FB Recruiting 2025 OL Owen Aliciene commits to Penn State Football

[Richie O]

Happy Valley Insider - BREAKING: 2025 Offensive Tackle Owen Aliciene Commits to Penn State

The first domino has fallen from Penn State's junior day with the commitment of offensive tackle Owen Aliciene

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[Richie O]

Happy Valley Insider - Penn State lands commitment from OL Owen Aliciene

Penn State lands commitment from OL Owen Aliciene

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[LMTLION]

I find it interesting that New England is becoming a bit of a hot area for high school football talent (per the article.) I did not know that. Hopefully the staff continues to make inroads up there.

 

[voltz99]

Another TE is now CBd to PSU. Brady Ohara is now listed as OL.

 

[royboy]

I find it interesting that New England is becoming a bit of a hot area for high school football talent (per the article.) I did not know that. Hopefully the staff continues to make inroads up there.

Aliciene is from Avon Old School, a prep school that has a strong program in football and other sports.

Don't know if New England is producing more prospects or if PSU is looking more in the region.

 

[voltz99]

I wonder if players 6'7+ are more or less likely to actually play. I don't know the stats but it seems like a lot of those guys don't pan out.

 

[bcspsu]

The current average height of an NFL OT is 6'6". https://hortonbarbell.com/average-height-weight-of-an-nfl-offensive-tackle/

I do believe that there is a point at which a foorball lineman is too tall, not only because there probably is a greater risk of injury, especially to the back, but also because of the lack of leverage that taller players naturally have. 6 feet 7 inches to 8 inches probably is as tall as you would like him to be if he is going to play lineman, but he may have some more growing to do.

 

[PSUPride1]

I do believe that there is a point at which a foorball lineman is too tall, not only because there probably is a greater risk of injury, especially to the back, but also because of the lack of leverage that taller players naturally have. 6 feet 7 inches to 8 inches probably is as tall as you would like him to be if he is going to play lineman, but he may have some more growing to do.

Agreed. These tall guys have to really be able to bend.

 

[The Spin Meister]

I do believe that there is a point at which a foorball lineman is too tall, not only because there probably is a greater risk of injury, especially to the back, but also because of the lack of leverage that taller players naturally have. 6 feet 7 inches to 8 inches probably is as tall as you would like him to be if he is going to play lineman, but he may have some more growing to do.

Tackles are getting too tall. A lot of edge rushers now get real low and get under the arms of the tackles. Quick swim move and gone.

 

[voltz99]

The current average height of an NFL OT is 6'6". https://hortonbarbell.com/average-height-weight-of-an-nfl-offensive-tackle/

This is not the NFL.

 

[voltz99]

Absolutely, the attached article says 6'9" is the current tallest OT. It also said 6'4" is the shortest. Blocking the edge demands length and quickness. It's a lot harder to quickly get around someone with a long reach. Then again, like you had mentioned, leverage matters as well. DEs tend to be taller and leaner than DTs as well.

Skill players on the edge are often taller as well. WRs taller than slot guys. CBs taller than the slot corner usually. Outside LBs leaner and longer than the middle LB.

Blocking the edge demands quickness? Is taller, quicker?

WRs taller than slot guys? Many More slot guys than 6'6+ receivers.

 

[voltz99]

Tall is good for length, reach, and forcing the DEs wider. Quickness is in reference to the feet to get into their pass blocking set quickly to deal with speed rushers. Obviously, I am not drawing a correlation of taller = quicker. I am telling you that OTs need to be tall for good reach (as evidenced by not a single OT in the NFL shorter than 6'4") and also have good foot speed to set up quickly in their pass blocking. It is a blend of those two physical characteristics that is rare which is partly why OTs get PAID well in the NFL. And yes, tall guys (6'4" to 6'9" for NFL OTs) can also still be pretty quick and athletic (just look at the NBA)

The point on WRs is that you line up tall WRs out wide more frequently than the short shifty slot guys.

