Committed: Penn State lands fast-rising tight end Matt Henderson
Penn State football picked up the 13th commitment for the Class of 2025 on Wednesday night when fast-rising tight end Matt Henderson committed to the program. Henderson is technically the second tight end for the team, with swing player Brady O’Hara already committed but potentially playing offensive tackle.
What led Penn State to jump so quickly on Henderson’s commitment? The team is in a position with in-state rising star Andrew Olesh and Kansas tight end Linkon Cure at the top of their board. Blue White Illustrated recruiting experts Sean Fitz and Ryan Snyder discuss the commitment on today’s commit breakdown. Check out the video embedded in this article or on the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel.
Penn State doesn’t hesitate to take Henderson
Snyder explains how Penn State went from offering Henderson at the end of April to accepting his commitment during the first full week of May.
“Just offered on April 26th, just under two weeks ago, and his workout was a couple of days before that. The feedback right after that workout was [that] Penn State was all-in on him,” Snyder said.
Henderson is a high school wide receiver with a good frame, standing at 6-5, 208 pounds. He fits the mold of an athletic but big high school wideout who will transition to a tight end at Penn State. But there’s an important element he needed to show first.
“‘We know you’re athletic, and you can catch the ball. But can you block?’ Snyder recalls Penn State sources telling him. “The feedback that we got was that when he came up in January, that was a big discussion with them. And he’s been working on that ever since.”
But Henderson didn’t just work on his technique and get marginally better; Snyder says that his progress blew away the staff.
“[Ty] Howle went back down there two weeks ago. It’s the spring evaluation period, and he gets an opportunity to see him up close to see how he’s progressing from that perspective. All the feedback was that he was exceeded where they thought he would be.”
Henderson another recruiting diamond for Howle
Henderson wasn’t a rated prospect before his Penn State commitment this week. On3’s recruiting staff reviewed his film and rated him a 90-overall four-star player. Like eventual high-four star tight end Luke Reynolds, Henderson is another elite find for Howle and the Penn State staff, who have a reputation for identifying tight end talent. We discuss Penn State’s track record here. We also discuss how Henderson’s commitment affects spots in the offensive class for the rest of the recruiting cycle.
