We’ve reached the midway point of the college football season, and conveniently, we’ve also reached Penn State’s bye week. That’s the perfect opportunity to zoom out and look at the best players in the country so far, and examine why Penn State doesn’t have more of them, as the Nittany Lions are 3-4 in head coach Matt Campbell’s first year.
The best way to do that is by putting together my midseason All-American team. Then, we can examine which Nittany Lions made the list, which were closest, and where the roster needs to massively improve in 2027.
Offense
Position | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
QB: | Trinidad Chambliss | Ole Miss |
RB: | DeSean Bishop | Tennessee |
RB: | Nate Sheppard | Duke |
WR: | Jeremiah Smith | Ohio State |
WR: | Jesse Legree | Oregon State |
TE: | Luke Reynolds | Virginia Tech |
OT: | Elijah Page | USC |
OT: | Lance Heard | Kentucky |
OG: | Greg Johnson | Minnesota |
OG: | Kade Pieper | Iowa |
C: | Anthony Boswell | Houston |
All-purpose | Malachi Toney | Miami |
No Nittany Lions made the midseason All-American offense, though one former Nittany Lion did: Luke Reynolds. At tight end, it’s between Reynolds and Houston’s Patrick Overmeyer, who has been a touchdown machine, but I’ll default to Reynolds, who has been better in contested catch situations, has a better catch rate overall, and is the superior blocker of the two.
Penn State managed to keep Andrew Rappleyea and import Gabe Burkle and Benjamin Brahmer. After Reynolds’ fairly pedestrian sophomore season, that looked like a good spot to be in at the position even as the former five-star tight end followed James Franklin to Blacksburg, but with Ethan Grunkemeyer throwing him the ball this year, Reynolds had turned into the game-changer Penn State hoped he would be as he stepped into Tyler Warren’s shoes.
On the offense as a whole, Penn State is pretty far off from cracking a midseason All-American list. Rappleyea is probably closest, and Koby Howard may have been knocking on the door if he stayed healthy. Running back is probably the position that Penn State is farthest away from having one of the best players in the country, as the team has averaged fewer than three yards per carry in Big Ten play.
Defense
Position | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
EDGE: | Colin Simmons | Texas |
EDGE: | Tobi Osunsanmi | Indiana |
DT: | Xavier Gilliam | Tennessee |
DT: | Santana Hopper | Colorado |
LB: | Chris Cole | Georgia |
LB: | Tony Rojas | Penn State |
LB: | Sammy Omosigho | UCLA |
CB: | Ashton Hampton | Clemson |
CB: | Ify Obidegwu | Oregon |
S: | Kingston Lopa | Cal |
S: | Jaylen McClain | Ohio State |
Tony Rojas does crack the list as one of the best linebackers in the country. The defense’s run fits as a whole haven’t been great, and Rojas has shared in that at times, but even coming off his season-ending injury in 2025, Rojas has been one of the most disruptive players in college football. Rojas is No. 5 in the country with 10.5 tackles for loss. He also leads the team with 55 tackles, 5 sacks, and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions.
Audavion Collins deserves some consideration at cornerback. He’s a late-bloomer, but has blossomed into a star this year. However, Hampton and Obidegwu have had much more ball production, using their tremendous length in coverage.
There is also a former Nittany Lion on this list in Xavier Gilliam, who has become a monster at defensive tackle for Jim Knowles at Tennessee. Gilliam has 10.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, and 24 QB pressures. He and Colorado’s Santana Hopper grab the DT spots, with UNC’s Xavier Lewis just missing. Hopper has a bit less production than Lewis, but Colorado’s run defense has been elite this year, and Hopper is the biggest piece of that success.
Where can Penn State find more elite talent?
You are probably tired of hearing how Matt Campbell was hired after the early signing period and had very little time to put this team together. But that’s a major factor when evaluating the talent level in Happy Valley right now.
The 2027 Penn State class ranks No. 20 in the country, so that should provide a significant influx. High school recruiting is primarily where Franklin imported talent, including Reynolds and Gilliam. Their departures dealt this team a massive blow, one that a mid-tier spender in the Big Ten did and will have a hard time replacing through the transfer portal.
Development is going to be the name of the game for Campbell, as it always was at Iowa State, and there are positive signs to that end with three-star true freshman Josiah Zayas already looking like a star for the defense.
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