Today, as the early National Letter of Intent signing day period kicks off, most — if not all — of the newest members of the Penn State recruiting class will sign on the dotted line, accepting a scholarship to play football for the Nittany Lions. For every player who does sign, I’ll be here to provide an in-depth scouting report. Here is my report on Michigan linebacker Jamari Buddin.
Height: 6-2
Weight: 204
School: Belleville (Mich.) HS
Projected position: Will linebacker
Rating: Four stars by 247sports; Three stars by Rivals.com and ESPN
Other Power 5 offers: Arkansas, Florida State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi, Purdue
Projection: It’s somewhat difficult to believe, when you watch his film, that Buddin is only 204 pounds, because he plays like a 250-pounder. He mixes it up in the run game and will drive a running back backward and into the ground. He plays with speed, and he plays violently. He has enough speed to cover a slot guy in front of him, but he’ll take on blocks and power his way through them, as well. Buddin has tremendous feet, and he uses them to play with really good leverage. He’s always the lower man. All that said, he needs to add 20-30 pounds to be able to reach his potential, so he likely won’t be an immediate contributor unless he makes fast strides. But guaranteed, Buddin is a guy coaches will be talking about as a standout on the scout team next season.
Donnie Collins has been a member of The Times-Tribune sports staff for nearly 20 years and has been the Penn State football beat writer for Times-Shamrock Newspapers since 2004. The Penn State Football Blog covers Nittany Lions, Big Ten and big-time college football news from Beaver Stadium to the practice field, the bowl game to National Letter of Intent Signing Day. Contact: dcollins@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5368; @DonnieCollinsTT