Born in Germany and raised in Texas, James Peoples is a lifelong Ohio State Buckeyes fan. However, after getting passed over on the depth chart by true freshman Bo Jackson this season, Peoples has declared for the transfer portal, seeking a fresh start, and Penn State might be the program to provide it.
According to Lions247, Peoples has locked in a visit with Penn State. The former four-star running back has two seasons of eligibility remaining after rushing for 344 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries in 2025.
Former Buckeye James Peoples set to visit Penn State
Peoples was the eight-ranked running back in the 2024 class, a late-riser who was discovered by the Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford at a camp heading into his junior year. At that time he held only a few other Power 4 offers, most in his home state of Texas.
Peoples was slated for a significant role in the offense this season with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson both in the NFL after dominating the Buckeye backfield along the team’s 2024 national championship season. However, the sophomore finished third on the team in carries, falling behind veteran transfer CJ Donaldson and Jackson, who ran for 1,090 yards and six touchdowns as a true freshman.
With Jackson set to be the program’s bell-cow for the foreseeable future, Peoples unsurprisingly tested the transfer portal market this offseason. However, if he heads to Happy Valley, there’s no guarantee that he would earn the lion’s share of the carries in Year 1.
Matt Campbell has already earned a transfer commitment from veteran running back Carson Hansen, who led Iowa State with 952 yards and six touchdowns on 188 carries last season. Campbell and offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser, however, may be able to sell Peoples on the idea of a time-share in the backfield.
In 2025, while Hansen finished as Iowa State’s leading rusher, Abu Sama III ate into his workload with 140 carries for 732 yards and five touchdowns. Hansen is a bigger back at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds and like Donaldson did in Columbus this season, could handle the goalline work for the Nittany Lions in 2026. That could situate the 5-foot-10, 206-pound Peoples as more of a third-down, change of pace back, which would be a more defined role that he garnered in Ryan Day and Brian Hartline’s offense.
Then after Hansen exhausts his final season of eligibility next season, Peoples could be the top back in 2027, his senior season.
Though Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen are out of eligibility and heading to the NFL, Penn State still has plenty of running back talent on the roster. Rising redshirt sophomore Quinton Martin Jr. impressed in the Pinstripe Bowl with 20 carries for 106 yards, and Jabree Coleman was a highly-touted 2025 four-star recruit who could earn playing time soon.
It’s not paramount that Penn State lands Peoples, but he would be a nice addition, even if the recent history of Nittany Lions adding Buckeyes cast offs in the portal isn’t stellar. See Julian Fleming’s 2024 season.