Malachi Goodman winning the LT job already confirms a major offseason win

Anytime you add a five-star, or even a former five-star recruit, it’s going to be significant news. In the modern college football landscape, that goes for keeping a former five-star on your roster as well, especially when undergoing a coaching change. That’s rare, but Matt Campbell pulled it off with Malachi Goodman this offseason, and seemingly with ease.

Goodman didn’t appear interested in testing the transfer portal waters. Still, retaining a 2025 five-star offensive tackle appeared to be a major offseason victory for Campbell and his staff. Now, after Campbell officially named Goodman the team’s starting left tackle on Tuesday in his first game week press conference of the season, it’s confirmed. 

Of course, Goodman still has to prove his worth on the field, but retaining two starting tackles in Goodman and right tackle Anthony Donkoh was huge in Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer’s offseason overhaul. And if Goodman had lost out in fall camp, that would have been a major red flag for his development and this team’s trajectory in 2026. 

Finding starting tackles isn’t easy, but Matt Campbell didn’t have to

Goodman is not just any blue-chip recruit; he’s a blue-chip recruit at one of the most premium positions in football. There simply are not enough good offensive tackles in college football, so when one hits the open market, they cost a pretty penny. This offseason, LSU paid Jordan Seaton $4 million to transfer from Colorado, and Miami paid five-star freshman Jackson Cantwell between $2 and $2.5 million a year to go to Coral Gables. 

Now, Penn State was in a bit of a unique situation, not spending near the top of the market and largely importing the bulk of its roster from Iowa State. Still, this isn’t the Penn State Nittany Clones, because in plenty of key areas, there will be returning Nittany Lions starting in Week 1; that includes along the offensive line. 

Penn State's roster may not be so complete if it had to overpay at offensive tackle

Rather than engage in bidding wars for $2 million offensive tackles, Campbell inherited Goodman and Donkoh, likely paying much less than that for each of them. That’s money that he and Hoodjer had free to play with on the rest of the roster, ensuring Rocco Becht followed from Ames, rebuilding the defensive line in D’Anton Lynn and Ikaika Malloe’s image, and filling out the offense with pieces like Ohio State transfer James Peoples and Grambling State wide receiver Keith Jones Jr. 

Donkoh is a proven commodity on the right side, but though Goodman is a caliber of talent Campbell simply didn’t have access to in Ames, he was an unknown commodity after not playing a single snap his first year. It was a gamble to bet on him to take over at left tackle, and though he still hasn’t played a snap, considering the settled state of the rest of the roster, it seems to have paid off. 

Penn State doesn’t have any major holes. Goodman is a question mark, as are the young edge rushers, Max Granville and Yvan Kemajou on defense, but they’re all talented players who have a high ceiling that Campbell’s staff is hoping they can reach. That may not be the case if Campbell and Hoodjer had to go out and find an offensive tackle in the portal. 

Eventually, Penn State needs to spend at the top of the market if it wants to win a national championship, but in the interim, Campbell is selling players on his development-based program and, even with a relatively cheaper roster, has his team positioned as a CFP contender in 2026.

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