Penn State’s tight end room has the look of a real weapon again, and the conversation this offseason has naturally centered on Benjamin Brahmer and Andrew Rappleyea.
That makes sense. Brahmer arrives with serious credentials after earning second-team All-Big 12 honors at Iowa State last season and landing as a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight end.
He’s the name drawing the loudest buzz, and there’s already been a glimpse of why. When Becht was on the practice field in the spring, the chemistry between the quarterback and Brahmer was noticeable.
But Rappleyea is hardly an afterthought. After being limited to one game in 2024 because of an early-season injury, he emerged as the Lions’ top tight end in 2025 while working in a rotation with Khalil Dinkins and Luke Reynolds.
He finished the regular season on a strong note, catching touchdown passes in Penn State’s final three games. During the second half of the regular season, Rappleyea drew raves from Terry Smith, who was the Lions’ interim head coach at the time.
Penn State has been building toward this kind of depth at tight end for years. The position has become a factory in recent seasons, with Jesse James in the 2015 class followed by Mike Gesicki, Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren.
And there’s another name to keep in mind: Gabe Burkle. He’s also an Iowa State transfer, and the veteran made 15 starts for the Cyclones during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
With Big Ten Media Days set for July 28 in Chicago and preseason practices starting in early August, football season is right around the corner. Matt Campbell and three of Penn State’s best players -- quarterback Rocco Becht, offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh and linebacker Tony Rojas -- will represent the program in Chicago.
In Other News...
Matt Campbell Is Sending Penn State Fans A Message About The Standard
Matt Campbell has spent his first stretch as Penn States head coach doing the kind of homework that usually signals more than a fresh start. Since arriving in 2025, he has dug into the programs recent past and tried to understand not just what the Nittany Lions have been, but what they are supposed to be. The idea is not to treat the job like a blank slate. It is to build around a legacy that already carries weight, then shape a team sturdy enough to chase the kind of goals that come with being Penn State.
That approach also says something about the standard Campbell wants to set for the people around him. He has stressed learning from both the good and the bad, using the programs history as a guide for what works and what needs to change. For a fan base that expects more than respectability, that matters. Campbell seems intent on making sure the next version of Penn State football is rooted in what came before it, but not trapped by it. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States New-Look Roster Already Has 3 Rooms Fans Can Trust
Penn States preseason camp is offering an early look at a roster that already seems to have a few dependable building blocks, and the clearest signs are coming on defense and at one of the offenses most important support spots. The Nittany Lions have three areas that stand out as early strengths, with the secondary, the tight end room and the linebacker group giving the staff a chance to lean on experience while still developing younger pieces around them.
At cornerback, returning starters Zion Tracy and Audavion Collins give Penn State a steady base, while Daryus Dixson and Jahmir Joseph add some long-term upside. The tight end room looks equally interesting with senior transfers Ben Brahmer and Gabe Burkle joining redshirt junior Andrew Rappleyea, and linebacker has its own veteran core in Tony Rojas, Kooper Ebel and Caleb Bacon. For a team trying to sort out its new-look roster, those are the kinds of rooms that can make the rest of camp feel a lot more manageable. [Read more 🡒]
Former Penn State QB Is Suddenly Closer To Settling An Old Debate
Beau Pribulas path has already taken him from Penn State to Missouri and now to Virginia for his final year of eligibility, and the former Nittany Lions quarterback is back in the conversation in a way that will sound familiar to anyone who followed his time in Happy Valley. He spent two seasons behind Drew Allar, and even then there were Penn State fans who wondered whether Pribula should have been the one getting the keys to the offense.
His stop at Missouri gave him a chance to start and showed both the upside and the volatility that have followed him around, especially after an ankle injury slowed him late in the year. Now he gets another fresh start in Charlottesville, where the next chapter is less about what he was at Penn State and more about whether this move finally settles the old debate about what kind of quarterback he can be. [Read more 🡒]