Penn State has landed plenty of elite talent during the James Franklin era, but not every blue-chip name turned into the player people expected. A few highly rated recruits arrived in Happy Valley with real buzz and left with their promise only partially fulfilled - or, in some cases, barely fulfilled at all.
The most glaring miss was running back Ricky Slade, a five-star in the 2018 cycle who came in ranked No. 28 nationally and No. 3 among rushers by Rivals. He was supposed to be Penn State’s next big back, the kind of player who could follow in the footsteps of Saquon Barkley and become an NFL-caliber star.
Instead, Slade’s Penn State career never came close to that ceiling. Over 2018 and 2019, he produced just 471 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in 21 games.
When his receiving numbers are added in, he finished with 588 total yards. He opened the 2019 season as the starter, but quickly lost the job, and his 47 carries that year ranked sixth on the team.
Even backup quarterback Will Levis nearly matched him on the ground, finishing one yard shy of Slade’s 214 rushing yards. By the time he entered the Transfer Portal in 2020, his rating had dropped to three stars.
He later transferred to Old Dominion, but never played a snap there because the Monarchs did not take part in the 2020 season, and he was removed from the 2021 roster the following year.
Another member of that loaded 2018 class was wide receiver Justin Shorter, a five-star-plus prospect who ranked No. 7 overall and No. 1 at his position, according to Rivals. Penn State brought him in to be a big outside target, someone who could win contested catches and become the quarterback’s trusted option.
At 6-foot-4 and about 220 pounds, the physical profile was there. The production never caught up.
An undisclosed injury limited Shorter to four games as a true freshman, and he managed only three catches for 20 yards. In 2019, he played in 10 games but still didn’t become the featured weapon Penn State hoped for, finishing with 12 receptions for 137 yards.
He never scored a touchdown for the Nittany Lions. Shorter transferred to Florida and had a larger role there, but even his best season with the Gators - 2022 - produced 577 receiving yards, not the kind of output that matched his recruiting pedigree.
Linebacker Brandon Smith didn’t fall as far short as Slade or Shorter, but he still didn’t fully live up to his five-star billing. A headliner in Penn State’s 2019 class, Smith was ranked No. 29 nationally and fourth at his position by Rivals.
He arrived with a reputation as an elite athlete and a versatile defender, and he did flash that ability in spots. But the consistency never quite matched the hype.
Over three seasons in State College, Smith finished with 132 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, six passes defensed, four sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. For a player with that kind of profile, the standard was higher.
Landon Tengwall’s story was different. He wasn’t a bust because of performance so much as circumstance.
Penn State’s highest-ranked recruit in the 2021 cycle, the four-star offensive tackle was ranked No. 72 nationally and 10th at his position by Rivals. He redshirted as a true freshman after appearing in three games, then won the starting job at left guard in 2022.
But after starting five games, he suffered a shoulder injury that ended his season. That was the last on-field action Penn State got from him.
Before the 2023 season, Tengwall medically retired because of persistent concussion-related injuries, leaving him as one more painful what-if in the Franklin era.
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