain field Andy Ludi is a franchise consultant who has placed people in businesses to manage and has helped them Define the next step of their future call them at 404973 991 whether it’s things are booming and the economy is great or things are on the downturn or certain sector is fading behind there’s always something moving there’s always an opportunity and he knows how to get you in the right business so you can be successful and use your years of unique expertise to their fullest potential to make you money and not somebody else consider a franchise ownership on hands-off or day-to-day management level whatever you want his services are 100% free and here’s he’s here to help if you have any questions about business ownership check out the blue white Illustrated message board or email Andy Andy aty perfectfringe Ryan from the news and notes section of what’s happening for the Nittany lines there is another official visitor added to the list for this summer at wide receiver so take us through what you found out this week at bluewhiteillustrated.com well this was one that I think Sean and I both kind of teased for a little while we expected Quincy Porter to take an official visit and you know he made it official or put it out publicly I guess what was it the the other night um but look he’s he’s the top receiver in the region you know 63 190 out of Bergen Catholic it’s got all the top Honors that you would want all the top schools after him you know Penn State’s going to get him that first weekend get an opportunity to set the set the floor gu set the bar yeah set the bar one but it’s it’s not going to be not going to be easy I mean I I think for a long time I’ve thought Ohio State you know Michigan’s absolutely in there Oklahoma Oklahoma’s a little bit of a surprise because I thought it’ be Texas A&M that maybe uh gets his fourth official visit but uh you know he did go to A&M not that long ago as well so look Penn State’s in it and this is a guy who really doesn’t communicate a lot even with like not just reporters but also recruiters like just kind of keeps to himself so that and some degree is a positive like I’m not trying to be too negative just because I think we’ve been hitting on Ohio State in Michigan a long time with him um and you know just the feedback I’ve got is that he’s kind of always kept to himself so those opportunities sometimes end up being uh those guys who kind of surprise you I guess you would say and maybe make a decision that not many are expected but again Ohio State’s pretty good at getting wide receivers they’re pretty aggressive from nil perspective all that kind of stuff and that would uh lead me to kind of lean towards the Buckey at this point so that brings up what Mech engineer wanted to know he said good morning fellas can you limit the discussion to visitors who you think have a realistic chance for landing at Penn State fits you’ve been saying this whole time like hey we think he’s their top guy I don’t know if he’s going to go to the the school but how important is this official visit and you meant we always talk about setting the bar High I guess how do you pull out all the stops for a guy if you want to change the narrative about your school and get one of these players to commit and then develop him at your school he’s not committed yet I mean he’s not committed anywhere yet so you you have a chance it might not be the biggest chance but you do have a chance to sign Quincy Porter I I’m I’m baffled by the defeatism of this fan base at times especially this cycle um with everything with everything basically um but here here’s here’s a guy that’s your top Target you’re getting him on campus you’re your your pitch to him is to come in and be the guy almost right away and you look at his highlights and his film he’s he’s really good I mean he is as good as a regional receivers we’ve seen the last couple of Cycles um and he’s up there with some good ones too um but uh yeah I mean this is this is one that you’ve got to see what kind of chops you’ve got um because you’re working uphill you’re pushing that stone uphill and it’s and it’s probably not going to go in your favor but doesn’t mean you’re out of it I mean you’re one of four official visits that doesn’t give you a 25% chance but you’re one of four that have a shot to put this or to to make this impression on him now with Porter um he came to Penn State in the spring before that we got Vibes that he just you know wasn’t very interested but they have a good relationship there they’ve got you know they’re not they haven’t gone out and signed anybody from Bergen Catholic in a long time but they have a good constant relationship there now are they going to sign him probably not but come on now guys this is this is why we follow like there have been upsets optimism season I I I just I’m an optimistic person for the most part but I mean it’s just it’s tough to read the same thing over and over again it’s just like it’s like okay the golf tournament’s this weekend and Scotty sheffler’s probably the favorite I haven’t looked at the odds but it’s like it’s like saying hey I’m gonna take the field against Scotty Sheffer and then pound your chest when he finishes second like that’s like that that that that to me is is how we’re we’re doing this whole thing right now and uh I mean this guy is worth the trouble like and and it’s not a trouble recruitment that’s probably the wrong word for fight wor wor the effort he’s worth the fight and and you’re going to see that uh when he gets on campus next weekend will it go Penn State’s way I don’t know probably not but at the same time they they’re one of four here this is I I my wife uses this line all the time I’m not a defeatist but a realist I have a philosophical disagreement with that that is neither here nor there but I don’t I don’t it’s it’s not useful to just automatically assume the negative to say don’t talk about it because I don’t think he’s coming here is is disingenuous it’s not like that’s not how we follow recruiting Ryan what do you think of porter in terms of his talent and what you’ve seen from him what do you think he can be for the NY Lions Sean already brought it up I mean he’s can’t think of too many guys in the region who have brought what he brings athletically and and has put on tape uh that have matched up in the last couple years so I mean this is absolutely a top wide receiver that you know could come in and I don’t know about play immediately but not too far off probably uh he’s got he’s got everything you want there so time will tell the one thing I will say is I feel like lyc Samuel is a stud and they they do have you know he’s got a lot of the same measurables and different things like that not quite as naturally recruited but you know I do feel like Penn State did get one of those taller lengthier guys that uh you know can can help them spread the field a little bit as well so well do they want more absolutely you know they’ll take quinsey Porto Cory Cory Sims is kind of similar as well there there’s a few others yeah time time will tell but you know I I just Ohio state has always just felt like the team to me uh with Porter but again I will stress like this is a guy who is kind of quiet so we’ve seen those quiet recruitments in the past uh surprise us whether it’s to