Tallest WRs in the NFL all line up out wide primarily:

Name	Height	Weight	Team
Mike Evans	6’5″	231	Buccaneers
Allen Lazard	6’5″	227	Jets
Equanimeous St. Brown	6’5″	214	Bears
A.T. Perry	6’5″	205	Saints

Shorterst WRs in the NFL all primarily slot with some portion of snaps lining up out wide:

Name	Height	Weight	Team
Deonte Harty	5’6″	170	Bills
KaVontae Turpin	5’7″	155	Cowboys
Greg Dortch	5’7″	175	Cardinals
Rondale Moore	5’7″	180	Cardinals

Average Height and Weight of NFL Wide Receivers in 2023

I've been a collegiate sports performance coach for 20 years. And, one of the things that I would always do with players is show them the average heights and weights of players at their position

hortonbarbell.com

0 WRs over 6'5.



Like i said before this is not the NFL. NFL numbers are irrelevant. If a college qb wins the Heisman and he is too small to play in the NFL did his college team screw up? Is the primary goal here to build a good college team or produce NFL players?

 

[voltz99]

A little more detail on what I had written about height correlating to playing away from the ball.

On the OL the average height of an NFL OC is 6'3 3/4", OG is 6'4 1/4", and OT is 6'5 3/4". Notice how they get taller away from the ball. Also, TE average height is 6'4 1/2" as they are sort of like a combination of OT and WR. RB is 5'10 1/2" and WR is 6' 1/2" (they don't break it down between slot and wide receivers in the average but all of the shortest WRs are primarily slot and all of the tallest are primarily lining up out wide as I listed in the previous post). On the defensive line, DT averages 6'3 1/4 and DE averages 6'4 1/4". Notice again how the position is taller away from the ball.

Who are the Tallest Players in the NFL?​

There are 16 players in the NFL who are listed at 6’8″, but the tallest is Caleb Jones who stands at 6’9″.

These players consist of 14 Offensive Tackles, 2 Tight Ends and 1 Defensive End.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Team
Caleb Jones	OT	6’9″	370	Packers
Curtis Hodges	TE	6’8″	240	Commanders
Donald Parham	TE	6’8″	237	Chargers
Cornelius Lucas	OT	6’8″	328	Commanders
Stone Forsythe	OT	6’8″	307	Seahawks
Trent Brown	OT	6’8″	370	Patriots
Jordan Mailata	OT	6’8″	365	Eagles
Kolton Miller	OT	6’8″	325	Raiders
Rob Havenstein	OT	6’8″	330	Rams
Luke Tenuta	OT	6’8″	314	Packers
Mike McGlinchey	OT	6’8″	310	Broncos
Matt Waletzko	OT	6’8″	320	Cowboys
Dawand Jones	OT	6’8″	375	Browns
Orlando Brown	OT	6’8″	345	Bengals
Spencer Brown	OT	6’8″	311	Bills
Daniel Faalele	OT	6’8″	380	Ravens
Calais Campbell	DE	6’8″	307	Falcons

Who are the Shortest Players in the NFL?​

There are 9 players in the league that are 5’7″ or shorter.

They consist of 4 Wide Receivers, 4 Running Backs and a Kicker.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Team
Deuce Vaughn	RB	5’5″	180	Cowboys
Boston Scott	RB	5’6″	203	Eagles
Deonte Harty	Slot WR	5’6″	170	Bills
Blake Grupe	K	5’7″	156	Saints
Devin Singletary	RB	5’7″	203	Texans
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	RB	5’7″	207	Chiefs
Greg Dortch	Slot WR	5’7″	175	Cardinals
Rondale Moore	Slot WR	5’7″	180	Cardinals
KaVontae Turpin	Slot WR	5’7″	155	Cowboys

You left out a few.

Sterling Jenkins 6'8
Jimmy Christ 6'7
Zach Kuntz 6'7
Paris Palmer 6'7
Alex gellerstadt 6'7

Connor Mcgovern 6'6
Olu Fashanu 6'6
Donovan Smith 6'5
Ryan Bates 6'4
Brendon Mahon 6'4
Juice Scruggs 6'3
John Urschel 6'3

Now Rank them.


1600+ players in the nfl. 33,000+ D1A players the last 10 years. 5000+ D1A OL signed the last 10 years.

 

[bcspsu]

A little more detail on what I had written about height correlating to playing away from the ball.

