Despite being a glorified practice, and nothing more than a scrimmage, the 2019 Blue-White Game was a chance for some newcomers to begin to make a name for themselves. The defense appeared to be ahead of the offense, albeit mainly due to vanilla play calling. That said, it was clear that some new faces are ready to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball.
Linebacker Brandon Smith was rated as a five-star recruit by 247Sports and was considered to be one of the best overall players in the 2019 recruiting class. Penn State head coach James Franklin was able to land Smith and even got him to campus as an early-enrollee.