Last offseason, Kalen King, Johnny Dixon, and Daequan Hardy all left Happy Valley for the NFL, and James Franklin had to scramble to find his starting cornerbacks for 2024. He added a proven starter in Jalen Kimber from Florida in his final year of eligibility and a young, unproven talent from Georgia: AJ Harris.
Now, one year later, after a run to the College Football Playoff Semifinal, Harris is a star and a potential 2026 first-round NFL Draft pick, but the Nittany Lions still have a question mark in the secondary. With Kimber gone after playing 704 total snaps last season, Franklin and new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles need to fill the CB2 spot opposite Harris to get back to the CFP and compete for a national championship.
Here’s a look at the battle for CB2 heading into the summer.
After Franklin was forced to double-dip in last offseason’s transfer portal, he and his staff prioritized cornerback talent in the 2025 recruiting class. The Nittany Lions landed four cornerbacks in 2025, and led by four-star Daryus Dixson, that group could be the future of Penn State’s secondary. They just aren’t quite ready to take the field for one of the country’s elite defenses.
Those additions on the recruiting trail became even more important when 2024 four-star Jon Mitchell transferred to Georgia Tech. Still, that departure wasn’t a bad sign for this season. Mitchell hit the portal because these three players, who will be competing for reps at CB2 next season, were in his way on the depth chart:
Likely starter at CB2:
A true outside cornerback, Washington played the third-most snaps at corner for the Nittany Lions last season, only trailing Kimber and Harris. As a sophomore, Washington allowed 14 catches on 30 targets with a team-high five pass breakups and one interception. His role increased in the CFP, playing 23 snaps against SMU, 26 against Boise State, and 25 against Notre Dame.
Washington held up well against those high-level opponents and likely earned the starting job opposite Harris for 2025. The only potential thing that could limit Washington’s playing time is that he doesn’t have much experience in the slot. Zion Tracy and King Mack, who returned to Happy Valley after one season at Alabama, will likely slip reps at nickel, and if Washington struggles on the outside, he doesn’t have the positional versatility to crack that rotation.
In the mix:
After redshirting at Mississippi State in 2022, the relatively unheralded former three-star recruit transferred to Happy Valley ahead of the 2023 season. Then, he played just eight snaps as a redshirt freshman. Collins didn’t project to be a significant part of Tom Allen’s defense last season, but he gradually earned more responsibility until he played a career-high 44 defensive snaps against SMU in the first round of the CFP.
While Washington is the favorite to win the job at CB2, Collins played more snaps than him in the Big Ten Championship Game and two of the three CFP games. Collins recorded 26 tackles, one interception in the regular season finale against Maryland, and one pass breakup.
Woseley appeared in just four games last season as he redshirted his freshman year in Happy Valley, but he’s a name to watch from the 2024 high school class. Across those four games, Wosley played 51 snaps and recorded five tackles. Like Collins, he’s undersized at just under 180 pounds, but the Philadelphia native runs well and showed real flashes last year.
Potential depth chart climber:
Dixson was the second-highest rated recruit in Penn State’s 2025 recruiting class, and as an early enrollee this spring, he’s had plenty of time to impress the Penn State coaching staff. It would take an incredible summer and fall camp for Dixson to usurp Wosely and Collins on the depth chart, but with the potential to become a future star, Franklin may allow Dixson to burn his redshirt this year.