Penn State 2004 — Recruiting Outcomes

Hits & Misses

Hit: Rich Ohrnberger (IOL) — Originally ranked 722. Outcome: NFL Drafted. Despite his low ranking, Ohrnberger managed to exceed expectations and made it to the NFL Draft. Hit: Deon Butler (WR) — Originally unranked. Outcome: NFL Drafted. Butler proved to be a diamond in the rough, going from unranked to being drafted into the NFL. Miss: Greg Harrison (IOL) — Originally ranked 71. Outcome: Contributor. Harrison, despite being a top-100 recruit, ended up with a career that did not meet expectations. Miss: Wyatt Bowman (OT) — Originally ranked 586. Outcome: Bust. Bowman’s college career fell significantly short of expectations, ending up as a bust.

Development Story

Penn State's 2004 class was a tale of two halves. A significant portion of the class exceeded expectations, most notably Rich Ohrnberger and Deon Butler. These low or unranked recruits rose through the ranks and made it to the NFL Draft, indicating a strong developmental program that was able to cultivate raw talent. However, the story was not so positive for some of the higher ranked recruits. Notably, Greg Harrison, who was expected to make a significant impact, ended up being just a contributor. Similarly, Wyatt Bowman, despite being a ranked recruit, fell into the bust category. These instances suggest that while Penn State had success in developing some of its lesser-known recruits, it struggled to maximize the potential of its higher-ranked prospects.

Outcome Summary

Based on these outcomes, it can be said that the Penn State 2004 recruiting class underperformed their original expectations. This is reflected in the S2S rerank, which dropped the class from 12th to 32nd. The high original ranking, coupled with a low S2S rerank, suggests that the class did not live up to its potential, especially among the higher-ranked recruits. Despite this, the class had its bright spots, with a few recruits exceeding expectations. This shows that while the class as a whole may have underperformed, there were individual success stories that should not be overlooked.