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Four Freshmen To Look Out For Who Didn’t Play At Blue-White

Penn State fans got their first glimpses of the program’s highest-ranked recruiting class in the Blue-White Game, but 17 members have yet to enroll. Although we expect to see Micah Parsons suiting up in Lavar Arrington’s No. 11 and making tackles this season, he likely won’t be the only true freshman contributing.

These four incoming freshmen could also make impacts early on in their Penn State careers:

Jake Pinegar

Pinegar might be the lowest-ranked recruit in the 2018 class, but the three-star kicker from Iowa has one of the best chances of seeing the field this fall.

Penn State has no true successor to Tyler Davis, so Pinegar will enter camp in a position battle with redshirt freshman Carson Landis and junior punter Blake Gillikin. James Franklin has expressed that he would rather have his kickers specialize in either place-kicking or kickoffs, so it’s very possible that all three specialists will fill different roles this season — especially considering two will be freshmen.

Landis has turned out to be more of an asset than initially expected after walking on at Penn State. He has been praised for the distance of his kickoffs and impressed at the Blue-White game, making all four of his extra point attempts and a 34-yard field goal.

Pinegar, the No. 6 kicker in the 2018 recruiting class, also claims his own powerful boot that has earned him a bit of YouTube attention.

As for Gillikin, he might’ve been a top-ten kicker in high school, but don’t expect him to focus on anything other than pinning opponents inside their ten-yard-lines this season.

Justin Shorter

Shorter is the crown jewel of the 2018 class and a can’t-miss talent who could immediately be an impact player on offense. Although there might not be as much of a need for Shorter to skip his redshirt season as there is for Pinegar to step up on special teams, he could play his way into the lineup by simply being one of the best available options at wide receiver.

His combination of length and speed will dovetail nicely with Juwan Johnson, a similarly-built weapon. With no clear standout tight end replacing Mike Gesicki, Penn State will likely have to play bigger at receiver and rely on both 6’4″ New Jersey products.

Ricky Slade

Like Shorter, Slade might not be forced into action to fill a need, but he will have the opportunity to earn playing time during the summer. Miles Sanders isn’t Saquon Barkley (yet?), so carries should be more evenly distributed between him, Mark Allen, Journey Brown, and possibly Slade, who clocks a 4.43-second 40-yard dash time.

The only concern about Slade playing as a true freshman is his size. He currently comes in around 5’9″, 185 lbs. and might need a year to develop and gain some weight.

PJ Mustipher

Penn State has a tall order to replace Curtis Cothran and Parker Cothren with an overall inexperienced group consisting of Emmanuel Iyke, Damion Barber, Antonio Shelton, and Fred Hansard. Depending on how the position battle shakes out, Brent Pry’s Wild Dogs might need some reinforcements.

At 290 pounds, PJ Mustipher is already a grown man and could be part of the solution to the Nittany Lions’ thin, rebuilding defensive line.

Out of the four incoming defensive line recruits, Mustipher has the biggest frame and, with some conditioning this summer, could have the most prepared body to play on a Big Ten defensive line.

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About the Author

Anthony Colucci

Anthony Colucci was once Onward State’s managing editor and preferred walk-on honors student who majored in psychology and public relations. Despite being from the make-believe land of Central Jersey, he was never a Rutgers fan. If you ever want to know how good Saquon Barkley's ball security is, ask Anthony what happened when he tried to force a fumble at the Mifflin Streak. If you want to hear the story or are bored and want to share prequel memes, follow @_anthonycolucci on Twitter or email him at [email protected]. All other requests and complaints should be directed to Onward State media contact emeritus Steve Connelly.

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