Penn State Football Recruiting: Nittany Lions Land Garrett Sickels

Penn State landed another promising prospect this weekend. Defensive end Garrett Sickels gave his verbal pledge to the Nittany Lions Sunday night.

Sickels is a 4-star prospect, according to rivals.com. He's also on ESPN's Watch List for 2013. He is the No. 8 prospect in New Jersey, and the No. 13 outside linebacker prospect in the country, according to 247sports.com.

He also had offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Florida among others.

Sickels is Penn State's third 4-star commitment in the 2013 class. His versatility will give him a chance to play as soon as he steps foot in Happy Valley.

The New Jersey native had 76 tackles, 11 sacks, two blocked punts and two tackles for a loss this past season. He played multiple defensive techniques last season and projects to do the same at the next level.

Sickels can play 4-3 defensive end, as well as 3-4 end. He can play with his hand in the dirt, or he can stand up to rush the passer. His wide array of talents will earn him early consideration for snaps in his career.

Penn State will lose Sean Stanley and Pete Massaro after this season. That will leave vacancies on the defensive line's depth chart. Sickels could challenge returning players for those starting spots with a solid spring performance.

Bill O'Brien and Penn State's new coaching staff are blazing a trail this offseason. They have had great recruiting success, and more is expected with tight end Adam Breneman announcing his commitment on Friday.

Brenenman is considered a heavy Penn State lean.

Breneman's commitment would be another salvo fired by Penn State in the recruiting war for next season.

The Nittany Lion fanbase was excited all week. Sickels' commitment and Breneman's likely pledge bring a deafening buzz from Nittany Lion nation.