Penn State developmental defensive line project comes to abrupt end with transfer portal departure

Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes has more than proven his chops as a talent developer over his first two years in Happy Valley. Barnes aided in Abdul Carter’s transition from linebacker to defensive end as he blossomed into the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season, and once Carter is selected on the first night of the 2025 NFL Draft, Barnes will have produced first-round pass-rushers for back-to-back seasons. 

Still, no matter how good James Franklin’s staff is, there are only so many snaps to go around on a College Football Playoff contender. The Nittany Lions have national title aspirations in 2025, and an all-in environment doesn’t always lend itself to patience. That could be the reason that one of Penn State’s promising developmental projects has decided to depart the program through the spring transfer portal window. 

Penn State defensive end Joseph Mupoyi enters transfer portal

Mupoyi arrived at Penn State in 2023 as a 6-foot-5, 230-pound edge rusher. Now, after two seasons, including a redshirt year in 2023, Mupoyi is listed as a 261-pound defensive tackle. He’ll likely play on the edge at his next stop, but adding weight to his frame was clearly a goal of the Penn State coaching staff, and it began to pay off some last season. 

While the former three-star recruit played just three defensive snaps across two games in 2024, he was twice named the coaching staff’s Developmental Squad Defensive Player of the Week. Mupoyi made a tackle against Kent State in the Nittany Lions’ 56-0 win in September. 

Mupoyi was a particularly raw prospect, and his lack of weight as a true freshman gave him a long-term trajectory in Happy Valley. He was not producing on Saturdays, but Mupoyi was impressing his coaches throughout the week. Therefore, this surprising spring portal departure likely means one of two things: 

1. Mupoyi was still too far away from contributing and didn’t have an opportunity to fight for gameday reps in his redshirt sophomore year
2. Mupoyi was such a developmental triumph for the Nittany Lions’ coaching staff that another major program came calling, and Franklin wasn’t willing to meet the asking price

It’s not the only way to know if Mupoyi was a developmental success for the Penn State staff, but Mupoyi’s transfer destination will be a strong signal. If he lands a starting job at a Power Conference program, that’s a win for Barnes. But if he steps down to the Group of Five level, or even lower, it’s evidence that Penn State either misevaluated the prospect or struggled to keep him on a positive trajectory.

Mupoyi was also on his third defensive coordinator in three years, and that turnover could be contributing to the three spring window departures on the defensive side of the ball.