PSU Football

Transfer Portal—Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, 2026

New Players Now at Penn State via Transfer Portal (40 total/40 signed)

Players who have officially signed with PSU have been added to the 2026 roster

PSU has $20.5 million cap for shared all-sports athletic revenue (cap increases to $21.3 M in 2027)

& $30 million budget for NIL in football

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Benjamin Brahmer TE—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 3 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 37 receptions for 446 yards, 6 TDs

Will Tompkins OT—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 3 with 4 years of eligibility remaining

Marcus Neal S—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 2 years of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 77 tackles/40 solo, 2 INTs, 1 Fumble recovery, 1 sack—PFF graded Neal as the #4 Safety Transfer in this cycle

Greg Burkle TE—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 1 year of eligibility remaining

Rocco Becht QB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—enters 2026 season with 26 career wins as starting QB—2025 stats: 205 of 339 passing for 2584 yards, 16 TDs, 9 INTs (with 8 rushing TDs)—seven 200+ yard passing games (two 300+ yard games)—Note: Becht is son of former NFL & West Virginia (1995-99) TE Anthony Becht who is a PA-native and current head coach of the UFL’s Orlando Storm—Injury update: Rocco had surgery on non-throwing shoulder (partial labrum tear) and will likely not be ready for practice until mid-April (also has AC sprain in throwing shoulder)—Becht is first transfer QB to join PSU since portal era began in Oct. 2018 (he could become first transfer QB to start for PSU since Jack White in 1966-White transferred from Florida in 1964)

Kuol Kuol OT—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 4 years of eligibility remaining

Karon Brookins WR—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 4 years of eligibility remaining—Note: Brookins high school coach at Winslow Twp., NJ was former PSU RB Bill Belton (2011-14)

Alex Manske QB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 4 years of eligibility remaining

Kooper Ebel LB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 77 tackles, 1 sack

Brett Eskildsen WR—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 2 years of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 30 receptions for 526 yards, 5 TDs

Carsen Hansen RB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 197 for 950 yards, 6 TDs

Cael Brezina LB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 2 years of eligibility remaining

Caleb Bacon LB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 1 year of eligibility remaining

Trevor Buhr OG—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 2 years of eligibility remaining—made 12 starts over past 2 seasons at ISU

Alijah Carnell DT—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 4 with 3 years of eligibility remaining

Chase Sowell WR—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 5 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—played only 1 season at ISU, was at East Carolina (2023-24) & Colorado (2022) prior to ISU

Jamison Patton S—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 5 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 2 INTs

Hunter Sowell S—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 5 with 4 years of eligibility remaining—younger brother of Chase Sowell WR

Zay Robinson WR—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 5 with 4 years of eligibility remaining

Keanu Williams DT—UCLA—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 5 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—was at Oregon (2021-22) prior to transferring to UCLA in 2023 (took medical redshirt in 2024)—2025 stats: 39 tackles/17 solo in 11 starts, only 1.5 career sacks (2 of his tackles came in the UCLA win over PSU)—was first non-Iowa State PSU portal commit & 20th commit overall after 19 straight Cyclone commits—Followed Ikaika Malloe DL Coach from UCLA to PSU

Vaea Ikakoula OT—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 6 with 4 years of eligibility remaining

Alexander McPherson DE—Colorado—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 6 with 3 years of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 16 tackles, 6 QB hurries, 1 blocked punt as true Freshman

Armstrong Nnodim DT—Oklahoma State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 6 with 3 years of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 11 tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 sack

James Peoples RB—Ohio State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 6 with 2 years of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 61 rushes for 344 yards, 3 TDs (4 carries for 19 yards, 1 reception for 4 yards in win over PSU)

Hunter Albright OL—St. Francis Univ. (FCS)—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU as a Preferred Walk-on (PWO) on Jan. 8 with possibly 4 years of eligibility remaining—St. Francis is dropping from FCS to Div. 3 football in 2026

Dallas Vakalahi DT—Utah—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Per On3, committed to PSU on Jan. 8 with 2 years of eligibility remaining

Omarion Davis S/CB—Boston College—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—committed to PSU on Jan. 8 with 3 years of eligibility remaining