Penn State’s favor or elsewhere it’s interesting just bringing up the conversation about this and I I went through and I looked at some of the numbers and I looked at some of the profiles of these players um I said early on after talking to Marcus hains and kind of getting a Vibe for what he did at Virginia guy likes bigger receivers but you recruit anybody who’s good right Lex Cyrus is on the official visit list they desperately want him he’s 5’11 he’s the only player under six feet that is taking an official visit to Penn State as far as who’s a wide receiver recruit and Prospect so interesting you mentioned lyric Samuel we got to see him up close at the Elite 11 we’ll talk a little bit about that later a guy who’s almost 6’4 here’s another guy who’s 63 and really big uh shaping up that it could be pen State’s tallest wide receiver class whether that means anything or not I I just think it’s been an interesting Trend to watch this first full year under Marcus Hagen and and what he’s been prioritizing as the wide receivers coach because we we love to make snap judgments on you know as human beings and Marcus hains is not good according to a lot of people so far but we haven’t really seen him go through a full recruiting class and I think this is part of that conversation getting a guy who’s a top receiver recruit in the nation to actually take that official visit I remember was it uh who is the North Carolina wide receiver that went to to Ohio state that was one of their top receivers a couple years ago and they didn’t even get him in for visit fits do you know who do you remember who I’m talking about rers now yeah Noah Rogers Noah Rogers thank you I was gonna say Charles Rogers but that’s uh that was very wrong um is that is that what we got on on Quincy Porter any other last thoughts or comments you want to add here to the to the conversation um they got a lot of receivers coming in I mean and that’s a heck of a stat like I just went and double checked like the shortest receiver they got coming in is six foot besides Lex Cyrus that’s I I’m actually stunned by that they remember they wanted Romero een who was and they committed USC so it was him and and Lex are always kind of those slot guys they really prioritized but um I mean look yeah Desi Jones committed to Ohio State which he was the third of that group like that was surprising so so they got a ton of guys coming in I mean this is this is without a doubt you just look at the official visit list that we have um you know over on BWI like it’s with without a doubt the the deepest position that they’re recruiting right now they are they are casting a wide net and there’s a lot of guys out there Matthew auton excuse me I mean a bunch of others that that uh we’re going to talk about exer here in a little bit but they get they’re going to get some quality guys whether it’s Porter or elsewhere I’m not too concerned so the next thing we have to talk about today uh which came out is the on 300 update for 2026 uh Fitz I’m going to beat you the punch it’s too early to take a lot of stock in these rankings but they are informative of uh maybe some of the latest movements and and information in recruiting from testing numbers or things like that so Ryan I know you went through the on 300 and pointed out some of these things if you’re watching here on uh the Youtube channel there are 10 Prospects from Pennsylvania uh in the on 300 and here are some of the guys that are a part of the top 100 so what stands out to you about the on 300 update and you want to go into detail about any of that stuff that we just had up there um man I got sore throat this morning uh there wasn’t a lot of change in this update I think main thing like we’re going to see I think a lot more movement after Camp season once we get to June July uh that’s when I think you’ll see a lot more especially 2026 movement uh mickens I don’t think moved at all I don’t think Kevin Brown moved at all either I believe they both are at the same exact spots they were previously Tyler Mero bumped down a little bit maybe like 20 SP spots and that was half of that is because you know guys just moving up above up above him uh the big I think the big most notable thing was Joey O’Brien the safety Prospect out of laau joining the on 300 uh that was a guy that I think Sean and I have hit on quite a few times it felt like a fourstar someone we were kind of overlooking a little bit he’s been great at the ot7 uh events and a guy that you know if he’s able to kind of show what he’s been showing at seven on seven and and translate that to the fall uh he’s a guy who could keep moving up and we have him at 203 right now I believe and um there’s a lot of people really high on high on Joey O’Brien so that kind of grabbed my attention W ker Sean did you see him recently is he gonna be we have him as like a what was that we have him as a receiver and he’s a defensive I think that’s it MH I saw you mentioned him somewhere recently not too long ago he’s a really long rangy guy guy that want to have in Camp obviously um to figure out what he is um but yeah I think he’s the rare receiver to defensive end prospects but he moved up big two he was 261 originally up to 140 now uh David Davis is a guy I’ve hit on a lot you I still kind of think we’re we’re sleeping on him a little bit in these rankings he’s down a 206 um but you know Harris I keep going back to that Harrisburg team man Kevin Brown Elias coke uh Deontay sheffy and of course Messiah mickens they’re all on the same team now and uh they’re all in the on 300 so excited to go see them this year yesterday yeah oh that’s it that’s there you go I get it now okay Ryan we were on Tuesday and somebody asked about the Harrisburg showcase it’s not on our rundown but that is something we probably should Circle back around to yeah great event it was supposed to be on the rundown it was definitely supposed to be on the rundown that’s my bad really you know I I already knew what Kevin Brown was he’s fre I mean Kevin Brown in my opinion emanu yacho let me clarify em Manu yacho really stood out this past week Under Armor but like Kevin Brown if that kid ends up being the top offensive lineman in the country when it’s all s down I would not be surprised he is an absolute freak what really kind of stood out to me actually was a little more Tyler Merill he’s added size and he moved better than I thought uh that he would at that event that that kind of stood out to me a good bit um yeah I’ll that distributed size he’s always absolutely massive but yeah he like 330 now um continues to add size but looks good I mean moved really well in a couple of the drills I thought uh look it’s Messiah mickens we already know what Messiah is it was a seven on seven event right so you’re not going to get a whole lot of running back uh information out of that Messiah I I think he only really he didn’t even do all the drills I don’t believe but uh it was a good event it was mainly for I would say FCS uh some smaller schools Penn State did show up they had a lot of guys there too I was Tai how Marcus Haggins uh Phil troutwine and um Tom Allen um were all there which you know shows kind of how important Lex Cyrus is and some other guys Lex Lex also did only some of the events but man there’s a couple Clips I put out there his his