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 Harrisburg offensive lineman Nate Bruce.
Courtesy of Penn State Athletics
Height: 6-4
Weight: 320
School: Harrisburg HS
Projected position: Guard
Rating: Four stars by 247sports; Three stars by Rivals.com and ESPN
Other Power 5 offers: Virginia Tech
Projection: Bruce was one of the earliest commits to the 2021 class, and his offers list reflects that in a way. He’s going to be a bit of a project for offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, but he displays some of the tendencies Trautwein prefers to teach in an offensive lineman. He plays from his legs, and the drive he gets from his lower half is impressive. He’s big and strong, and if he gets his hands under an opponent’s pads, there’s no moving him. His feet are good for a developing player his size, and there’s room to get even better there. He has experience pulling out of the guard position, which is always helpful, but he can get better there. Size-wise, Bruce looks the part, even though he can probably trim down and add a bit more speed to his game. He’s a boom or bust type of prospect for a team that needs offensive line depth.
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
