Penn State’s 2027 recruiting class started to take on water this summer, and the toughest blow was four-star running back Aiden Gibson, who flipped to Rutgers and reclassified to 2026, arriving in Piscataway this summer. Now, it seems head coach Matt Campbell is looking to return the favor to Greg Schiano, hosting Rutgers commit Jamar Taylor in Week 4.
Penn State’s Big Ten opener against Wisconsin has turned into a massive recruiting showcase for Campbell and his staff, hosting over 60 recruits. On Saturday, Tyler Calvaruso of Lions247 reported that Taylor is among that group heading to Happy Valley, as he’s becoming a prime flip target for the Nittany Lions.
At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, the Delaware native is a three-star in the 2027 class and the No. 504 overall player in the country. Taylor perfectly fits the mold of the big-bodied receivers Campbell, general manager Derek Hoodjer, and wide receivers coach Kashif Moore have been targeting since arriving at Penn State.
Jamar Taylor would be a much-needed WR addition
It wasn’t just Aiden Gibson who flipped away from the Nittany Lions this summer. Campbell also lost Jamir Dean, who is now a top-100 player in the country, to Georgia. His staff also missed out on top-100 wide receiver Khalil Taylor, an in-state star who chose Matt Rhule’s Nebraska Cornhuskers, and Deshawn Hall, who stayed in-state, choosing Auburn over the Nittany Lions.
Those losses leave Penn State with just one wide receiver in the 2027 class currently: four-star Landon Blum, an eight-man football star from Woodbine, Iowa. Blum is a supreme athlete at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, and just outside the top 300 nationally, but he’s a mystery, as he’ll be making a massive transition from small-town Iowa football to the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions are in a much better spot at wide receiver than they were under James Franklin. Koby Howard is a budding star, Brett Eskildsen has one year of eligibility remaining after following Campbell from Ames, and three-star freshman Amarion Jackson has already proven to be a useful piece in the wide receiver room.
Still, adding just one in the 2027 class would likely force Penn State back into the transfer portal. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is riskier than Campbell and Hoodjer’s preferred method of recruiting and developing. Flipping Taylor would also send a much-needed message to the other Northeast Big Ten program.
Penn State needs to stiff-arm Schiano and Rutgers
Campbell is still working on planting his flag as the Northeast recruiting superpower. He failed to do it in the 2027 class, and Rutgers even took a bite out of him with the Gibson flip. Now, the Scarlett Knights are not a real concern, and Schiano may not even last the season in Piscataway, but the Nittany Lions need to make it clear that Happy Valley is the epicenter of Northeast college football.
That would start with flipping Taylor, which should be a top priority for the staff before the early signing period arrives in December. Then, Campbell can see about rekindling his relationship with Gibson if he opts for the portal after a disappointing first year at Rutgers.
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