Following a historic run to the College Football Playoff semifinal, the story of Penn State’s offseason has been roster retention. James Franklin did an excellent job keeping the core of his 13-win team together, bringing back quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant, and safety Zakee Wheatley for their senior years. All six of those players, and others who are heading back to Happy Valley were eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft but chose to make another run at the national championship.
However, the allure of the NFL was just too strong for a few other key players on the 2024 Nittany Lions. Superstar tight end Tyler Warren was out of eligibility after a dominant senior season and he’ll be joined in the first round by junior defensive end Abdul Carter.
In total, 10 Nittany Lions declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, and still, nearly a month away from the NFL draft combine, I’ve done my best to predict where they’ll end up.
From the moment he declared, Carter was expected to be a top-five pick and is the consensus No. 1 player on most evaluators boards heading into draft season. If the Tennessee Titans take a quarterback at No. 1 overall, the Browns won’t let Carter slip by, especially after Myles Garrett requested a trade.
Warren may not fall all the way to No. 20, especially as he continues to draw lofty comparisons to Rob Gronkowski, maybe the greatest tight end of all time, but I love the fit between Warren and Sean Payton in Denver. The Broncos may have to trade up for him, and they should because no head coach would use Warren more creatively than Payton.
The star safety missed out on a chance to play his way into the first round with a new injury that cost him nearly his entire junior season with the Nittany Lions. Still, the talent is too enticing for NFL teams to pass up, especially a Buffalo team on the cusp of the Super Bowl year after year. Sean McDermott’s defenses were led by Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer at safety for so many years, and Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin just don’t make the same impact.
Kobe King was one of the few Penn State draft-eligible underclassmen who left for the NFL this offseason. The redshirt junior was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection, but he has real limitations in coverage that will likely push him to Day 3. The Buccaneers still relied heavily on 35-year-old Lavonte David last season and desperately need an infusion of youth at linebacker.
When KJ Winston suffered his season-ending knee injury in Week 2, it robbed Reed of a season playing a hybrid nickel safety role that is his best fit at the next level. Reed is a physical tackler who thrives around the line of scrimmage and can make disruptive plays in the run game or coming downhill as a blitzer. Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will love Reed’s versatility, which could make him a good fit with the Chiefs.
Jim Harbaugh, who is heading into his second year as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, loves offensive linemen. He said before last year’s draft that he views offensive linemen as weapons and with that mentality, you can never have enough depth up front.
The Ravens fixed their secondary last season by moving Kyle Hamilton from nickel to deep safety and Marlon Humphrey inside to play the slot. But to maintain the versatility of those two players, Baltimore needs reliable cornerbacks on the outside, and it wouldn’t hurt to get a player like Kimber who also has experience sliding inside from his time at Florida before transferring to Penn State.
Undrafted Free Agents:
- Coziah Izzard, DL
- Dvon J-Thomas, DL
- Julian Fleming, WR