Blue-White Game attracting top talent

Silas Redd has had Stamford, Conn., King Low Heywood Thomas High School football opponents seeing red for the last couple of years.

"His vision and his ability to stop on a dime [are what sets him apart],'' said King Low coach Danny Gouin. "I think he had around 1,350 yards on 122 carries last year and 13 or 14 touchdowns.''

As a result, a lot of top college recruiters have been out to see Redd themselves. Although Connecticut isn't considered a high school football hotbed, Redd has 10 written scholarship offers from colleges like Boston College, Virginia, Oregon and Stanford.

The question this weekend is how Redd would look in blue and white.

Unless there's a last minute change in plan, Redd will be one of the most notable 2010 football prospects at Penn State's Blue-White Game on Saturday afternoon. The speedy 5-foot-10, 195-pound running back/cornerback is also considered the most likely to make a commitment at or shortly after the Nittany Lions' annual end-of-spring-practice scrimmage.

"A lot of people expect him to commit,'' said former Altoonan Cory James, who covers Penn State football recruiting for Scout's FightOnState.com web site. "There's a pretty good likelihood. He's said before he might commit on a visit. He held off on his last visit.''

Redd will be far from the only blue-chipper on the sidelines for the third of what will be four big visit weekends at Penn State this spring and the one best suited to show recruits the game-day atmosphere at Beaver Stadium. James said he expects around 40 recruits to be on hand, including most of the 2009 signees and even a few rising sophomores and freshmen.

"It's going to be a big weekend,'' James said. "It's a nice, eye-opening experience. They do a lot of nice things with the kids. Typically, they'll bring them down on the field with the team, and people will ask them for autographs along with the current players. A lot of kids will be shocked that these people will know their names.''

Those that follow recruiting already do, though, and not just Penn State fans, either. Saturday's list is expected to include already-committed quarterback Paul Jones and linebacker Mike Hull, Stamford, Conn., linebacker Khairi Fortt, Manheim Central defensive end/linebacker Dakota Royer, Philadelphia defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, Annandale, N.J., tight end Kevin Haplea, Millersville, Md., linebacker/safety Josh Furman, Burke, Va., lineman Khamrone Kolb and Penn-Trafford lineman Luke Graham.

With the exception of Kolb, a 6-6, 300-pounder whose family has moved around and who played four games at fullback last year, all of them are rated among the top 18 players at their position nationally by Scout.com. Hull is the second-rated middle linebacker, Jones the third-rated quarterback, Floyd and Fortt the fifth-rated defensive tackle and outside linebacker, respectively, Haplea the sixth-rated tight end and Graham the ninth-rated guard.

That doesn't even include DaQuan Jones of Johnson City, N.Y., the sixth-ranked defensive tackle, who James said would like to attend but was unsure of transportation.

Another player to watch who will be in attendance is Gateway receiver Brendon Felder, a 5-10, 168-pounder who just moved in from Boston and brings 4.37 speed. A virtual unknown, he was the MVP of the Baltimore combine last weekend.

"He's a pure athlete,'' said former Nittany Lion wideout and Gateway coach Terry Smith. "He's going to blow up [on the recruiting scene]. Colleges just aren't sure of the competition he's played against.''

James is predicting two new commitments to come out of the weekend, Redd being one of them. He also thinks Paul Jones, who committed in January but said in recent weeks that he wanted to look around at other schools, will publicly reaffirm his pledge to Penn State either over the weekend or at a press conference Monday to announce in which postseason all-American game he will play.

James believes Penn State will sign 18 or 19 recruits in February.