Penn State’s 2027 class has been in flux over the past week or so, with two going out: 3-star QB Will Wood and 3-star LB Blake Betton, and one coming in: 3-star running back Jordan Hall. It appears that reshuffling is only going to heat up as head coach Matt Campbell and his staff increase their efforts to add talent during flip season.
The biggest swing the staff is taking is with 4-star Missouri QB commit Braylen Warren, but the primary focus appears to be at wide receiver, where Penn State has spent much of the season attempting to pry in-state 3-star Chase Guers away from West Virginia and Delaware 3-star Jamar Taylor from Rutgers.
Both have visited Beaver Stadium this year, yet neither has budged on their commitment. Surely Penn State’s 0-4 start to Big Ten play hasn’t helped. With seemingly little momentum, Campbell and wide receiver coach Kasif Moore have begun pursuing another in-state wide receiver in the 2027 Rutgers class: three-star Arnold Mugerwa from Johnstown, PA.
Extending an offer to Mugerwa was part of Campbell’s bye week recruiting endeavors, and he seemingly has the 6-foot-3, 210-pound playmaker intrigued, as he told Ryan Snyder of On3, “I would be a fool to not see what they have to offer'
Penn State wide receiver flip targets:
- Chase Guers, 3-star (WVU commit): 6’2, 190 lbs, No. 83 WR
- Jamar Taylor, 3-star (Rutgers commit): 6’4”, 205 lbs, No. 61 WR
- Arnold Mugerwa, 3-star (Rutgers commit): 6’3”, 210 lbs, No. 64 WR
Campbell and Moore need to add another wide receiver in the 2027 class, or else they’ll be forced to make multiple additions in the transfer portal this offseason. Landon Blum is the lone WR commit in 2027 for the staff, and beyond Koby Howard on the current roster, there aren’t many surefire contributors locked into next year's rotation. At least there shouldn’t be, based on this year’s performances, with Chase Sowell out of eligibility.
Beyond the relative struggles at wide receiver, Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer also allowed much of the 2027 talent in Pennsylvania to head elsewhere. They hold just one top-20 commit in-state. Guers (No. 20) and Mugerwa (No. 15) would change that, even if they’re not the caliber of wide receiver recruit this staff had originally targeted.
Matt Campbell has lowered his sights and may still come up empty-handed
The first pass at the wide receiver class, Penn State landed a commitment from Jamir Dean, who is now the No. 18 WR in the country and committed to Georgia, and battled to the end for Deshawn Hall, the No. 25 WR, and Khalil Taylor, who ranks No. 14 at the position and No. 4 in the state by 247Sports Composite.
All three of those players could have been immediately impactful for this roster, but after losing on Hall to Auburn and Taylor to Nebraska, Campbell finds himself and his staff going head-to-head with Greg Schiano, who could be fired by Rutgers in his second stint with the program, and Rich Rodriguez, who is back at WVU for his second go-around.
Hopefully, those programs don’t become Penn State’s peers under the new regime; ranked No. 52 and No. 36, respectively, right now they aren’t. Penn State’s class is still No. 20 in the country, but the perception has waned with the disastrous start, and any thought of flipping Hall or Taylor back seems to have gone out the window.
Campbell deserves a bit of patience as he builds this roster, and Penn State’s investment is far from the top of the Power 4. Still, considering it took this long for the staff to circle back to an in-state recruit like Mugerwa, he clearly wasn’t at the top of their board. Now they’re in such desperate need of another wide receiver and have been unable to flip their other targets that they’re seemingly down to their second-favorite Rutgers wide receiver commit. That’s not great.
Playing 2A football in Johnstown, Mugerwa is such a superior athlete that, at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, he’s exactly what you’d expect: An outside receiver who can stretch the field vertically with long strides and has solid body control to dominate the catch point. Not especially shifty, he wins after the catch with his sheer physical advantage. It’s not clear, however, how much of a route tree he can run or how his ability to win down the sideline and in the red zone will translate against a higher level of competition.
He would be a solid addition for Penn State at a position of need, but his offer is also another clear sign that momentum is waning for this staff on the recruiting trail as they’re almost a month out from the early signing period.
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