ALTOONA, Pa. -- There's one question that we have to ask when it comes to every aspect of Penn State football: Is good good enough?
A 10-2 season is good. Really good, in fact. But is it good enough?
A top-15 recruiting class is good. But is it good enough?
Yeah, certainly, for some teams. A whole bunch of teams, actually.
But good enough for Penn State? Good enough for Penn State fans?
Expectations. Goals. Comparisons. That's what we're talking about here. And we've come to learn over the past few years that, no, going 10-2 is not good enough for a bunch of people in and around the Penn State program.
Everybody wants to judge the Nittany Lions on 12 Saturdays a year, plus a bowl game. We'll talk endlessly about how this one play or that one play didn't work, and why it was so costly. Or, we'll criticize James Franklin for that one decision that didn't make much sense and may have cost the game.
But, just like Franklin talks about having a full commitment from the university and administration for 365 days a year, the proper way to judge the entire Penn State football program comes down to how well the Lions do in EVERY single aspect of the building process.
In many ways, those Saturdays are really being won and lost right now. Which makes it important to analyze every single move and decision made in December or January or May or July, because it's those decisions that ultimately could end up as the difference between being 10-2 and good, or 11-1 or better with a chance to be elite.
Everything I wrote above could be used as a basis of discussion for ANY Penn State football topic. Because you should always be asking yourself, whenever you see any metric regarding the Lions in college football, is that good enough?
The topic at hand today is the transfer portal.
Penn State did a good job in the portal over the past month or so. Of course it did. Penn State does a good job in pretty much every aspect of its program.
But, beating the dead horse here: Was it good enough?
AN OVERVIEW
Here are some basics to know:
• The Lions signed six players from the portal -- two 4-stars, three 3-stars and a kicker with no stars.
• They sit at 47th in the team transfer portal rankings, according to 247Sports. That's ... not too good. In this case, the source does matter, because the recruiting sites are all over the place with their portal rankings. I have always used 247Sports as the go-to standard for consistency, so any recruiting rankings you see in my stories reflect their data.
OK, but On3 has Penn State at No. 21 in its team rankings, a substantial difference compared to 247Sports. Obviously, 21 is better than 47 (LOL).
Yeah, but, Rivals has Penn State way down at No. 59 in its rankings. By no means would that ranking represent anything close to good enough.
All of those places use different metrics for their rankings, making it more difficult to come to any sort of conclusion.
• We all know Penn State likes to bill itself as unrivaled. But that's a bunch of hooey, because we also all know that real, honest comparisons have to be made with other teams that the Lions need to be able to beat in order to reach their goals. And for years, the No. 1 team in that regard has been Ohio State.
Well, the Buckeyes are No. 7 in the 247Sports portal rankings, No. 15 at On3 and No. 16 at Rivals. Ohio State landed two 5-stars, three 4-stars and one 3-star. Both 5-star guys came from Alabama in the wake of Nick Saban's retirment -- QB Julian Sayin and safety Caleb Downs.
• Alabama had an incredible 30 guys transfer out. Penn State completely missed out on the Tide exodus, again, while watching Ohio State land two high-profile players.
If we're judging based on these rankings and such, then no, it does not appear that Penn State did good enough in the portal during the winter cycle.
THE GOOD NEWS
OK, but rankings aren't everything. Need and fit are very big factors.
The most pressing need for the Lions during this portal cycle was cornerback -- yes, even over wide receiver -- because the program clearly needed to address that since it's losing Kalen King and Johnny Dixon to the NFL. We saw during the Peach Bowl debacle that the younger corners on Penn State's roster just weren't ready to step up and fill bigger roles.
The best addition from the portal figures to be A.J. Harris, a 5-star recruit and No. 2 cornerback in the nation coming out of high school a year ago. He went to Georgia and played in seven games as a true freshman but decided to move on.
Harris could end up being a star for Penn State.
The other cornerback addition might be more of a question mark, but still figures to be an upgrade over what Penn State already had. Jalen Kimber was a 4-star recruit and No. 7 cornerback in the nation for the class of 2020. He began his career at Georgia, transferred to Florida and departed the Gators after last season. He initially was set to transfer to Louisville this time around, but flipped to Penn State.
Kimber could end up being a very good player. He appeared in 25 games (starting 11) for the Gators over the past two years, so he brings a lot of experience. Still, the question with a player like him is the whole bouncing around thing and whether he'll be happy in his third collegiate home (fourth if you count his initial transfer commitment to Louisville).
NAME RECOGNITION
The biggest name coming to Penn State from the transfer portal is obvious -- wide receiver Julian Fleming from Ohio State. Nittany Lion fans have known that name for several years because Fleming is a Pennsylvania guy, and everyone has been able to follow his career closely since he was in the same division with the powerful Buckeyes.