speed and his agility and you know the progress he’s made as far as being a track guy who played football well yeah he’s he’s a legit football player now and you know deserves to be ranked kind of where he is um he’s really put it together needs to work on his hands still and he knows that but uh everything else is there for for Le Cyrus to be a phenomenal player what do you think of the 2026 cu the the springling and Harrisburg a lot of this your focus and a lot of what we saw were those offensive linemen uh what do the region look like what does Pennsylvania look like in 2026 because I know we talked about it was it felt like a strong region this year in 2025 and and some of the top players that have emerged from the state are they going to be following that up as far as what you can tell from an early perspective in terms of players that have a legitimate chance to be top 100 players top 300 players uh in Pennsylvania that Penn State has a strong chance with I think we’ll have a better feel for that after camps because there’s quite a few Pennsylvania guys on this on 300 who Penn State hasn’t really pursued a whole lot yet and I expect those guys to come to camp and once we get some testing numbers I think we’ll be able to get a better feel for you know whether they deserve to be uh you kind of ranked where they are right now I think 10 is about right but there’s a couple like I can see it dropping a little bit and you know then there will also be some guys right now that uh you know we’re we’re not talking about some three star guys who maybe pop up so it’s a solid year um you know the top is great I think the top is among one of the better years um but there’s some of those guys in maybe the back half that have a few questions about still that whether they really are you know fourstar prospects long term Fitz any any thoughts on the on 300 update not really um I think some I mean it’s still very early and we’re still filtering things like the when the first updates came out I sent Joey O’Brien to Charles power and said hey this guy’s better than half the P Pennsylvania kids that are in there like so that’s kind of where we’re at with with filtering that whole thing and you still see a lot of three stars in the on 300 as we get as those um as those rankings mature you’re going to see more of those four stars and it’s gonna work itself out I just saw this in the chat um this is Eggman says I can’t wait till Messiah arrives and I I don’t know if this is a slow clap or if this is a uh face palm but it is certainly something here in the chat from Eggman talking about Messiah mckin uh let’s move on and actually perfect segue to talk about the running backs Penn States running backs in the class of 2025 you can check out the article over at bluewhiteillustrated.com I’m going to say up front right now there’s some great information about it that Fitz is not going to be getting into today so to get that stuff sign up right now use the code psu1 you get two months of recruiting and football and film breakdown wrestling basketball everything but if you’re a recruiting fanatic it’s the place you have to be code psu1 for 2 months you get it for just $1 to try it out because you support us here on the YouTube channel because you listen to the podcast we love you we appreciate you want to give you a little something extra to really incentivize you to take the Deep dive and join us over at the site okay so class of 2025 Deep dive fits where do you want to go with this particular group which you can see here on the YouTube channel here are the commits in the class what did you learn kind of getting into this group very quickly there’s three commits um but Penn State’s going to keep recruiting the position till December I think they end up with three running backs I’m not sure it’s going to be the three guys that are committed right now that’s uh an interesting Dynamic Alvin Henderson was at Auburn last weekend um uh Keandre Barker has moved back to Arkansas he’s not gonna play at Miami Central he’s back at BB um so that’ll cause an interesting Dynamic there he just got an offer from the Razer backs and uh probably gonna visit them so it’s gonna be interesting to see how that plays out by the way tyy Hayes that’s a guy we’re sleeping on I he’s a really good player um I did a deep dive a couple of weeks ago looking closer at him as an athlete as a winner you know alqua you you don’t you don’t underestimate Alaqua kids there’s a reason for that and I think he’s he’s done a good job he’s now he’s carried the football a lot and uh you know his numbers are great but he’s carried the football a lot in the last couple of years um but he’s got some some pop to him so I’m excited to see him hopefully he’s one of those guys at camps this summer is he a guy where if he played at IMG he would have a higher ranking because I see some similarities in terms of being a really good running back maybe not the fastest guy in the world but he doesn’t have that profile that a guy like KRON Allen did coming out do you see do either of you see any kind of correlations between those two players as somebody who maybe we’re we sleeping on as you mentioned Fitz because he’s a really good football player I I would give him the KRON comparison I I don’t know about the IMG question I’m sorry it’s such a big gap between Pennsylvania public school and you know smaller public school yeah and and going to IMG but if he had that profile obviously going to get get more looks um but I I don’t know I think they’re I think they’re very similar players similar athletes um it’s tough to say because I’ve seen KRON for three years he’s obviously gotten bigger um and he’s he’s a special kind of tough Runner um we’ll see if Hayes is that like you don’t know about most high school running backs being that way until they get to College um you know we thought uh some some other guys would would pan out and be that be that type of Runner but I I I I think it’s a little bit early to say that with Hayes also real quick I would say alip is very respected I think by like people who do rankings and all that kind of stuff so I I wouldn’t I wouldn’t change that or I don’t think that would change a whole lot um you know with taii I think like getting testing numbers on taii and things like that are are kind of where why he’s like a high three star but maybe not a little bit higher just because there’s just some the film looks good you we know who he’s going against and all that good stuff but you know there’s some other things there that we don’t quite have the full picture for are there um is there incentive to do that if he’s already committed and and I know Penn State probably wants him to come to Camp so are there are there in cuz there’s also not a whole lot of testing data that I was able to find specifically on a guy like Quincy Porter so if you’ve got all of these profile if you got the profile of a guy who’s already committed or a highlevel prospect is there an incentive to actually put those numbers out there in the world Ryan this summer everyone’s different um I wouldn’t be shocked at all if he comes out uh and and works I mean a bunch of their commits usually come to the white out camp but uh you know it it’s just it’s a very gray answer guys have vacations guys have other things