Monday, January 21, 2008

The Price is Right for Penn State


Penn State picked up a big time sleeper prospect from Virginia this weekend. Reston, VA (South Lakes HS) wide receiver A.J. Price has committed to PSU.

I know what you are thinking and no, its not the same A.J. Price that got busted stealing laptops!

Price picked Penn St over Rutgers, Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke. That is a nice list of suitors for a kid ranked as low as he is.

Price is an underrated prospect. He uses a tall, lanky frame to make big plays in the vertical passing game - as is evident by his 26 yards per catch. He has good hands and great leaping ability. He goes up and makes tough catches in traffic; he will make the spectacular one-handed catches at times as well. These skills and his 6-4 body will make him a good red zone target as well.

Not only does he show solid instincts when catching the ball, he also has a smooth athletic running style. He has the straight ahead speed to be a real game-breaker for the Nittany Lions. He does not have great moves in the open field but he does a great job of slashing through defenses using his straight line speed to beat defenders to the edge.

He lacks power and strength at only 175 pounds. He will struggle against bigger, more physical corners - especially in press coverage - until he bulks up a bit. But in a class with so many big, tall pass catchers, Penn State found a sleeper in Price.

Photo by Athlon Sports

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