The Penn State football team hasn't had the best luck in recruitment in the back-half of June. The Nittany Lions recently lost traction with Danny Odem (Nebraska), Khary Adams (Notre Dame), Grayson McKeogh (Notre Dame), Joey O'Brien (Notre Dame), Brandon Arrignton (Texas A&M), and Luke Wafle (USC).
So where does this leave head coach James Franklin now?
Here are the rest of the recruits left on Franklin's board and the likelihood of them committing to Penn State:
Where quarterback recruits stand with Penn State
The Nittany Lions already have two four-star quarterbacks committed, Peyton Falzone and Troy Hunh. This isn't a position Franklin should be worried about in terms of landing another recruit.
The final quarterback left on Penn State's board is Pennsylvania native Semaj Beals. Beals is a three-star recruit, and doesn't have a definite list of finalists at the moment. However, he only took one official visit and that was with Syracuse.
Still, this isn't an area of concern for the Nittany Lions.
Where running back recruits stand with Penn State
Franklin only has one running back committed from the class of 2026, four-star Messiah Mickens. However, the Nittany Lions currently have nine on their roster for 2025. Though the veterans will start rolling out of the program, a few underclassmen can keep this position on lock if Penn State's unable to reel in another recruit.
Savion Hiter, Ezavier Crowell, Jae Lamar, Kyshawn Robinson, and Sy'eer Coleman all have the Nittany Lions listed as "cool." Robinson and Coleman don't have finalists set, but Penn State is not high up on their 247Sports interest lists. As for the four-star recruits, Hiter's top four schools are Tennessee, Michigan, Georgia, and Ohio State. Alabama, Auburn, Texas, and Georgia are in the running for Crowell. Lamar's top schools include Georgia, Miami, Clemson, and Auburn.
Brian Bonner is the only running back realistically up for grabs. He's a four-star from Valencia, Calif., the No. 105 overall recruit, No. 7 running back overall, and No. 13 pick out of his state. All signs are predicting he goes with Notre Dame, but he hasn't ruled out Penn State, Nebraska, UCLA, or Washington either.
Where wide receiver recruits stand with Penn State
Franklin had a huge group of wide receivers on his mind, extending 56 offers to this position alone. Out of those 56, only three landed: four-star Davion Brown, three-star Jahsiear Rogers, and three-star Lavar Keys.
Given the lack of depth in the wide receiver group last season, it's no surprise the Nittany Lions put a lot of their attention on this group. Now as commitments are rolling out, it seems that the 2024-25 wide receiver performance didn't settle well with the class of 2026. The following recruits remaining all have Penn State listed as "cool" on their interest lists:
Cederian Morgan, Calvin Russell, Joel Wyatt, Ethan Feaster, Xavier McDonald, Jayden Petit, Brayden Robinson, Jasen Lopez, Jerquaden Guilford, O'Mari Johnson, Jaeden McMillan, Jardon Stringer, Nyquir Helton, Jaire Richburg, Jaborree Riggins, Aiden Knox, Ash Roberts, Allex Hill, Araj Evans Jr., Dominic Saidu, Keyon Rice, and Zorian Gray-Vest.
The Nittany Lions could still pick up four-star Travis Johnson and three-star Brian Williams, though. Johnson also has Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in consideration. Williams may end up at Notre Dame, Florida, or Kentucky if not Penn State.
Where tight end recruits stand with Penn State
A tight end from the class of 2026 has yet to commit to the Nittany Lions. With only seven left, it's now-or-never for Franklin to fill this spot.
It's unlikely that Kaiden Prothro, Mack Sutter, JC Anderson, Evan Jacobson, and Zachery Turner commit to Penn State. However, four-star Brayden Fogle and four-star Pierce Petersohn are veering in Franklin's favor.
Fogle, the No. 10 tight end in the country for his class, has five schools he's considering. Alongside Penn State, Fogle may commit to Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, or Ole Miss. There are no Crystal Ball® Predictions at the time. Petersohn, though narrowed his list down to two. Minnesota is the Nittany Lions' competition in this race. No current Penn State commits in this position so far could push Petersohn in favor of Happy Valley.
Where offensive tackle recruits stand with Penn State
Another huge board for the Nittany Lions, having extended 51 offers, is the offensive tackle group. Four-star Kevin Brown is a strong leader for current commits in this position. Roseby Lubintus is also headed to Happy Valley.
Immanuel Iheanacho should be, by far, where Franklin is applying the most pressure. He would be the five-star headliner the Nittany Lions have been looking for. Franklin's proximity pitch might be the reason Iheanacho chooses Penn State over Oregon. He'll announce his decision on Aug. 5.
Thomas Wilder, Drew Evers, Jack Fuchs, Marlen Bright, J.B. Shabazz, Marky Walbridge, and Charlie Thom are the other recruits Penn State could land, but all sights should be set on Iheanacho.
