It’s not often that Penn State and Kent State are swimming in the same recruiting waters, but that’s the case with zero-star tight end Aidan Jacobs, who, on Tuesday, announced a game-day visit to Happy Valley for Penn State’s Week 3 matchup with Buffalo.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound tight end from Traverse City, Michigan, is currently committed to Kent State in the 2027 class, but head coach Matt Campbell, general manager Derek Hoodjer, and offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser are seemingly embarking on a late push to flip him to become the 23rd commit in their No. 20-ranked class.
According to 247Sports and Rivals, which rank him as a three-star and the 1981st player in the country, Jacobs currently holds four offers: Kent State, Grand Valley State, Northern Arizona, and Saginaw Valley State.
However, a hot start to his senior season with 12 catches for 273 yards and five touchdowns through three games is garnering greater national interest, and for an oversized receiver who is bound to move to tight end, where better to make the transition than Happy Valley?
Aidan Jacobs is an intriguing prospect for a TE room not afraid of projects
Matt Campbell led the most successful run in Iowa State football history because he and his staff are elite at identifying underrecruited talent and developing those players into Power 4 contributors, or even NFL prospects. That’s not to say that’s definitely Jacobs’ future, but just to say that if Campbell and Hoodjer see something to like with him, the zero-star ranking shouldn’t alarm Penn State fans, especially when the player is a future tight end.
Jacobs doesn’t currently play tight end. For Traverse City West, a team that plays with the super-wide Art Briles/Josh Heupel splits, where receivers are splitting on the sidelines, Jacobs primarily works as the backside X-receiver and is a legitimate downfield threat.
He wins with strength and physicality more than speed, but he’s a natural route-runner with better-than-expected deceleration and a natural fluidity as a pass-catcher. He has a frame that should be conducive to bulking up to become a tight end, and is a willing blocker. That’s quite a bit to work with for a coaching staff that is currently transitioning a four-star 2026 quarterback recruit, Peyton Falzone, to the tight end room.
Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser is also Penn State’s tight end coach, and it shows in his usage. So far through two games this season, Penn State’s top four tight ends - Andrew Rappleyea, Benjamin Brahmer, Finn Furmanek, and Gabe Burkle have played 210 snaps, while the team’s top four wide receivers - Chase Sowell, Koby Howard, Brett Eskildsen, and Zay Robinson have played 225 snaps.
Now, garbage time and Burkle missing Week 1 skew those numbers a bit, but the point is that under Mouser, TE3 and 4 see the field about as much as anywhere in the country. And, under Mouser, tight ends develop as well as anywhere.
Penn State was known for pumping out NFL tight ends under James Franklin, and that will continue with Rappleyea and Benjamin Brahmer, with the latter being the more likely 2027 draft pick.
Though with a larger frame, Brahmer arrived in Ames as a tight end in name only, with wide receiver skills and almost no experience as an in-line blocker. This year, however, Brahmer has been a legitimately additive blocker in the run game, as he rounds out his game.
If Penn State takes a bet on Jacobs, extending an offer and flipping him from Kent State, it will be with developmental projects like Brahmer and Falzone in the back of its mind, and with how often tight ends see the field in Mouser’s system, it’s worth taking as many swings at the position as they can.
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