going on right you know I don’t want to be like oh he doesn’t come to Camp because he doesn’t want to put numbers out who knows he may have something going on that just it didn’t work timwi so it’s look Penn State knows what they what they have in him you know he’s already proven a lot on film I’m not I’m not too worried about that the last question I have on this topic goes back to Keandre Barker and I want to tie this into a couple different players ta C Cunningham Beckham kitza guys who have moved schools and have had very disrupted High School careers where there’s not a lot of film on them from their junior years or from at certain points in their career um because of some of the movement they’ve they’ve done and also injuries a part of this as well for kind of the the full context of this picture Fitz is Penn State getting in like a market inefficiency here with some of these players where they’re not highly ranked players because we don’t have a lot of data on them but Penn State feels like they are good players good prospects to bet on in this class or in previous classes yeah I think um we’ve got uh examples of that in the last couple of Cycles so I I don’t think that’s a situation where it’s it would be a new thing now I would say I I saw it more in previous classes like I think there’s some good players in this classes but I think the the examples of guys that are going to jump are probably a little bit more few and far between um in this one so I don’t know man it’s uh there’s a lot of a lot of testing to do Penn State feels pretty good about the guys they’ve taken but they there still guys in this class they want to get more informational and um Hayes is not not really fit in that category but there’s there’s definitely some guys in this class they want to they want to get another look at before they uh before they get it across the line so yes I would say so it’s a lot easier to take these guys now in today’s transfer portal World though you know it’s a lot easier to take chances on guys who like yeah they look great as freshman and we kind of you know ta cam I think is the perfect example of that where this is a guy who comes out is a five-star player right off the bat you know or you know maybe not a five the time but people were talking about him like that as a freshman yeah things didn’t go well in the back half of his career but like physically there’s so much there you know it’s kind of like the Zahir matys conversation we were having on the board the other day Sean we’re like everything’s there you know there’s a couple things that are missing um you know but that’s absolutely a guy that you still want to take your chance on because you believe in your coaching and you believe in your development and you’ve proven it obviously over so many years so uh ta I look at little differently than kitza and Barker but uh they all kind of similar in some ways too right let’s get on to this past weekend where I think we got some of that information we got some of that data and that is the camps that came to the region uh last Sunday the Under Armour Regional we haven’t had a chance to talk about here on the live show of course we’ve broken down all of these things over blue white Illustrated decom over the last several days but this is our first conversation because Ryan was at the the regional in Baltimore while Fitz and I were here in State College so Ryan take us through what you thought was interesting some players that stood out on Sunday um and you know kind of Dealers Choice wherever you’d like to start with the players you talk to and some of the things you observed what stood out to you most yeah there was five players there who you know have official visits set to Penn State and you know for the most part the majority of them we do believe Penn State you know is is a very serious Contender with I would definitely start with the McD guys uh Jeff exner wide receiver and Brandon finny uh cornerback Brandon finny right now or on3 has him ranked pretty good and I still might think it might be slightly low I mean his physically physically like just the picture doesn’t really kind of do its justice but like I mean he is a guy who you know he looks like he’s been in a college weight room for a year or two now um has good size good length you know everything is right there for him to come in and if he was able to you know handle it from a technical perspective and and learn the Playbook and all that good stuff he could contribute right away and I don’t think that’s a surprise now with when you have oron in the mix and Georgia in the mix and you know some of these other prominent schools I mean this is a guy who I could see continue moving up in the rankings I think he had the longest broad jump the other day almost 11 feet or something like that which you know that’s that’s an insane explosion number there that’s that’s rare what top two percentile or something like that uh so Brandon finny really kind of caught my eye and then exner as well you know exner 61 our last number on him was 61 210 I think he’s closer not he’s not 220 but 215 talk about a guy who looks like in that college weight room for a while now he’s he’s a really well put together receiver and and he is and so so he’s he’s bigger than most so here’s what I watched from one-on On’s like he first off his explosion numbers are great another guy had a 10- foot broad you know what was his vertical Sean like 30 plus I mean like the explosion is there especially for a guy his size like that stands out now there was other times too where you know he’ll beat him off the line but maybe his overall 40 speed which I think was like a mid 46 or so like that wasn’t quite that allowed Corners to catch with him sometimes and he needs to he he and his coach were telling me the other day like he’s going to probably drop a little bit of weight uh like I said probably get down like 205 or so I think he needs to drop 10 pounds or so work on that overall speed but like man from an explosion perspective I didn’t realize how explosive Jeff exner is and that’s really kind of one of the big takeaways that I took from from watching him work out um I think he’s absolutely a priority for Penn State you know I’ve seen some fans kind of say like oh is he too big not fast enough all that stuff all of his testing numbers are pretty are better than what I expected watching uh put it put it that way uh so I I think he’s a priority finny’s absolutely priority not just because they’re McDon guys but because I think they’re both guys who could could honestly continue to move up in the rankings as well uh go ahead T Frank I was just gonna say Fitz why are all of these MCD guys such high floor prospects you talk about guys we’ve seen in the past where they all seem like they’re really welldeveloped they all seem like they’re positionally good football players um is this something that pen can Bank on in this class knowing that Quincy Porter you’re aiming High you want to get a guy who’s super talented and you know top five in the country but you always have this it feels like you always have this mcdna angle where if you want need to get a guy in a class who you feel like is going to be a solid football player they’re there for you um if it all works out if it all makesense so if you look