James Franklin has done a remarkable job keeping the core of his 2024 roster together for another run at the national championship next season. Still, there are quite a few key pieces that Franklin either couldn’t or wasn’t able to keep in Happy Valley.
Only three underclassmen from last season’s College Football Playoff semifinalist team are leaving for the 2025 NFL draft, while six Penn State players who are out of eligibility have also declared for this spring’s draft. With the deadline to declare for the draft already passed on January, 15, here is a list of the nine Penn State players who have officially declared:
- Abdul Carter, DE, junior
- Dvon J-Thomas, DL, redshirt senior
- Jalen Kimber, CB, redshirt senior
- Jaylen Reed, S, senior
- Julian Fleming, WR, senior
- Kobe King, LB, redshirt junior
- Kevin Winston Jr. S, junior
- Sal Wormley, OG, redshirt senior
- Tyler Warren, TE, redshirt senior
Abdul Carter, Kevin Winston Jr. and Kobe King are the three underclassmen who have decided to forgo their final year of eligibility to enter the draft. The rest of the group is out of eligibility.
It will be tough for Penn State to replace Carter, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, or Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren, who are both expected to be first-round picks, but the Nittany Lions had an elite group of draft-eligible players return for their final year of eligibility. Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Zane Durant, Zakee Wheatley, and Dani Dennis-Sutton headline the group of juniors heading back to Happy Valley. With the core of the roster still intact, Penn State is one of the early favorites to win the national championship next season.