"Most inshape lineman i ever saw": Fans mesmerized by shredded physique of James Franklin's 2026 class recruit

Coach James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions are hoping to improve on their CFP semifinal appearance this past season. They want to contend for a national championship again, and to do that, they need to have consistently strong recruiting classes. Fortunately for them, they are already off to a good start in 2026.

Four-star offensive tackle Kevin Brown is committed to James Franklin's squad for the 2026 class. On Tuesday, a clip of him training was posted by the Rivals.com Instagram account.

Fans reacted to Brown's impressive physique and athleticism.

"Most inshape lineman I ever saw..." one fan wrote.

"Best in the business!" one fan commented.

"He’s strong and fit for an O lineman…" one fan added.

Fans continued to react in the comments.

"Yeah he’s like that," one fan wrote.

"1on1s with no pads shows so much, it’s definitely the best indicator for who’s gonna be really good at football," one fan commented.

"An in shape linemen is good. Who would have thought 🙄. They don’t need to be 300 lbs. Quick feet and aggressive hands will take a lineman long way," one fan added.

Images via the comments of the Instagram post.

James Franklin already has one of the strongest 2026 recruiting classes

While it is still early in the 2026 recruiting cycle, coach James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions have one of the strongest recruiting classes. Kevin Brown is one of the team's top recruits, but there are many other top recruits in next year's class.

According to 247Sports, the Penn State Nittany Lions have the No. 8-ranked class in the 2026 class. They already have 20 hard commits from players, tied for the third most among teams ranked in the Top 10. 10 four-star recruits have committed to the team, along with 10 three-star recruits. They have not secured the commitment of any five-star recruits yet.

If the Nittany Lions can maintain their top 10 ranking, it would be an improvement on their 2025 class. While the Nittany Lions did not have a bad 2025 class, it did not rank in the top 10. Instead, it finished as the No. 15-ranked class. A big issue for the Nittany Lions is that they were unable to secure a five-star recruit. James Franklin will be trying to change that in the coming months.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly