Texas Football: 5-Star OT target Nolan Rucci trending to Penn St

One of the most talented offensive tackle targets of the 2021 Texas football recruiting class, 5-Star OT Nolan Rucci, is trending to Penn State.

Offensive line is a priority for really any Power Five conference program in and around the state of Texas for the 2021 recruiting cycle. This class of offensive linemen could have a once in a generation talent level. And the 2021 Texas football recruiting class could wind up chocked full of talent, specifically at the offensive tackle position.

One particular offer that went out for the 2021 recruiting class of the Texas Longhorns football program ended up with five-star Warwick offensive tackle Nolan Rucci. This towering 6-foot-8 and 290 pound lineman is one of the most highly touted at his position for this entire recruiting cycle.

The Lititz, PA, native holds offers from nearly 30 schools as of May 21. The highlights of the schools on his offer sheet includes the Alabama Crimson Tide, Clemson Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Stanford Cardinal, Tennessee Volunteers, and Texas A&M Aggies.

https://twitter.com/nolanrucci/status/1090991899215912961

Texas actually got in on Rucci fairly early on in his recruitment. He received his Texas offer from head coach Tom Herman and offensive line coach Herb Hand way back on Jan. 31, 2019. But it appears that the Longhorns were already eliminated from the race to land Rucci’s commitment.

Back on April 20 of this year, Rucci dropped his top nine finalist schools on his Twitter timeline. None of the schools that made his latest round of finalist cuts came out of the Big 12. Thus, it looked as if the Longhorns were formally eliminated from the running to land his services.

The top three schools listed as “warm” on Rucci’s 247Sports recruiting profile includes Clemson along with the Penn State Nittany Lions and Wisconsin Badgers. At the moment, Rucci’s brother, tight end Hayden Rucci, is a member of the Wisconsin program. So that landing spot would make sense for him.

It does appear as if the two schools taking the lead to land Rucci’s commitment come out of the Big Ten. The 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions do give head coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions a slight edge over the likes of Wisconsin and Clemson to land his commitment.

The Rivals FutureCast does have 88 percent of their analysts and publishers picking Rucci to pledge to Penn State over the rest of the field. Out of Penn State and Wisconsin, the former is trending to land Rucci right now.

Rucci ranks as the nation’s No. 14 2021 high school prospect, No. 4 offensive tackle, and No. 1 prospect out of Pennsylvania (247Sports Composite). He also ranks as a top 425 prospect all-time in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the Longhorns 2021 recruiting class ranks at No. 10 in the nation, and remains in the top spot in the Big 12. Meanwhile, Penn State ranks at No. 15 in the nation and Wisconsin at No. 19.