Siale Taupaki DT—UCLA—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Per CBS Sports, committed to PSU on Jan. 8 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—will be 8th year senior—Taupaki enrolled at UCLA in 2019—Redshirt in 2019, Covid year 2020, Medical Redshirt in 2021, & NCAA waiver for 2022 after playing only 2 games prior to season-ending injury—Played OL in 2023 and DL in 2024 & 2025—Followed Ikaika Malloe DL Coach from UCLA to PSU

Ibn McDaniels CB—Syracuse—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 9 with 3 years of eligibility remaining

Cooper Alexander TE—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 9 with 3 years of eligibility remaining

Brock Riker C—Texas State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 9 with 3 years of eligibility remaining—was 2025 2nd Team Freshman All-America as Redshirt Freshman center

Chris Fileppo S—West Virginia—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 10 with 3 years of eligibility remaining

Jeremiah Cooper S—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 11 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—recovering from torn ACL in 2025 season (played only 4 games)—was 1st Team All-Big 12 in 2023 (8 career INTs)

Nathan Tiyce P—Mississippi State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Per BWI/On3, committed to PSU on Jan. 12 with 3 years of eligibility remaining—25-year-old native of Australia who first kicked an American football at a Prokick Australia tryout in 2023—had played rugby in Australia and worked on a farm for 5 years after 2 years of college in Australia—2025 stats: 12 punts as backup at MSU, long of 54 yards, 2 punts of 50+ yards (vs. Texas & at Arkansas), 7 punts inside 20 (5 fair catches), 39.0 yards per punt avg.—has enrolled at PSU for spring semester and will compete with incoming Freshman recruit Lucas Tenbrock for the starting job in 2026—he is the third Australian punter at PSU along with Riley Thompson (2023-25) & Daniel Pasquariello (2014-17)

Keith Jones Jr. WR—Grambling—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 12 with 3 years of eligibility remaining—2025 stats: 31 receptions for 438 yards, 4 TDs

Tyshon Huff OT/OG—Tiffin Univ. (Div. 2)—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 12 with 2 years of eligibility remaining

Cristiano Rosa PK—James Madison Univ.—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Announced on social media that he committed to PSU on Jan. 14 with 1 year of eligibility remaining—Rosa is a kickoff specialist who averaged 63 yards per kick in 2025—played 2 years at JMU after spending two seasons at Central Connecticut

Ikenna Ezeogu DE/DT—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—BWI/On3 reported that Ike committed to PSU on Jan. 14 with 1 year of eligibility remaining after his name appeared in the student directory for the spring semester—Ezeogu later confirmed his transfer on social media on Jan. 14—He started all 12 games for the Cyclones in 2025 with career high 25 tackles (3 career sacks)

John Klosterman LB—Iowa State—PSU announced official signing Jan. 16—Per On3 on Jan. 16, he has enrolled at PSU for spring semester—was walk-on at ISU in 2022 and recorded 18 tackles in 24 games over 3 seasons (missed much of 2024 with injury)—has 1 year of eligibility remaining—Wore #22 for ISU and is seen in Penn State roster photo posted Jan. 16 wearing #22 which is a retired jersey number (has not officially been assigned a jersey number)

Connor Barry QB—Christopher Newport Univ. (Div. 3)—PSU announced official signing Feb. 2—Per 247Sports and later revealed on his social media on Jan. 22 (and on Instagram Jan. 27), that Connor committed to PSU with 1 year of eligibility remaining—Barry visited on the weekend on Jan. 17 and expects to fill the role of the experienced QB2 behind probable starter Rocco Becht—He has played the past 3 seasons with CNU (after a redshirt season at Appalachian State in 2022) and was named a 2nd Team AFCA Div. 3 All-American after his 2025 season that saw him throw 35 TDs with only 6 INTs with 257 yards rushing and 11 rushing TDs—He was second in the nation in passing efficiency—Semifinalist for the 2025 Gagliardi Trophy (Div. 3 Heisman)—Barry is a left-hander—He is the first lefty QB at PSU since Billy Fessler (2014-17)

Portal Tracker Overview—As of Feb. 27

24 players committed from Iowa State following Matt Campbell

3 players committed from Big Ten schools

1 player committed from an SEC school

3 players committed from FCS or non-Division One schools

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