Penn State’s new tight end has already started stacking preseason honors, and Benjamin Brahmer is now on the Lombardi Award Watch List as he heads into the 2026 season.
The award, created in 1970 to honor Vince Lombardi, goes to the nation’s top linemen, tight ends and linebackers who show leadership, courage, performance and discipline on and off the field.
Brahmer arrived at Penn State with a decorated resume from Iowa State, and the recognition keeps coming. Earlier this preseason, he was also placed on the John Mackey Award Watch List after a strong run with the Cyclones.
The 6-foot-7, 250-pound tight end from Pierce, Nebraska, was a second-team All-Big 12 selection in 2025 and a John Mackey Award semifinalist. He had also picked up honorable mention All-Big 12 honors in 2023 and 2024, along with Freshman All-America recognition from The Athletic and 247Sports during his first college season.
Over 33 career games at Iowa State, including 14 starts, Brahmer posted 75 catches for 977 yards and nine touchdowns. Those numbers put him sixth in Cyclones history among tight ends in receptions and fifth in receiving yards.
His 2025 season was especially productive. Brahmer caught 37 passes for 446 yards and six touchdowns, which tied him for sixth among all FBS tight ends in touchdown receptions. He also showed a knack for chunk gains, with 15 catches of at least 15 yards, tied for fifth nationally among tight ends, a stretch that helped land him on the Mackey semifinalist list.
Penn State, ranked No. 17, opens the Matt Campbell era on September 5 against Marshall at 3:30 PM (Eastern) at Beaver Stadium.
In Other News...
Drew Allars Costly Mistakes Still Haunt Penn States Collapse
Penn States 2025 season never really recovered from the kind of moments that can tilt an entire program, and the quarterback play at the center of it keeps looking worse in hindsight. Drew Allars interceptions in big games became part of the story as the Nittany Lions slid from playoff hopes into a stretch of losses that ultimately ended with James Franklins firing after the Week 7 defeat to Northwestern, a result that sent shockwaves through a team built to contend.
The collapse was not about one bad afternoon, but the memory that lingers is how often Penn State found itself undone in the biggest spots. After a 54-day search, the program turned to Matt Campbell as its new head coach, hoping to reset the direction of a team still trying to move past the decisions and missed chances that helped define the end of Franklins run. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Camp Buzz Is Building Around Two Key Position Battles
Penn States 2026 camp is barely underway, but the first 11-on-11 work has already given the staff a clearer look at a few players trying to carve out roles before the opener against Marshall. Among the early standouts are Iowa State transfer receiver Eskildsen, defensive lineman Ikenna Ezeogu, quarterback Alex Manske and versatile option Rappleyea, each of whom has flashed enough in camp to draw attention from coaches as the roster starts to take shape.
The most interesting early camp developments have come in the places where Penn State still needs answers, especially on offense, where receiver depth and quarterback depth are always under the microscope. Eskildsens transition has been one of the louder storylines, while Manskes return after missing spring practice has added another layer to the quarterback picture, and both players are part of a group that appears to be pushing for bigger responsibilities as camp continues. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Kalani Sitake Pursuit Looks Different After BYUs Costly Bet
Kalani Sitakes new deal at BYU has changed the way any outside pursuit would have to be viewed, even if Penn States interest in him predated the Nittany Lions hiring Matt Campbell. BYU did not just reward its coach with an extension, it made a major financial commitment by pushing his annual salary from $4 million to $10 million while also spending more on assistants and the roster, a clear sign it intends to keep pace in a sport where money increasingly shapes the coaching market.
Still, Sitake has not sounded entirely comfortable with the gap he sees around him, pointing to the financial limits BYU faces compared with other programs in the Big 12 and across the power conferences. For Penn State, that matters because the school was part of the conversation once upon a time, and the bigger question now is how a program with its own deep resources would have framed the chase if it had pressed harder before Campbell took the job. [Read more 🡒]