Fact or Fiction: Veilleux will jump in and start at Penn State
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
MORE: Commitment breakdown - Terrence Lewis to Tennessee | Three-Point Stance
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
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1. QB Christian Veilleux will start immediately at Penn State.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. Yes, Sean Clifford will be gone and Veilleux has a lot of talent, but Penn State does a great job of developing quarterbacks and the Nittany Lions have some talent behind Clifford. Will Levis is a solid backup and I like the potential of Ta’Quan Roberson. The good news for Vellieux? Some of the guys in the QB room can switch positions, but I think Veilleux will wait a couple of years and then make a big impact.
Gorney’s take: FACT. It is probably Levis’ job to lose once Clifford is gone, but Veilleux is stepping into a fantastic situation where he will at least be able to compete for the starting role or at the very least some playing time. The recent quarterback commit has some of the best tape among the 2021 quarterbacks and he should be a perfect fit for what the Nittany Lions are doing on offense. With his size and playmaking ability, it’s going to be difficult - if not impossible - to keep him on the sidelines.
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2. LB Terrence Lewis will boost recruiting for the Vols.
Farrell’s take: FACT. The Vols are doing quite well and recent commits from players like Dylan Brooks, Julian Nixon and Kamar Wilcoxson and many more to come, but the commitment of Lewis, an elite player from Florida, will open things up even more. Lewis is a talkative and well-liked kid among 2021 recruits and he will be certain to work hard to attract other Vols. Combine that with the efforts of Wilcoxson and others and this Vols class has a ton of guys working hard to make it special.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Tennessee is doing an absolutely incredible job recruiting through the coronavirus travel ban - maybe better than any team in the country - and Lewis should help in a big way. He’s going to talk up the South Florida kids considering the Volunteers, and once he and others can get on campus, Lewis could do an excellent job swaying kids to Tennessee. Even if this is the pinnacle of the Tennessee recruiting class for a while, the Vols are in excellent position and coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff deserve tons of credit.
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3. Missouri is on a roll in recruiting.
Farrell’s take: FACT. I like what Missouri is doing and four-star DE Travion Ford is just the latest. I like running back Taj Butts a lot and what Eli Drinkwitz is doing in-state is impressive. This guy loves recruiting and he’s good at it and the balance of this class so far is excellent.
Gorney’s take: FACT. One of the biggest problems for Missouri over the years was that it didn’t recruit well enough in-state, but so far five of its seven pledges are from home and that’s going to be incredibly important moving forward. Still, three of the top-five players in the state are committed elsewhere and that will continue to be an obstacle for Drinkwitz and his staff. After all is said and done, though, the Tigers are definitely on a roll. It’s impressive, since Drinkwitz hasn’t coached a game and can’t have recruits on campus and it could get even better from here.