On the OL the average height of an NFL OC is 6'3 3/4", OG is 6'4 1/4", and OT is 6'5 3/4". Notice how they get taller away from the ball. Also, TE average height is 6'4 1/2" as they are sort of like a combination of OT and WR. RB is 5'10 1/2" and WR is 6' 1/2" (they don't break it down between slot and wide receivers in the average but all of the shortest WRs are primarily slot and all of the tallest are primarily lining up out wide as I listed in the previous post). On the defensive line, DT averages 6'3 1/4 and DE averages 6'4 1/4". Notice again how the position is taller away from the ball.

Who are the Tallest Players in the NFL?​

There are 16 players in the NFL who are listed at 6’8″, but the tallest is Caleb Jones who stands at 6’9″.

These players consist of 14 Offensive Tackles, 2 Tight Ends and 1 Defensive End.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Team
Caleb Jones	OT	6’9″	370	Packers
Curtis Hodges	TE	6’8″	240	Commanders
Donald Parham	TE	6’8″	237	Chargers
Cornelius Lucas	OT	6’8″	328	Commanders
Stone Forsythe	OT	6’8″	307	Seahawks
Trent Brown	OT	6’8″	370	Patriots
Jordan Mailata	OT	6’8″	365	Eagles
Kolton Miller	OT	6’8″	325	Raiders
Rob Havenstein	OT	6’8″	330	Rams
Luke Tenuta	OT	6’8″	314	Packers
Mike McGlinchey	OT	6’8″	310	Broncos
Matt Waletzko	OT	6’8″	320	Cowboys
Dawand Jones	OT	6’8″	375	Browns
Orlando Brown	OT	6’8″	345	Bengals
Spencer Brown	OT	6’8″	311	Bills
Daniel Faalele	OT	6’8″	380	Ravens
Calais Campbell	DE	6’8″	307	Falcons

Who are the Shortest Players in the NFL?​

There are 9 players in the league that are 5’7″ or shorter.

They consist of 4 Wide Receivers, 4 Running Backs and a Kicker.

Name	Position	Height	Weight	Team
Deuce Vaughn	RB	5’5″	180	Cowboys
Boston Scott	RB	5’6″	203	Eagles
Deonte Harty	Slot WR	5’6″	170	Bills
Blake Grupe	K	5’7″	156	Saints
Devin Singletary	RB	5’7″	203	Texans
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	RB	5’7″	207	Chiefs
Greg Dortch	Slot WR	5’7″	175	Cardinals
Rondale Moore	Slot WR	5’7″	180	Cardinals
KaVontae Turpin	Slot WR	5’7″	155	Cowboys

I feel better seeing that there are several NFL o-linemen who are as tall as 6-9; I never realized that there were as many players that tall. Thanks for posting this.

 

[87 Penn St8]

Tackles are getting too tall. A lot of edge rushers now get real low and get under the arms of the tackles. Quick swim move and gone.

A smaller kid from our local high school made that exact move against Drew Shelton his Senior year at Downingtown West.

Highlight play- blew up a screen for 5 yd loss and almost caused fumble.

On the other hand I still can see the Sports Illustrated photo of Orlando Pace just bulldozing Brandon Short one year when OSU whooped us.

Yin and Yang stuff. Part of the science of the game...

 

[Ward Hog]

At any position, you want the largest human that can find, who moves well and can get the job done. Problem is that there are far more super athletic, big build guys at 6'2" than 6'7". There's a reason why left offensive tackles get paid so much. 6'6 or 6'7" guys that move well enough to play at such a level are exceedingly rare.

 

[GregInPitt]

At any position, you want the largest human that can find, who moves well and can get the job done. Problem is that there are far more super athletic, big build guys at 6'2" than 6'7". There's a reason why left offensive tackles get paid so much. 6'6 or 6'7" guys that move well enough to play at such a level are exceedingly rare.

Exactly. And it's the reason that top teams go after the cream of the crop OT's with size coming out of H.S., and why teams that don't seem to be able to get the few sure thing high end OT's out of H.S. have to bring in more large OT's to end up with a couple that develop and can actually end up playing at a high level as starters after a couple years of coaching and S&C work.