at a lot of the schools especially in the DMV where they have a lot of the privates the bust rate for McDon kids shockingly low compared to you you know some of the programs that Penn State regularly farms and then you throw in a place like St Francis which has a ton of kids go to college but doesn’t have the output in terms of turning them into productive players McDon has been phenomenal especially to Penn State um you just had Curtis Jacobs go through Deon Ellie is still here you know go through that that list um but I think that’s it seems like a different kind so it’s very different than St Francis it’s along the lines of the Damas and the good councils and you know Gonzaga and the places that have had more success in terms of sustainability and all that um so you get guys that are well coached pretty smart for the most part um pretty personable and and and I go back to well coached again because they know what they’re doing and when they arrive here maybe they’re not ready to play physically but they’re they usually have an edge uh mentally on on the guys that bring in uh Deni of course is kind of the poster child for that so you’ve got uh you’ve had a lot of success there and Penn State’s it’s worth it to tap that well as as much as possible and I don’t see these guys as borderline just because Penn State just taking them because they’re going to McDon like I I I think these are legitimate prospects and maybe even better than than we thought to begin with um especially finny like finny’s got got some some juice working for him here um exor is really good football player I’m curious I’m I’m very curious to see how he develops because he’s 215 217 pounds right now ran pretty well in Under Armour really good athlete um but he’s the rare receiver that’s kind of built up before he gets to college so we’ll see what happens with uh with that but yeah I think those guys uh they’re different I think it goes back to the coaching staff at McDon they’re great kids too like that’s also like I all those guy you know they’re all quality guy like just good families care about a lot of those kind of things where you know I’m not trying to hate on other programs but like they mcdna gets Penn State kids or or even Michigan kids or or Notre Dame kind of kind of kids like they they attract the kind of prospects that Penn State Michigan Notre Dame those kind of schools always go after and I think it’s when you when you’re getting players who are well coached and all that throughout high school and then they get into a college program that cares a lot about a lot of the same things that’s how your hit rate is as high as it is what is your I guess early forecast for official visit season for these guys because I know finny might be one of my favorite athletes to watch on film in this class because of all the things you guys have said um how does Penn State stack up uh in these things and you of course bluee Illustrated docomo okay exner’s recruitment goes back a couple years now there’s ties to Kenny Sanders like that’s a relationship that’s been brewing for a long time many visits all that like that’s I feel safer about eer than I would with finny and Finny really just kind of took off what in December January I mean I think Penn State was one of the the first schools they offer not the first but I want to say maybe that was mid December early January somewhere in that ballpark and really his recruitment has exploded in a five month span and usually when you get those kind of recruitments and you don’t have the the you know six seven eight visits to Penn State that we see with some other guys you know that that opens up the door for maybe some other schools to to come in in press but you know we were talking last week about oh look at all the visits and then you know in the nio world maybe all the visits don’t even matter anymore either so I expect I expect Penn State to be there with both of them I feel safer about exer right now than I do about finny but uh you know they’ll they’ll I’d be shocked if Penn State’s not one of the two schools that like these guys ultimately decide between who else was that Under Armour that stood out to you from a performance perspective or from a conversation perspective Emanuel yacho is a stud um legit 66 350 this is going to be I mean right now he’s what the the top offensive lineman in the country uh for the 2026 class and there was nothing that I saw uh the other day that would dispute that so he’s going to be the real deal great kid too another one another kind of remind me a lot of Olu in our conversation just from a just fit would fit Penn State really well I guess if that makes sense cares about a lot of the same things I mean look at the school he goes to it’s it’s one of the best schools in in that area so that’s not really a surprise what was funny is you know we we were having a conversation there um Brian D was there with me and he he he was kind of rattling off all the things he doesn’t do well uh which always kind of impressed me you know for for a young teenager because talk majority of the conversations we have with these guys are all about you know you know coaches love me I can do this I can do that Y where you know he’s all he’s talking about how much growth he has still and you know all the things he can get better at so that those kind of little things always stand out to me especially when you’re talking about a player as physically gifted as him so look he’s going to be a stud everybody’s going to be after him who knows how things will play out but um you know absolutely soon as you see him it’s hard not to be impressed couple other guys I mean jbr wall Coleman was there you know Penn State’s going to get him for an official visit running back recruit um you know you can’t take a whole lot from running backs but it was more so just the conversation because he doesn’t talk a whole lot you know he kind of explained that North Carolina Penn State are is top two right now Michigan State uh is working to get an official visit we’ll we’ll see kind of what happens with the with the imep player but um you know I do think Penn State as Sean was saying you know we’ll see what happens with the three running backs they have right now uh but Penn State feels like they’re going to have a real chance there if they want to they want to land him so that kind of stands out uh I would say Travis Johnson a goodlook wide receiver young young Prospect coming up from Virginia still pretty skinny uh certainly needs to add some size to him but uh 101s look very good testing numbers were impressive miles McAfee by the way um this young man very very impressive going to Arch Bop Spalding 20 another 2027 guy he’s gonna play with Malik Washington this year I’m gonna have to try and get down to one of those games because he ended up winning MVP honors and when you’re a 2027 kid winning MVP honors at these kind of camps um you know that that that certainly grbs my attention so we listen we could go all day on you know players who I thought tested well or this and that it was a good camp maybe not quite the numbers we normally see but that’s what happens when Elite 11 is what you know 150 miles away I mean the one thing I will say is I was going through wide receiver DB drills um yesterday and like no disrespect to