Penn State football’s highest-rated Class of 2024 signee is going to get playing time in Year 1, coach James Franklin told reporters inside Holuba Hall after Tuesday’s practice.
Tight end Luke Reynolds had one of the fastest rises of any recruit maybe in Penn State history.
When Reynolds committed in late March 2023, he was the 913th-ranked player in the country.
By the end of October, he was a five-star recruit, meaning he was a top 32 overall player in his class per 247Sports.
Per Franklin, Reynolds’s momentum coming out of high school is carrying over in Happy Valley.
“He’s going to be a really good player here,” Franklin said.
Franklin then compared Reynolds to Penn State’s current No. 1 tight end.
“He’s very similar to Tyler Warren,” Franklin said. “They both played high school quarterback and transitioned to the position (tight end).”
Reynolds came to Penn State at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds.
He’s still 6-foot-4 but now weighs 241.
“He has gotten bigger,” Franklin said. “He put on a good amount of weight early on, and then he’s kind of plateaued off a little bit. We have to continue to chip away at that.”
Overall, Franklin’s impressed with the way Reynolds plays the game.
“He don’t mind sticking his nose in there,” Franklin said. “Makes a ton of plays in the passing game. He’s going to be a really good player and we have great competition at the tight end position. So he’s going to be a guy that’s going to play this year, whether it is four games plus postseason or whether it’s just an all-out play is still yet to be determined.”
