Matt Campbell did not wait around for official visit season to get the ball rolling on the 2027 class, his first full recruiting cycle as the head coach of the Nittany Lions. Like his predecessor, James Franklin, Campbell is a fast starter on the recruiting trail, and heading into the major wave of visits, which for Penn State begins in June, Campbell already has 18 commits and a top 10 class in the country.
As currently constructed, if he didn’t add another player, Campbell’s class would be the best of his career. But he’s far from done. Official visits will undoubtedly help him to close the deal with multiple recruits, and these three seem to be the most likely to join the fray.
A two-way star for Great Bend High School in Kansas, Ohnmacht excels at safety and wide receiver. He’s enticing to Penn State on either side of the ball, but with Campbell’s recent infatuation with tall wide receivers, he may not fit the bill for WR coach Kashif Moore at 6-foot and 185 pounds.
Regardless of position, as the 300th overall player according to Rivals Industry rankings, Ohnmacht would be an important recruit for Campbell, who offered him at Iowa State before taking the job in Happy Valley. Kansas State is currently positioned as the top competition for Ohnmacht, and under new head coach Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State is ostensibly still in the mix, but Ohnmacht seems destined to become a Nittany Lion.
While Ohnmacht never committed to Campbell at Iowa State, he has familiarity with the coaching staff in Happy Valley. Gabe Jenkins has familiarity with Happy Valley itself and with Terry Smith, who is his primary recruiter. Campbell kept Smith on staff, and athletic director Pat Kraft made him the highest-paid non-coordinator assistant coach in the country to win recruiting battles like this one involving a four-star defensive back from his neck of the woods in Western Pennsylvania.
Jenkins was committed to Penn State before Franklin was fired, along with his Imani Christian High School teammate David Davis. Davis flipped to North Carolina, but it appears that Campbell and Smith have had enough time to win back Jenkins, who is a dynamic playmaker in the defensive backfield with a real nose for the football.
Like Jenkins, Taylor committed to the Nittany Lions last fall and de-committed after Franklin’s firing. Now it appears to be a race between Penn State and Nebraska to land his commitment. However, he also has official visits on the books with Georgia and Alabama.
While he doesn’t necessarily fit Penn State's seemingly preferred size profile of wide receivers standing 6-foot-3 and up, Taylor is a field-tilting type of athlete at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds. Plus, he’s quick enough at the line of scrimmage to play outside. Taylor has the speed to take the top off the defense and the hands and body control to win at the catch-point. He likely won’t be a high-volume No. 1 early in his career, but he can be a home-run hitter as a receiver and as a punt and kick returner.
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