We’re at the midpoint of the college football season, and Penn State’s bye week gives us a good chance to take stock of where the Nittany Lions fit in the national picture. At 3-4 in Matt Campbell’s first year, the gap between Penn State and the sport’s best players is obvious.
A midseason All-American team makes that plain. On offense, no current Nittany Lion landed on the list. The one Penn State name that did show up was a former one: Luke Reynolds.
At tight end, Reynolds gets the nod over Houston’s Patrick Overmeyer. Overmeyer has been piling up touchdowns, but Reynolds gets the edge because he has been better in contested catch situations, owns the better overall catch rate, and is the stronger blocker.
After Penn State held onto Andrew Rappleyea and added Gabe Burkle and Benjamin Brahmer, the position looked set even after Reynolds followed James Franklin to Blacksburg. But after a fairly ordinary sophomore year, Reynolds has become the difference-maker Penn State envisioned when he stepped into Tyler Warren’s role, with Ethan Grunkemeyer delivering him the ball this season.
The rest of the Penn State offense is still chasing that level. Rappleyea is probably the closest current Nittany Lion to cracking an All-American offense, while Koby Howard might have pushed his way into the conversation if he had stayed healthy. Running back, though, is where the roster is most clearly behind; Penn State has averaged fewer than three yards per carry in Big Ten play.
The defense tells a different story. Tony Rojas made the cut at linebacker, and he belongs there.
Even though Penn State’s run fits as a unit have not been especially sharp, and Rojas has been part of that at times, he has still been one of the most disruptive players in the country. Despite coming off a season-ending injury in 2025, Rojas is No. 5 nationally with 10.5 tackles for loss.
He also leads Penn State with 55 tackles and five sacks, and he is tied for the team lead with two interceptions.
Audavion Collins also merits mention at cornerback. He has emerged as a late-blooming standout this season, but Ashton Hampton and Ify Obidegwu got the spots because they have created more plays on the ball and use their length so well in coverage.
There is another former Nittany Lion on the defensive list: Xavier Gilliam. Now a force at defensive tackle for Jim Knowles at Tennessee, Gilliam has produced 10.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, and 24 QB pressures.
He and Colorado’s Santana Hopper fill the two DT openings, with UNC’s Xavier Lewis just missing out. Hopper does not quite match Lewis in raw production, but Colorado’s elite run defense has made him too important to leave off.
The larger issue for Penn State is where elite talent is supposed to come from next. Campbell was hired after the early signing period, which left him little time to build the roster from scratch.
That matters. The 2027 Penn State class is currently ranked No. 20 in the country, and that should help.
But high school recruiting is where Franklin brought in players like Reynolds and Gilliam, and losing that pipeline has left the Nittany Lions trying to replace major pieces through the transfer portal, a tougher task for a mid-tier Big Ten spender.
So for now, development becomes the lifeline. That has always been part of Campbell’s track record at Iowa State, and there are already signs it can work in Happy Valley, with three-star true freshman Josiah Zayas looking like a star on defense.
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The appeal is in how different those pieces are. Rodgers and Blms offer backcourt options, while Byers, Prkain and Oboh bring size, shooting, playmaking and defense to a group that needs more balance. The challenge now is turning all of that new talent into something functional quickly, because the pressure to improve under Rhoades starts as soon as the roster takes shape. [Read more 🡒]