the quarterbacks that were there but all the best quarterbacks in the region were at of lead 11 so it just kind of makes it harder to judge kind of some of the one-on ons that we’re watching there um because a lot of underthrown balls overthrown balls and you there a lot of young kids you know a couple of them will end up being solid quarterbacks but you know there were also some guys there that aren’t going to be able the division one level so Elite 11 in State College we talked again we talked about this on Tuesday but we’ll get into some more of the conversations that uh we had and and some of the things that we saw from the camp of course you can see here on the intw Andrew OES one of those players who was at the uh uh Elite 11 and not over at the Under Armour uh Beckham kitza uh some of the top quarterbacks in the region you mentioned Malik Washington we got to see all of them up close but Fitz you got to talk to these guys afterwards and some really great conversations you can read over at bluewhiteillustrated.com uh what stands out to you of the things that you learned afterwards that aren’t just the onfield testing stuff I talked toh three quarterbacks afterward also talked to Andrew oish um the first one I’d say Matt zers um is a guy that Penn State continues to want to Circle back around I think it would probably be later in the cycle if it does happen and after talking to him you know I think he’s going to Missouri I think he’s going to end up in Missouri um but uh we’ll see what happens over the long run with that um thought he looked good as well uh kit Beckham kit of course the one that committed there talked a little bit about him the other day probably better than I expected um did not earn in a league 11 finals um invite not completely surprised by that I think he’s uh still still a project still a ways to go in that one and uh that’s a guy that we’re going to be talking about for for a long long time in terms of how this how this cycle shook out Malik Washington did get an invite that’s not really the surprise I had him as my number three uh the other day um I think he’s a really good Prospect I think that’s that’s one that along with kitza they’re gonna go hand inand in terms of we’re going to talk about those guys for for a long time with uh with one another so very interesting to see that uh diell we talked about the other day Penn State right in the mix with that Texas is is also a big one and there’s a couple other schools I know he just uh picked up Florida State this week as well um so like it’s it’s still a very busy recruitment so Penn State we’ll see about getting him back a aiming for the Lash bash there at the end of July um he came up at the end of July last year and and was camping and or was Camp the night before the Lash bash and picked up his offer there I think it’s a really good relationship I do think Penn State’s in the mixx um I’m curious to see what his decision timeline looks like because leading into this it was all I want to commit before my my season and then we were we were just talking um and it was it was hey the my decision timeline’s very vague right now I was going to decide before for the season but now that’s out the window is what he said to me which I’m kind of surprised by that so we’ll see what happens he’s going to Texas next week and basically gonna go head-to-head with Troy Hune who’s another Penn State Target out in California um they’re having their Elite camp and I would not be shocked if if coming out of that Camp Texas leans on one of those guys to be their quarterback in the class of 2026 um you know that’s obviously going to have a a trickle down effect quarterback dominoes often do um but Bell’s in there um I mentioned Andrew the tight end he’s good T Frank you were there yeah you can confirm right un I don’t want to say unbelievable because we’ve seen it from Penn State commit Luke Reynolds similar they’re they’re similar but different in terms of uh I think Oles is a little bit more of a polished receiver at this point his routes were filthy and his hands were just like he was able to snag everything from Full extension something you don’t normally see a guy that looks like a receiver who’s you know massive and obviously is a tight end right yeah he’s he he was very good uh Michigan and Alabama both very much in that one um Penn State as well he’s got the official visit set to Penn State for June um but all those those three schools he’s going to Florida as well um they’re going to uh this is this is not one that’s because he’s in state they’re going to be able to push across the line easily this is going to be a challenge and I think Michigan has really made him think um and Alabama as well he’s wearing Alabama gloves the other day but he also had Penn State gloves on him from what I understand um so uh I think that this is one that uh you got to continue to sell what you do well Penn State does tight ends really well that’s the that’s kind of the the the hamster running up here it’s like yeah inate guy guy that you were on early and at a position that you recruit and develop I mean that’s uh that’s a pretty good Trio right there um it’s gonna be it’s gonna be a fight this is a stupid question but I also think it’s pertinent to the conversation so again a t Frank special here how important is this year from the Penn State offense because we can you you can sell Andy Co Nikki is a breath of fresh air he’s a guy who’s going to come in and create more explosive plays he uses tight ends very well in his offense and you know I don’t want to say features tight ends because the the receivers were kind of the dominant forces in that offense but the tight ends did a lot of really cool stuff in his offense over at Kansas and I think we project more of that in this offense so Fitz how much do they need a strong year to create an impression not just for diell but also you know that long grind on Matt zers and uh trying to win the tide maybe with with OES here to show like you don’t want to go somewhere else because this offense is everything you want yeah I mean I I I hesitate to say it’s too big because you look at the calendar how this sets up these guys are going to take three or four official visits in June and then probably decide in July and the chances of getting them while uncommitted are greater than the chances of flipping them down the road especially from a school like Alabama Michigan whatever might be for some of these guys uh Texas if it’s if it’s diabel so you’ve got the opportunity to sell that Vision but there’s only so much you can show them at this point so you’re kind of walking into it a little bit hamstr strong and that’s Penn State’s not alone in this situation we see a ton of coordinator uh changes over throughout the year um so you you have to sell the vision and then you have to back it up and uh I I suffice to say that that I don’t think it has as much impact on the field as you would like it to have because if you go out there and you you know you’re one of the top scoring offens in the country great um but it’s going to take some time to get there and it’s going to take the vision before it takes the time to get there Ryan H how do you have any details you want to add into this conversation about the the conversations and relationships and