Fleming was a 5-star prospect and No. 1 wide receiver in the nation coming out of Southern Columbia High School in 2020. With those kinds of accolades, you would have expected him to become a star in college. But that never happened at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have been loaded with superstar wide receiver talent -- Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba -- and Fleming just got lost in the shuffle. To think that he had only 79 catches for 963 yards and seven touchdowns in four seasons, you'd think he wound up being a major bust.
But Fleming also dealt with injuries, as well as being on a stacked roster, so maybe he can become a standout if healthy and given a chance to be the No. 1 guy for Penn State.
Even if he doesn't become a No. 1 wide receiver, Fleming can still help the Lions in a major way with his leadership and experience. Even though he didn't put up great stats for the Buckeyes, he was playing alongside great players, so he at least learned what it takes to get the job done at a high level. If he can bring that wisdom to Penn State's wide receiver room and serve as a mentor to the younger guys, then he can help the program a great deal.
THE GREAT UNKNOWN
Offensive tackle Nolan Rucci will be a very interesting player to watch, because he seems to epitomize the fact that you don't truly know what you're going to get from the transfer portal.
Rucci was a superstar coming out of high school, a 5-star prospect from Warwick who was the No. 1 recruit in Pennsylvania and No. 17 in the nation. He was a can't-miss kind of guy, right?
Well, Rucci missed in a big way going to Wisconsin. He barely played for the Badgers -- six games over the past two seasons -- and the feeling there was that he wasn't going to play a whole lot next year, either, as he was behind others on the depth chart.
Rucci is rated only a 3-star transfer prospect by 247Sports, which is pretty astounding given his high school prospect ranking. The 6-fot-8, 300-pounder would seem to be in good position to come in and land a starting job right away at Penn State, but nobody really has any idea yet if he's good enough to do that.
He will face tough competition from others already in the program, likely for the right tackle spot. And while he's already been at a strong Big Ten program learning for three years, which helps his cause, he still has to come into a new program, learn a new system and prove himself over guys that the coaches have already been watching for a year or two.
If Rucci pans out in a big way, then this transfer portal class would be viewed much more favorably than the team rankings up above would suggest. But as for now, Rucci falls into the question mark category.
THE OBVIOUS QUESTION
Why can't Penn State land a big-time wide receiver in the transfer portal?
With all due respect to Fleming, he does not look like a No. 1 Big Ten receiver. And we all know what happened to the Lions' offense this past season when it didn't have major weapons on the outside or down the field.
When I ask if Penn State did good enough in the portal, the answer when it comes to wide receiver is a loud and resounding NO!
This will be an ongoing story line all spring and summer, so I'm not going into too much here. But Fleming, Harrison Wallace III and KeAndre Lambert-Smith must, collectively, give the offense a whole lot more next season, or else we simply will not see anywhere near the kind of growth everybody is hoping to see from Drew Allar.
THE PORTAL PLAYERS
In closing, here's a look at the six players Penn State picked up from the transfer portal. You can decide for yourself if you think this haul is good enough.
• CB JALEN KIMBER
Former schools: Georgia, Florida
Height/weight: 6-0/170
Notable: He gained a lot of experience at Florida and should be able to step in and be a starter right away. But whether he has the kind of upside of someone like another transfer portal cornberback, Johnny Dixon, is questionable.
• CB A.J. HARRIS
Former school: Georgia
Height/weight: 6-1/190
Notable: He could be the gem of this transfer portal cycle, if he's able to live up to his recruiting hype as the No. 2 cornerback in the nation. He's still inexperienced, but if he's as talented as everyone hopes, he should be an immediate starter next season.
• DE JORDAN MAYER
Former school: Wisconsin
Height/weight: 6-4/235
Notable: He was the No. 19 prospect in Pennsylvania and spent one season at Wisconsin, but didn't appear in any games. He's more of a project type of player who probably won't be a big factor for a couple of years.
• OT NOLAN RUCCI
Former school: Wisconsin
Height/weight: 6-8/300
Notable: He was a 5-star prospect coming out of high school but didn't meet expectations at Wisconsin. Whether he'll become a starter at Penn State will depend on just how much he learned and developed during his time with the Badgers. He could end up being a standout, but at the very least could be a reliable two-year starter.
• WR JULIAN FLEMING
Former school: Ohio State
Height/weight: 6-2/210
Notable: The No. 1 wide receiver in the nation coming out of high school, he had only 79 catches in four seasons with the Buckeyes. He is considered a strong leader and has a lot of experience, so he should be able to help the younger receivers in the program. But there's a big question whether he can be anything more than a No. 2 wideout.
• K CHASE MEYER
Former school: Tulsa
Height/weight: 5-10/195
Notable: He began his career at Penn before transferring to Tulsa. Last year, he made 17 of 20 field goals, including his first 10, and 30 of 31 PATs. He'll compete with Sander Sahaydak for the starting place-kicker job.
