Penn State : Penn State's 2016 Recruiting Class Fills Talent Where It's Needed

"Menet, one of two 247Sports five-stars in Penn State’s class, was the nation’s top-ranked offensive guard according to both 247Sports and the 247Sports Composite. But Franklin could see the 6-foot-5, 273-pounder, who played right guard at the Under-Armour All-American game after spending most of his senior season at left tackle or left guard, lining up anywhere along the line.
“Menet's a guy that I think has the athletic ability to play tackle, has the intelligence to play center, and has the power to play guard,” Franklin said. “I'd say the same thing for McGovern. Typically centers are center-only or they're a center and you a swing guy to guard. But I would not say that McGovern couldn’t play tackle for us, as well.”
That above was a quote from the 24/7 Sports site.
Outside of recruiting the Nation's top RB in Miles Sanders, Penn State's draft doesn't look super sexy from a position of skill but they recruited high end talent where they needed it most - Offensive Line and Special Teams.
Even those who aren't PSU fans know that QB Christian Hackenberg for the past 2 seasons was running for his life or spending too much time on the ground. For all of the skill that former coach, Bill O'Brien recruited, he neglected to recruit strongly for the Offensive Line, leaving the team thin in talent up front for James Franklin. As a former Bill Belichick/New England Patriots protege, you'd think that O'Brien would've known the importance of protecting your QB.
The Nittany Lions have some Offensive Skill. They boast a defense that was good last year and will get better this year, but the Offensive Line has been atrocious. Adding high-4-star talent like Michal Menet and Connor McGovern will go a long way towards making the Offensive better. In some ways, more than if they'd have added a Top WR recruit. When you can keep your QB upright and give him time in the pocket and can open up holes for what will be a dangerous 1-2 punch of Barkley and Sanders, the PSU offense will improve drastically.
Another area that PSU addressed was Special Teams. After Sam Ficken moved on, Penn State's kicking took a blow last season. When you shift over to punting, Penn State was even worse. While you may laugh at these positions, a strong kicking games is huge. When you have a reliable FG kicker, you're not only putting more points on the board but you're able to avoid offensive failure by going for 4th downs and giving up field position. Punter's are huge too. A good punter can pin the opposition deep. You're giving your Defense a better chance when you give them better field position to work with.
This was a terrific recruiting class for Penn State in terms of filling their biggest voids from 2014-2015. When your trenches and legs are strong, it allows the rest of the team to really excel.