Oh, Hello: 2023 Four-Star OT Chimdy Onoh Commits To Penn State

Feb 1, 2023 - 7:29 PM

THE SKINNY

Height/Weight: 6-foot-5, 270 pounds
Hometown/High School: Dundalk, MD (Dundalk H.S.)
Ranking: ★★★★ (0.9121 247Sports Composite — No. 257 overall)
Notable Offers: Michigan State, Ole Miss, and Rutgers

HIGHLIGHTS

THE TALE

Coming from a school that doesn’t usually have a ton of FBS talent, Chimdy Onoh was a late bloomer on the recruiting scene — so much so that 247Sports didn’t even have a recruiting profile for Onoh until June 5, 2022. He ended up committing to Ricky Rahne and Old Dominion in September, but after his senior film made the rounds, he reopened his recruitment to focus on four schools: Rutgers, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ole Miss, all of whom offered in December.

Onoh let the Early National Signing Day pass, and made visits to the latter three — Penn State, Michigan State, and Ole Miss — after the new year. When the dust settled, Onoh made the call for the Nittany Lions, joining five-star J’ven Williams, four-star Alex Birchmeier, and four-star Anthony Donkoh to give Penn State one of the best offensive line classes in the country.

OUTLOOK

Talk about a nice finish to the 2023 recruiting class. While I think Penn State would have been plenty happy to roll with Williams, Birchmeier, and Donkoh, adding a high upside four-star offensive tackle is always going to be a welcomed addition. For a recruiting class that was already highlighted by its offensive line, Onoh truly is the exclamation point for Phil Trautwein’s extremely impressive recruiting cycle.

Looking forward, Onoh is going to need some time to develop, both physically and as a player. He’s just 270 pounds and as you can see below in his picture with James Franklin, he looks more like a basketball player than an offensive tackle right now.

Beyond the incoming 40 pounds that will be added, Onoh will need time to adjust to the speed and power of the Big Ten. He’s a lanky, long kid who moves well and displays a naturally powerful base, and thus why he’s skyrocketed up the rankings in the last few weeks. There aren’t too many 6-foot-5, 270-pound athletes who move the way he does. But he’ll likely need a couple seasons of development before he’s ready to push for playing time.