Penn State lost a football game on Saturday, falling to Michigan 21-18 to drop to 0-4 in Big Ten play in Matt Campbell’s first season. Penn State lost a quarterback on Sunday, as three-star 2027 commit Will Wood flipped from the Nittany Lions to the old head man in Happy Valley, Bill O’Brien, who is now at Boston College.
In a vacuum, Wood’s departure from the class isn’t of particular concern for the program. It was unlikely he was ever going to fit clearly into the plan at QB, with Alex Manske likely to take over for Rocco Becht next year and highly touted 2028 four-star James Armstrong on the way one class later.
However, Wood’s departure from the class leaves Penn State with just two QBs expected to be on the 2027 roster: Manske and 2026 three-star Kase Evans, as 2026 four-star Peyton Falzone has since transitioned to tight end.
That’s not enough volume at the position. The transfer portal is the more likely solution to fill that void, but Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer could take a swing on a few potential flip options before early signing day arrives in December.
3. Peter Bourque, 4-star, Virginia Tech commit
Reportedly, Penn State has offered four quarterbacks in the 2027 recruiting class: Bourque, Wood, Will Mencl (four-star Oregon commit), and Keegan Croucher (four-star Ole Miss commit). It’s pretty unlikely that Campbell and Hoodjer can flip any of the other three aside from Wood, but of that list, they were closest to landing Bourque, who twice named the Nittany Lions a finalist.
The connection that had the Nittany Lions come up short when Bourque originally committed to Michigan seemed to follow James Franklin to Virginia Tech, but it could at least be worth a phone call for Campbell and his staff, even if it’s far-fetched.
2. Brady Edmunds, 4-star, Ohio State commit
There would need to be a few dominoes knocked down for this one to play out, but follow along. Ohio State was rumored to be after five-star QB Trae Taylor, the top QB in the 2027 class, who has been committed to Nebraska. Maybe Julian Sayin’s injury and an extended look at his backup situation will make Ryan Day kick those efforts back into high gear, as 2025 five-star Tavien St. Clair is seemingly behind 2026 three-star Luke Fahey.
From there, if Ohio State pushes Nebraska hard for Taylor or even jostles him free, it would force Edmunds into a tough spot where Penn State could look like a better option than a straight swap with Taylor for the spot in Nebraska’s class.
It’s a long shot and one based on pure speculation, but it’s a fun hypothetical to play out.
1. Aaron Strader, 3-star, Kent State commit
There simply aren’t a ton of available viable options for Penn State to pursue, especially not with prior connections or in geographical regions that make a ton of sense. Maybe that doesn’t matter, and for the right NIL package, it won’t, but if a pursuit of a quarterback in this case is more about adding a body to the room rather than putting a potential future starter on the roster, then why not extend an offer to the top QB in Pennsylvania, Aaron Strader.
By 247Sports composite, Strader, who does hold offers from Pitt and Syracuse, is the No. 119 QB in the country and the No. 48 overall player in the state. It’s just not a great year for QBs in PA, and in 2028, Penn State already has the top one.
At 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, Strader would likely never develop into a playable Power 4 QB, but he’s in a region that’s important to recruit in Western PA, and he throws to four-star Khalil Taylor at Pine-Richland, who chose Nebraska over the Nittany Lions this summer. If you’re not going to land your next QB1, those connections could be worth pursuing, and who knows, maybe he develops into an interesting backup before transferring back down to the Group of Six level later in his career.
Other options in that realm include Boston College commit Ben Rolapp, James Madison commit Matthew Baer, both from Connecticut, and Collin Boff and Kaden Estrep, two lower-ranked QBs from Ohio, both committed to MAC programs, Bowling Green and Miami (OH), respectively.
It’s so late in the game to try to strike up a relationship with a QB commit, the position that typically decides earliest in the recruiting cycle, and on the field, Penn State doesn’t have a whole lot of momentum. Maybe the coaching carousel will free up some options: Maryland commit Williams Jackson and Baylor commit Luke Babin come to mind there, but that’s a difficult needle to thread in terms of timing, interest, and NIL resources available.
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