how you understand them for some of these offensive players I his decision is going to be over his decision is gonna be done before we even get to that point so I no I mean that that’s a conversation more for 2026 guys in my opinion sure they can flip they’ll flip maybe a couple guys down the road but um you know there’s what 55 kids coming in for official visits here beginning next week and just about all of them are going to be done before preseason camp even starts so that’s it for our Elite 11 conversation we do have something here in the chat so we’re going to we’re going to talk a little bit about the drama behind the scenes if you’re watching here on the show or you listening to the podcast Michael V came in hot uh on the live show yesterday and then came back with the same conversation that Marcus Haggins is a terrible coach and needs to be fired immediately the worst C coach hire in pennate history under James Franklin so we had some disagreements about the framing of the question so that is why he says sorry for the delivery because we had to have some conversations in the chat about how we like to talk here he donated the channel because he wanted to have this conversation about Marcus Hagin can we agree that hegen should be on the hot seat let’s say he doesn’t get these wide receivers that are doing official visits then what guys is it realistic that Penn State goes 0 for what like 11 with their official visit uh receivers and I guess frame the conversation how you see it please around Marcus Hain and the job he’s done so far fits if you want to go based on expectations I think there was a guy in the chat the other day said if you don’t get Quincy Porter it’s it’s the biggest failure which is it’s not that’s not how this works I mean you’re looking at it no offense to these guys a diamond dozen position you just got to find the right ones develop the right ones that they’ve had trouble with that in the last couple of years um Marcus Heins has been here just a little bit over a year and uh yes he needs to be better absolutely uh recruiting development all that kind of stuff this is not a situation where you see that overnight and unfortunately you know I think a lot of people would have would have liked to see that um so yes I think he’s going to come out of this uh OV season with a with a pretty good class he’s already got lyric Samuel who I’m very high on and I think that the industry is going to catch up to to where on three has him or at least be close to where on three has him I think on three uh I don’t want say overshot but like they got there first so it’ll be interesting to see where where the rest of the uh the class ends or excuse me where the rest of the the services end up so that’s a good start for the class but you’re looking at exor you’re looking at Lex Cyrus you’re looking at 10 of these guys that are come in you’re not sure if you’re G to have a wild card from out of the region that’s going to join so the fact that they have 11 of these guys that are pretty legitimate prospects here I mean this is not a situation where you’re dragging a guy in for an official visit who everybody’s looking at and saying why is this guy coming in um so like you’ve got a good base to work with so he’s going to have to recruit he’s going to have to do things better he’s going to have to get them where he needs to get the the results on May 23rd are not going to be what they look like on July 23rd so I think that number one that that’s a pile for let’s put that right there number two the development is uh essentially a two-year plan and this is going to be year two this is going to be a situation where you need to see Kaden Saunders you need to see Liam Clifford you need to see Trey Wallace and that’s tough because he has not stayed on the field and marari Evans is is was mentioned here in the chat as well so this is the big one this is not about his recruiting in June this is going to be his development in August his development in September through December like that is going to be where his job status will lie I don’t want to put him on Hot Seat yet but I think it’s it’s worth putting a microscope on him if we’re gonna right if we’re gonna look at that so I I just I I have an issue with okay uh it didn’t happen right away so he’s got to be out the door right the the original framing of the question was the worst hire that Franklin’s ever made that you can’t say that with David Corley coming through here Phil gallano coming through here like there’s been some bad bad hires right that that that are Franklin’s fault absolutely hein’s I I think you can see that yet we were having this conversation about Phil troutwine a couple years ago Phil troutwine is now one of the most sought-after offensive line coaches in college football like there’s there’s levels to this guys and it’s not all about the firsttime hot Tak so that’s where I’m at with that I love the discussion I love the discourse going back and forth just planting your flag and not moving off of it it’s tough to it’s tough to to we can’t do a whole lot with that here on the show and you know that’s I think where I started from Ryan I also want to have this conversation with you about the timeline and fits laid it out as far as development year 2 is very important for haens and developing the guys that are currently on the roster from a recruiting standpoint what’s the timeline for you of a guy proving outside of immed immediately signing five stars and immediately like instant impact that everyone wants instant gratification what’s a timeline for other uh coaches especially at a position where there are so many different body types there are so many different styles but at the same time I think there’s a general idea of who the top guys are and where the top guys go there has been a consolidation of power at that position to a couple of top schools one of them is in Penn State’s uh conference and it was in their division for the last couple of years so what’s realistic timeline on when a guy can make an impact as a recruiter and you can start to see those dividends First full year is is important I would say second full year you know so that would be 2026 for this cycle or for for heggins like by then I think you should have a pretty good firm field because man we’re talking about recruiting Cycles now that go two and a half three years even if if you’re if you’re a top player so yeah this is an important year coming up he definitely needs to get some some quality guys and they have a lot of quality guys o on um you know planning planning official visits so I think that’s big you know when I the one thing ID also say is like looking back on that first year class like Peter Gonzalez ended up as a fourstar I think people kind of forget about that a little bit and that was wasn’t that also his his first true commit because gonzal Gonzalez committed in the summer after the official visit and Higgins was the one who put him through the workouts during the summer the relationship was there I’m not saying that he go he went and found Peter Gonzalez but if you look at the the receivers that were brought in tyer Denmark and John were part of that conversation but the it felt like there was kind of a line of delineation where Marcus Hain really got a chance to take over