Matt Campbell spent Penn State’s bye week doing what this program badly needs right now: building for the future.
The Nittany Lions have plenty to sort out with the 2026 team, but the bigger picture already looks like the 2027 class and beyond. Campbell, who wasn’t known as a blue-chip recruiter during his 10 years at Iowa State, made his reputation in Ames by finding overlooked talent and developing it into Big 12 producers.
At Penn State, the challenge changes. The resources are bigger, the expectations are louder, and the pressure on the recruiting trail comes with it.
Even with a budget that sits nearly $20 million behind Ohio State and Oregon in 2026, Penn State still has the No. 20 class in the country. But with a little over a month left before the early signing period for 2027, Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer still have work to do. The class has already taken a hit at quarterback after three-star Will Wood flipped to Boston College, and the Nittany Lions, now 3-4 and 0-4 in Big Ten play, have some holes to patch in a hurry.
Here are the five flip targets that matter most.
Braylen Warren sits at the top of the list, and for good reason. On Wednesday, just days after Wood’s move to Boston College, Campbell went to Omaha to offer the Missouri commit.
Warren is a four-star prospect, ranked No. 18 among quarterbacks in the country and an Elite 11 finalist from the summer. He has been pledged to Missouri since December 2025.
Penn State would have to make a serious push, and maybe even stretch the quarterback market, to pry him away. At 6-foot-1, he’s not the kind of big-bodied passer people chase for tools alone; his game is built more on touch and anticipation than pure arm strength.
That makes him a swing worth weighing carefully, even if the upside is a Power 4 starter in a mold similar to Brock Purdy, a comparison that is now a massive one given Purdy’s NFL success.
After that comes Markius Woods, a defensive lineman whose timing lines up almost too neatly with Penn State’s needs. The same day Wood left Penn State’s quarterback board for Boston College, Woods backed off his own Boston College commitment.
He’s a 6-foot-3, 300-plus-pound interior lineman from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, ranked No. 576 in the country. Missouri and Kansas State are in the mix, but Penn State has a visit lined up for November 21, when the Nittany Lions host Rutgers.
With Stanley Montgomery and Aniti Paiva already committed as defensive tackle prospects, Penn State could still go after both Woods and another lineman if the staff wants to keep strengthening the middle of the defense.
McCoy Richardson is another name that still fits what Penn State needs up front, even if the momentum has cooled since his visit. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive lineman from Springfield, Massachusetts was at Beaver Stadium for the Week 1 game against Marshall, and at that point he was projected to flip from Wake Forest.
Since then, Wake Forest under Jake Dickert has emerged as a top challenger to Miami in the ACC, while Penn State has slid toward the bottom of the Big Ten picture. Richardson, ranked No. 655 overall by the 247Sports composite, may not be the staff’s main target anymore, but he still matches defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe’s preferred body type on a unit that has looked overmatched against Big Ten opposition.
Penn State is also trying to shore up its receiver board, and Chase Guers remains one of the more realistic options. The Nittany Lions have been chasing another wideout to pair with Landom Blum after losing Jamir Dean to Georgia and missing on Deshawn Hall and Khalil Taylor.
Guers, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound Blue Mountain High School receiver, fits that need. He visited Penn State for the Week 4 matchup with Wisconsin during a major recruiting weekend, but the staff’s traction with him is still unclear.
He’s ranked as the No. 83 wide receiver nationally and the No. 20 recruit in Pennsylvania.
Jamar Taylor is another receiver Penn State would love to land, and he brings a different kind of frame to the table. The Rutgers commit also visited for the Wisconsin game, and he’s still on the board.
At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Taylor has the size Penn State has been targeting under this staff. He’s ranked No. 69 among wide receivers and is the Delaware State Champion in high school.
That kind of build gives him obvious appeal as a jump-ball threat and red-zone presence, and it would continue the staff’s push toward bigger catch-radius targets under wide receivers coach Kashif Moore.
In Other News...
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Cael Sanderson used Penn State wrestlings media day to voice a frustration that has become all too familiar in college athletics: the rules may be clear on paper, but the way they are enforced often is not. The Penn State coach said the NCAAs standards feel uncertain, and he raised the larger question of whether doing things the right way can leave a program at a disadvantage in the race to stay competitive.
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Alex Manskes development has become one of the central storylines, especially with Matt Campbell making clear the quarterback has a future in the program even if he is not ready to take over right now. Koby Howards injury only adds to the uncertainty, and with the running game also struggling to find traction, Penn State is left looking for answers that go deeper than one position or one bad stretch of games. [Read more 🡒]