Penn State Football: Nittany Lions' 5-Star TE Commit Adam Breneman Tears ACL

Penn State's recruiting class got a bit of a downer on Friday when it was revealed that Adam Breneman, the top tight end prospect and a proud Penn State commit, tore his ACL during a 7-on-7 game this week. Breneman is a 5-star prospect on Scout.com and 4-star on Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. He's ranked in the overall Top 50 of every major scouting service and the Top 30 of every one but ESPN.com. 

Breneman's father Brian confirmed the news to Greg Pickel of the Patriot-News, who then sent it out on Twitter:

We are grateful for the outpouring of support over the past 24 hours. MRI revealed Adam has torn ACL in his right knee. While he is disappointed that he will be unable to play his senior season, he is very optimistic about his future at Penn State, and is totally committed to making a full recovery in time for the 2013 season.

Adam Breneman himself has also taken to Twitter since the announcement, but he's basically just re-tweeting messages of support, which is a nice gesture on the part of the fellow recruits contacting him (NOTE: fans contacting recruits, even if it's to tell them very nice things when they have a torn ACL, is still always creepy). 

In terms of what this means for the future, it's important to keep in mind that Breneman's first Penn State game is more than a year away, so Brian Breneman's statements about missing his senior season and being committed to 2013 are right on. This injury might even be healed enough for him to participate in spring practices if he enrolls early, but there's really no need to rush into practice.

That all said, if Bill O'Brien wants to redshirt Breneman, he'll probably have that luxury; of the six tight ends on Penn State's official depth chart (.PDF warning), five will be back in 2013, including both starters. If Breneman is healthy enough to get on the field and good enough to contribute right away, he will, but his isn't a position of need by any stretch unless injuries start to mount in front of him.