It’s impossible to ignore what Penn State is building in its 2018 recruiting class. The Nittany Lions are taking the stock up early approach with 19 verbals currently in their haul, including five over a big weekend.

The recent commits are: Four-star WR Daniel George, three-star ATH Shaquon Anderson-Butts, three-star DE Judge Culpepper, three-star QB Will Levis, and kicker (!) Jake Pinegar. Pinegar may only be a two-star, but he’s the eighth-ranked player at the position. His commitment unfortunately did not include a music video.

Recently, we made a big deal about the three players that decommitted from Penn State in the span of about two months. That included the five-star duo of QB Justin Fields and DE Micah Parsons.

We made a big deal about it because those players were really good.

That’s 13 stars worth of recruit that won’t be playing at Penn State, which seems like a lot. The three Penn State decommits on their own would produce a current class score of 76.24, according to the 247 Sports Class Calculator, which would be 51st in the country and ahead of teams like Stanford, WVU, NC State, Georgia, and Alabama. Yes. Alabama.

But Penn State actually has a chance to get Parsons back in the fold. That’s noteworthy since it’s rare that elite decommits recommit to their former teams. Other big targets include four-star talents: DT P.J. Muphister, WR Jahan Dotson, DB Isheem Young, and OT Rasheed Walker.

Levis is an excellent Plan B after losing such a top talent in Fields. Levis recently picked up offers from Florida State and North Carolina, two schools that are typically quick to offer elite prospects at the positions.

Penn State’s current class rankings sits at No. 3 (250 points), and if that holds the class should be good enough to be squarely in the top-10 by February’s signing day no matter what other teams do. But a boost in recruiting momentum as the summer cycle hits its high point is never a bad thing, and Penn State certainly got one.

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By Bud Elliott

Tight end Jeremy Ruckert committed to Ohio State Monday. He is the best tight end in the class, and chose Ohio State over Michigan, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin.

BYU landed WR Gunner Romney, of Arizona. Nice get for a Group of 5 program.

BYU landed AZ receiver Gunner Romney, a fast-riser in 2018. Showed up and showed out at The Opening. Good get for Kalani Sitake and co. pic.twitter.com/DeLaRaPfjv — SB Nation Recruiting (@SBNRecruiting) July 16, 2017

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