at that point right to some degree I I I first I forget who exactly committed first and all that kind of stuff but like Josiah Brown between Josiah Brown tyer and Gonzalez like they all were a fourstar at least one site you know like there there are people there that respect them obviously jiah goes down with ACL injury a lot of the the senior film we’re looking to to see and you know on three bumped them down to an 89 um you know because or excuse me maybe may it was an 88 just because other guys were were able to prove more and they they move up in the rankings but I I think look they all all three of them have a lot to prove so I’m not trying to say they’re going to come in and be difference makers but like if you’re if you’re if you’re judging on you know that first class and not thinking it’s up to standards I I personally thought it was a little bit better than I think maybe some fans are giving it credit to be like tyser Denmark he can I don’t know if he’s going to come in and play right away because he’s not going to be here till the summer but like this is a guy who you know from an athletic perspective is is pretty special uh doesn’t maybe have the long range speed but um certainly has all the the explosion that that you could ask for um you know as someone who could come in and maybe make a difference there as a seconde kind of player so let’s see where this next class goes to really answer your question though I mean I feel like if if you get to the end of the 2026 cycle and you know you’re not seeing the kind of development you want and yeah sure you’re getting some solid four-star guys but maybe missing on too many you know top Regional guys that you really want okay maybe then that’s a realistic conversation but like right now no I would never have I would not have him on the hot seat right now but the development to me development is like the biggest thing like that’s going to be really what kind of determines where we’re at here come December well more than recruiting for sure that’s what that’s what we got for the show I think that was a great conversation uh we’ll be talking about defensive tackles again in two years just going to guess at this point that we’re going to shift from receiver to defensive tackle and back and forth like it’s just going to be the same positions where there’s these sore points on the we’re be talking about defensive tackle in like four weeks are you kidding me you seen this defensive tackle board it’s so hard to read it’s uh just like whatever the weakest point of the roster is is going to be where we’re going to be talking about and and the fact that they’ve got 19 defensive tackles that are seniors that are all graduating that’s that’s all I mean so there’s going to be there’s going to be a point in the roster where everyone’s going to point to and say that’s the reason you can’t win a National Championship that’s the reason you’re not beating the top schools and this year obviously until they prove themselves it’s the wide receivers it’s the coach so good conversation about all that stuff Let’s uh wrap up the show let’s get out of here so Fitz what’s coming up this weekend for bluewhiteillustrated.com uh so people can keep the conversation going about Penn State recruiting it’s Memorial Day it’s a holiday weekend so uh that’s what’s coming up this weekend we’re we’re in that little dip right before just things get crazy so Camp is in two weeks uh official visits are in two weeks you’ve got uh a lot of things to talk about on the blue white Illustrated Message Board uh Nate is is firing off Penn State baseball updates as they come in Penn State baseball man they won yesterday they won yesterday upset number one Illinois it was awesome to watch I’ve been to me college baseball is really fun to me my my brother played D2 and I used to go up there to games and have a blast like it’s it it was like really fun and then college baseball here is obviously on a different level great facility um at medler um so you’ve got a lot of potential for fun I met Gambino the baseball coach at signing day he was great like in terms of just like talking and he’s he brings a little bit more energy than the previous guy um so I’m curious to see how all this works especially in the transfer portal era there’s a bunch of older guys on this team and they’re fun to watch um I remember Adam ciceri as a quarterback at Forest Hills coming to Penn State’s football camp um he eventually went to wake to play B baseball and now he’s circled back around and had a phenomenal year so I’ve had fun watching these guys um to for them to get where they got like they they swept Maryland last weekend and they beat the top seed that’s a heck of a run especially when you’re grading on a curve at Penn State man like it’s this is tough to win here Ryan what do you got coming up this week uh Memorial Day so not a ton right we’re going to try and rest a little bit uh just because of what’s coming here the the next four or five weeks but I’m gonna catch up with Charles power I think later today kind of get his thoughts on some of those 2026 guys who made different movements uh in the rankings so sitting on a couple interviews from Under Armour that will will trickle out here and there um you know we’re starting to get some testing num and some more data back from Under Armour so I’ll work on maybe getting something up there we we’ll see we’ll see where things go what’s so funny Sean what do you want to say uh somebody made a comment about adult softball that’s where I’m at right now oh okay gotcha gotcha um so yeah we we’re finishing up wrapping up Under Armour I’m going to try and go through the wide receiver DB film but I was thror it yesterday and like as I said the quarterbacks just weren’t all the best quarterbacks took all your quarterbacks so it’s it’s one of those things where it’s like okay I can stress the people on the board like hey watch watch the routes you know don’t pay attention to this but then we put that out publicly and people are like what what are we watching here so I’m debating on whether I want to put that out there yet or not uh just because a lot of it’s just overthrown balls and you know guys just running around not catching anything basically but uh yeah we’re wrapping up under aror catch up with Charles and uh other than that uh try and enjoy my weekend I’m I’m gonna go out to Big 33 later today catch up with some guys not going to the game uh though sorry guys I’m not uh we got a lot of great stuff coming up here on the YouTube channel in fact we’ve got a new lineup coming up next week more details about that uh will’ll release both bluewhiteillustrated.com and on the show on Tuesday so stay tuned for that we uh same same thing just a different different way of doing it that’s going to bring more to you here in the live chat more things that we can do here on the YouTube channel so stay tuned for all of that information thanks to everybody who participated glad we all got to the same point today uh good conversation we’ll be back with more including the highlights you saw today you can check those out here on the YouTube channel we’ll be releasing those as their own staying alone thing uh throughout the weekend I’m Thomas Frank car Sean Fitz Ryan Snider we’ll talk to you later [Music] [Music]