THE SKINNY
Height weight: 6-foot-4, 220 lbs
Hometown / high school: Atlanta, GA (Westminster School)
Ranking: ★★★★ (0.9341 247Sportkomposyt)
Remarkable offers: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, and USC
HJOUWERT
DE TALE
There are no publicly known visits to Happy Valley for Staes, so this one is a little surprising on the surface. As with Jerry Cross 2022, Cross Cross, however, one could assume that Penn State’s recent use of the tight end is a major reason for Staes’ interest and now his commitment.
With Staes’ commitment, Penn State provides four prospects in the 2022 class: four-star WR Kaden Saunders, four-star TE Jerry Cross, three-star QB Beau Pribula, and now four-star TE Holden Staes. Not too harmful.
OUTLOOK
As we discussed with Cross, the tight end room will be full as Staes enters: Zack Kuntz (RS SR), Brenton Strange (RS JR), the 2020 duo of Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren, and fellow 2021 prospect Cross. Of course, attrition could be on the position – whether it’s transfers, dismissals, or position changes – but nonetheless, those are a lot of tight ends.
If you see the combination of Cross and Staes as tight ends in the same class, they compliment each other well. Cross is definitely more of the receiving tight end, while Staes shows more of a fierce game of receiving and blocking. Really, they are not that different from Zack Kuntz and Pat Freiermuth as a couple – Cross being Kuntz and Staes being Freiermuth, at least in how they play and what their role as tight ends will be.
