Seriously? I've never said the sanctions were the ONLY reason Penn State has been mediocre over the past five seasons. But to minimize the impact is absurd.
The sanctions immediately cost Penn State its starting running back (Silas Reed) and a 4-star DT recruit from the 2012 class (Jamil Pollard).
In 2013, the sanctions led Dorian Johnson to Pitt. Think the PSU offensive line could use him? How many other kids who would have otherwise signed with PSU? It's impossible to quantify that, but common sense says there's at least a handful. Further, only six members from that 2013 have made a significant contribution to this point. The 2014 class makes up the bulk of the roster right now, and a number of players in that and subsequent classes were forced into early action when they would have been better served with a redshirt year.
Shifting to your comments on Franklin's OL recruiting. Obviously, it's been well-documented that he walked into a situation in which he couldn't even complete a two-deep. Being hired in January, the new staff was up against Signing Day and no doubt reached on three kids in Sorrell, Wright, and Beh that don't appear poised to contribute on the field maybe at all. In 2015, things got better with Bates, who looks like he'll be a four-year starter on the interior, and Jenkins, who has the body of an NFL left tackle if he can put it all together. And then you have the 2016 class of Menet, who the staff is trying to redshirt and profiles as a four-year starter; McGovern, who is starting now at RG; and Fries and Gellerstedt, who the staff likes (especially Fries).
I guess that's a long way of saying I think you're off base if you were criticizing the OL recruiting overall. It was a deep hole to climb out of, and they're getting closer, but the most talented kids are also the youngest. It remains a work in progress. In fact, that can describe a lot of what's happening at Penn State right now: work in progress. A lot of things need to improve, including the coaching, but the sanctions were real, the inability to field a proper two-deep was real, the virtual lack of senior leadership is real, the second youngest roster in the country is real.
tl;dr In 2012 and 2013, the sanctions had a large impact on recruiting and a much smaller one on the field. Since then, the recruiting has been much less affected (and Franklin et al. are the best recruiters Penn State has had in a long time, which also helps) but the on-field product still suffers (OL, lack of depth in key spots like LB, the youth, especially compared with a team like Michigan, which has a number of senior and even fifth-year seniors as starters). That part will continue to improve, and if it doesn't make major strides by the end of NEXT season, Franklin's seat is going to get very hot, very quickly.
