Matt Campbell’s 2027 recruiting class is in a good spot at No. 8 in the country, but with 18 commits and potentially one more on the way Friday, that high ranking is mostly based on volume. Only two programs, Oklahoma and UCLA, have more commits than the Nittany Lions, and by average recruit ranking, Penn State is 19th.
There are still opportunities to add blue-chip talent heading into official visit season, but nationally, commitments are coming fast and furious, so many of Campbell’s top targets could be off the board shortly. That’s especially true along the offensive line, where former James Franklin commit Layton von Brandt chose Auburn earlier this week.
One potential pivot for the Nittany Lions was four-star Carter Jones, a composite four-star and the 22nd-ranked interior offensive lineman in the country. However, Clemson is the clear leader for the Virginia product, and with his commitment announcement now set for Monday, May 25, at 5:00 p.m. ET on the Rivals Recruiting YouTube, Campbell and his staff are running out of time to pull the upset.
Four-star OL @carterjonesfb will announce his commitment live with @247sports on Monday at 5 p.m. on the CBS Sports College Football youtube channel and he previews his decision (FREE) https://t.co/jrKX4W4HNm pic.twitter.com/7pH0esEZp1
— BrianDohn247 (@BrianDohn247) May 22, 2026
Penn State target Carter Jones to announce commitment on Monday, May 25
Jones took his official visit to Happy Valley on April 10, along with a trip to Georgia the next weekend. This weekend, he’s scheduled to be in Knoxville with Tennessee before rounding out the month with a trip to Clemson. By all indications, he’ll already be committed to Dabo Swinney’s Tigers by then.
Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons of Rivals both placed predictions for Clemson to land Jones on Thursday. Jones also has six crystal ball predictions for the Tigers from 247Sports experts. It appears overwhelmingly likely that he’s heading to Clemson, not Penn State. By the Rivals prediction machine, Penn State is the second favorite, but at just three percent.
If he does, in fact, choose the Tigers, Jones would, coincidentally, be Penn State’s second recruiting loss to Clemson in recent days after four-star running back Gary Walker committed to Swinney’s program this week. However, Penn State was set at running back with Chukwuma Odoh and Aiden Gibson.
Penn State still has O-line options but may not have a blue-chip answer
Missing out on Jones and von Brandt in consecutive weeks is a tough blow to Matt Campbell’s class, particularly along the offensive line, where Penn State has four commits in the 2027 class: Jon Sassic, Ryan Robbins, Owen Reilly, and David Tarawallie, but no blue-chip players. The staff does still have offensive line targets remaining, but only one currently has four-star status: Missouri guard Kyler Kuhn.
Kuhn is favored to Nebraska by Rivals, and Penn State appears to be losing traction even as Nebraska added multiple interior offensive linemen to its class this week. The most likely remaining offensive line options for Campbell and his staff are three-star Lucas Rhoa from California and three-star Jaiden Lindsay from Maryland.
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