Transfer portal on fire, but is James Franklin asleep at the wheel?

Jacoby Windmon – Linebacker 

Committed to Michigan State

Windmon was an example of Franklin and Penn State Football just being too late to the party.

The Nittany Lions offered the former UNLV linebacker after he had already taken a visit to Michigan State, where he ultimately would end up committing a few days later.

It is well known that a lot of players entering the transfer portal already have a destination in mind, or potentially even planned out, but that does not apply to everyone and is not an excuse for the Nittany Lions to be asleep at the wheel. The offer should have come sooner, he should have been a priority.

Windmon was a star at UNLV racking up 118 total tackles in 2021 with six and a half sacks playing at middle linebacker for the Rebels. He would have made for an ideal fit in Manny Diaz’s defense next season as the Nittany Lions look to replace both top tacklers from a year ago in Brandon Smith and Ellis Brooks.

Linebacker is undoubtedly the weakest position on the roster heading into next year as right now it figures to be Jonathan Sutherland, a converted safety to linebacker, Curtis Jacobs who will move inside, and either Jamari Buddin or Kobe King, former three-star recruits in the 2020 class with little to no playing experience.

As that currently stands, that is not a group up to par and Windmon could have changed that.