Tyler Merrill once described his football career as a mystery box.

He wasn’t quite sure what the future had in store. The only thing he knew for certain was that he wanted to play the game he loves, and the rest would fall into place.

With his high school career in the books, there’s hardly any mystery to the 6-foot-6, 325-pound offensive tackle out of Cumberland Valley. Appropriately nicknamed “Big Oak’ for his menacing presence in the trenches, Merrill’s meteoric recruiting rise started with an offer from Akron a couple months after his freshman season in 2023.

Twenty-six offers later, the blue chip was down to Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Clemson, Alabama and in-state power Penn State. The Fighting Irish won the sweepstakes, Merrill making it official by inking his name on Wednesday’s nati

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