Penn State’s quarterback board is starting to take shape, and Matt Campbell’s blueprint is pretty clear: size matters, leadership matters, and the guy under center has to bring more than arm talent.
That’s the thread running through the Nittany Lions’ recent quarterback work, with 2027 commit Will Wood and 2028 pledge James Armstrong both fitting the profile Campbell and his staff keep chasing. Different players, same core traits - length, toughness and the kind of presence that can steer a locker room.
“I feel like the quarterback has got to have the leadership ability, the toughness and the grit to control the locker room,” Campbell said. “I think you’re always looking for the right intangibles that way.
Everybody likes fast, everybody likes arm strength, but those things don’t win. What wins is grit, toughness, character and the ability to lead others around.
The locker room always know who the quarterback should be.”
Armstrong’s commitment came early, and that was by design. Penn State identified him well before signing day, landing the Hopewell High quarterback in western Pennsylvania a year-and-a-half before he can put pen to paper. He’s the top-ranked quarterback in Pennsylvania for the 2028 cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite, and he’s already the third player in Penn State’s 2028 class and the first on offense.
That early commitment gives Armstrong a head start on a job that goes beyond throwing passes. The quarterback is often the face of a class, and Penn State wants him helping recruit the rest of it.
Wood has already started doing that. During his official visit, the 2027 quarterback spent time connecting with fellow commits and building relationships with potential additions. Armstrong is next in line to take on that same role for the 2028 group.
Campbell made it clear that the fit has to go deeper than measurables. The relationship with the head coach sits at the center of the evaluation.
“For me, quarterback is [about] fit and it's the relationship with the head coach," Campbell said when asked about his philosophy in recruiting quarterbacks. "The head coach and the quarterback better be linked at the hip."
Penn State general manager Derek Hoodjer pointed to the physical side of the equation, and both quarterbacks check those boxes. Armstrong is 6-3, 220 pounds and still has room to grow at just 16 years old.
Wood is listed at 6-1, 220. Hoodjer said that kind of size is a priority across the roster, not just at quarterback.
“Coach Campbell will tell you: Big people beat small people in its simplest form,” Hoodjer said. “So length, physical size, the ability to create a physical football team, is something that we've always strived to do and will continue to strive to do.
“And I think Coach Campbell, [offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser] and the offensive staff, [defensive coordinator] D'Anton Lynn and the defensive staff, have always done a great job of establishing what each position on our football team has to do, and then going and identifying players who ... have those characteristics for us to feel like we can develop them.
“But certainly, length and just physical size is critically important to that component. Whether it's at quarterback and it's accuracy or the ability to move in the pocket, or whether it's at the defensive back position, the ability to run or the ability to strike as a linebacker, those are all things that we feel like are non-negotiables.”
At quarterback, the staff wants accuracy and consistency first. Hoodjer said those traits matter on every level of the field, from deep shots to the quick game, and that the way the ball comes out is a major part of the evaluation. He also noted that a quarterback needs enough arm strength, even if he doesn’t own the biggest arm in the country.
“Accuracy and consistency are important across the board, whether it's deep-ball accuracy, intermediate accuracy, or in the quick game,” Hoodjer said. “Accuracy I think is something that's really hard to teach a quarterback, and how the ball comes out of their hand, I would say that's critically important.
“Obviously, you have to have good enough arm strength. I don't think you have to have the strongest arm in all of college football to play in a successful way and play winning football.”
Mobility is part of the package too. Campbell wants quarterbacks who can move, and both Wood and Armstrong bring that element.
Wood rushed for nearly 450 yards last season at Massachusetts’ Xaverian Brothers High, and Penn State brought running backs coach Savon Huggins, along with Mouser and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters, on an in-home visit with him.
Armstrong offers the same kind of threat on the ground. He ran for 739 yards last season and became the first sophomore to be named the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette boys athlete of the year. He’s also a three-sport athlete, another sign of the versatility Penn State values.
“You've got to be able to move around a little bit,” Hoodjer said. “Obviously, some guys we've had have been tremendous runners, while other guys are mobile enough to pick up a few yards, to stay clean in the pocket, things of that nature.”
In Other News...
Penn State Finally Got The Tony Rojas Update Fans Needed
Tony Rojas has been moving back into the picture for Penn State after a lost stretch that kept one of the defenses more important voices off the field. The linebacker has been part of summer workouts, a meaningful step for a player whose absence was felt well beyond the stat sheet, and the staff has continued to point to the way he handled the rehab process as a positive for the program.
Even while he was working back, Rojas still found ways to matter around the building, helping strengthen relationships and adding to the chemistry inside the linebacker room. Penn State now has reason to believe he will be ready when the 2026 season opens, which gives the defense a chance to get one of its steadier pieces back at a time when continuity is never a bad thing. [Read more 🡒]