Penn State’s transition from James Franklin to Matt Campbell came with a major roster overhaul, but with 23 of the 39 incoming transfers coming from Iowa State, Campbell’s previous program, there aren’t many major question marks on the depth chart heading into fall camp, which begins on August 5.
Offensively, Campbell brought Rocco Becht and his top-five pass-catchers from last year over from Ames. Defensively, he stitched together the Penn State defensive front, including a few veteran defensive tackle transfers, with a lot of the Cyclone secondary and handed it all to new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn.
There will certainly be shuffling on the roster. A crowded running back room is likely to yield a three-headed monster between Carson Hansen, James Peoples, and Quinton Martin Jr. The tight end room is much the same with Benjamin Brahmer, Gabe Burkle, and Andrew Rappleyea. The new faces at defensive tackle will all vie for top billing, but at those positions and a few others like linebacker, there will be a heavy rotation.
At a few, however, fall camp will force Campbell to decide who to place atop the depth chart, and those decisions could prove to define his first year in Happy Valley. For each, I’ll lay out the competition and predict who I think will come out on top.
3. Defensive end - Max Granville, Yvan Kemajou, Ikenna Ezeogu, Alexander McPherson
Rather than bringing his 3-3-5 defense over to the Big Ten after his longtime defensive coordinator Jon Heacock retired this offseason, Campbell opted to hire D’Anton Lynn. As is Penn State tradition, Lynn runs a four-down front, so things won’t be changing too much in the trenches.
Still, as Penn State transitioned from Deion Barnes as defensive line coach to Ikaika Malloe, who was hired away from UCLA, there was a clear desire to get bigger up front. That’s especially true on the interior, but Penn State also added 6-foot-5, 275-pound Ikenna Ezeogu from Iowa State and 6-foot-6, 255-pound Alexander McPherson from Colorado in the transfer portal.
Regardless of how it plays out, Ezeogu and McPherson will both see playing time, but the question now is whether they can supplant returners Max Granville and Yvan Kemajou. Both are around 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, so they have plenty of size to stick on the edge, but don’t have Malloe’s preferred measurables.
Granville lost all of last season with a knee injury after he worked his way into playing time as a reclassified true freshman in 2024. Then, prior to Chaz Coleman’s arrival last summer, Kemajou looked to be the star of the 2025 recruiting class. The program has high hopes for both, but are they ready to play over veterans Ezeogu and McPherson? And did two of the program’s most important retentions pay off?
For now, I’ll bet on the talent and say yes, but I’m very intrigued by Ezeogu’s move to the edge after playing a more head-up interior DE role for Heacock. His physical tools are tantalizing.
Predicted starters: Max Granville and Yvan Kemajou
2. QB2 - Alex Manske vs. Connor Barry
Penn State navigated the spring largely without a quarterback. Rocco Becht was recovering from surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, and Iowa State transfer and former four-star Alex Manske was back home in Iowa recovering from an undisclosed medical condition.
That left DIII transfer Connor Barry, who arrived as an off-the-wall transfer addition from Christopher Newport University this offseason, to gobble up reps in Taylor Mouser’s offense. Now, this isn’t a Trinidad Chambliss situation, who took over as Ole Miss’s starter after winning a DII national championship at Ferris State. But Barry, a DIII national champion and a mobile dual-threat lefty, could be the veteran answer behind Becht.
The only problem for Barry is that Campbell clearly thinks very highly of Manske, who saw action in four games for the Cyclones as a true freshman last season. At Big Ten Media Days, Campbell called Manske’s return for fall camp a “monumental win,” which is saying a lot for a player who isn’t certainly QB2 yet.
With talk like that, though, Manske may even be the program’s heir apparent. However, it will be tough to think of him that way if he can’t beat out Barry, who has just one year of eligibility remaining, to be Becht’s primary backup. If he does, Campbell’s plan to pass the keys of the program to Manske will be right on track. If he doesn’t, it could mean Penn State is forced to dip into the very expensive QB transfer portal market next offseason.
When a coach tells you something, you should probably listen. Campbell was clear about how he feels about Manske, so he’s my pick to win the QB2 job.
Prediction: Alex Manske
1. Left tackle - Malachi Goodman, Owen Aliciene, Garrett Sexton
There’s really no debate about which position battle at Penn State fall camp is most important: it’s left tackle. Former five-star Malachi Goodman never thought about leaving through the changes this offseason, but that doesn’t mean he’s a shoo-in for the job. Owen Aliciene and Garrett Sexton both returned as well, and according to Campbell's comments at Big Ten Media Days, are pushing Goodman for the job.
Goodman didn’t play at all last year, but Sexton, a redshirt sophomore, saw only 22 snaps and Aliciene, a fellow redshirt freshman, played 31. Whoever Penn State goes with will be inexperienced, which is leading most to bank on the recruiting pedigree of Goodman and the considerable hype that has trickled out of Happy Valley this offseason.
Still, this battle isn’t yet decided, and may not be when Penn State takes the field in Week 1 against Marshall. With three non-conference matchups against non-Power 4 competition to start the year, Campbell and offensive line coach Ryan Clanton could take the opportunity to evaluate all three in live game reps before making a call for Week 4 against Wisconsin.
This is the hardest to call because we’ve seen so little from these players, but I’ll predict Goodman wins out. He had the best high school tape and the most recruiting pedigree. The ceiling should be sky-high here, so if Penn State is going to take some lumps either way, it might as well do it with a player who could have an unreal payoff once he figures it out.
Prediction: Malachi Goodman
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