Felix Ojo, John Turntine III, Pierre Dean, Claude Mpouma, Zaden Krempin, Breck Kolojay, Kamari Blair, Wilson Zierer, Da'Ron Parks, Jesse Moody, Xavier Payne, Brody Smith, Mitchell Smith, and Kodi Greene are looking elsewhere.
Where offensive line recruits stand with Penn State
Benajmin Eziuka is the only offensive lineman committed from the class of 2026. Now the Nittany Lions have a big veteran group in this position and that's going to start chipping away. Without stability in this position, it's going to be tough replacing the current starting line.
Darius Gray, Jax Turner, Khalief Canty, Edward Baker, Blake Graham, Brendan Alexander, Zayden Walters, and Gregory Maddox haven't made their decisions, but it's not looking good for Penn State.
Where edge recruits stand with Penn State
Penn State needs to step on the gas with edge recruits. Right now, Franklin hasn't landed a single athlete in this position and only has two that are realistically in consideration: Carter Gooden and Garrett Witherington.
Four-star Gooden has four schools up for consideration: Boston College, Penn State, Virginia, and UCLA. The Nittany Lions' biggest competition is most likely BC given the home-state advantage. Witherington is a three-star athlete and Penn State has some competition with Kentucky, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and Vanderbilt.
Destin Mitchell, Keysaun Eleazer, Jake Kraul, and Anthony Jones should be put on the backburner in order for Franklin to focus on the two more likely commits.
Where defensive line recruits stand with Penn State
Franklin only has two defensive linemen committed: Isaac Chukwurah and Alexander Haskell. The Nittany Lions should put themselves in a position to land one more, at least. This will secure the position, especially if Penn State's able to land a four-star.
Bryce Perry-Wright, Valdin Sone, KJ Ford, Deuce Gerals, Noah Clark, Elijah Golden, Preston Carey, Marcus Almada, James Morrow, and Marcellus Casario should not be where Franklin puts his focus. Instead, James Johnson, Keshawn Stancil, Damari Simeon, T-Ron Richardson, and Cameron Brickle are potential commits for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State will have a lot of competition for four-star Johnson with Syracuse, Georgia, Miami, Florida, Florida State, and Texas all in the running. Same with four-star Stancil, North Carolina State, Clemson, Miami, and Georgia are the other schools in his finalists list. However, it's predicted that he'll end up at Clemson. There's only a four-school race for four-star Simeon, which includes Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and Michigan. His announcement is coming out on June 27. The Nittany Lions are also in a multi-school race for Richardson (five) and Brickle (four). Brickle will make his announcement on June 28.
Where linebacker recruits stand with Penn State
Four-stars Terry Wiggins and Elijah Littlejohn, and three-star Mathieu Lamah are committed from the linebacker group and Franklin still has three on his radar.
Penn State is not favored to land Xavier Griffin, Tyler Atkinson, Jaquez Wilkes, JaMichael Garrett, Nick Abrams II, Anthony Davis Jr., Adam Balogoun-Ali, Tank King, Maurize Barnes, Charles Belser, Daiveon Taylor, Jaâcquez Estera, and Bryce Robinson.
However, Rodney Colton Jr., Kosi Okpala, and Tyson Harley could potentially choose Penn State. Colton Jr. may pick Colorado, Ole Miss, Florida State, or UCLA if he doesn't go with the Nittany Lions. Okpala still has Baylor, Miami, and Penn State in the running, but is expected to pick Texas. Harley, right now, has an even race between the Nittany Lions, Maryland, Michigan State, and Rutgers.
Where cornerback recruits stand with Penn State
Three-stars Julian Peterson, Jaziel Hart, and Amauri Polydor are the current cornerbacks who gave their verbal commitments to Penn State. It's definitely not necessary for Franklin to land another, but a four-star wouldn't hurt this group.
Dorian Barney is the No. 14 overall cornerback from the class of 2026 and Crystal Ball® Predictions have Penn State and Michigan each with an exact 50 percent chance to land him. Barney's full list of finalists also include Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Georgia Tech. His announcement will be made on July 5.
The Nittanly Lions can cross Chauncey Kennon, Samari Matthews, Nasir McCoy, Jayden Covil, AJ Marks, Demari Clemons, Jasiah Denmark, Terrell Wharton Jr., and Tamajh Mitchell off their list.
Where safety recruits stand with Penn State
Four-star Matt Sieg and three-star Darrell Cary are the current safeties committed to the Nittany Lions. Realistically, not landing another recruit wouldn't be heartbreaking for Penn State. However, four-star Jordan Deck is still within reach, though Franklin is battling with many schools for the recruit: Baylor, Ole Miss, Michigan, Colorado, Notre Dame, and UCLA.
Penn State can most likely rule out Cortez Redding, Craig Tutt, Devin Jackson, and Amori McNeil.
Where remaining recruits stand with Penn State
Franklin offered 40 rising seniors listed as "athletes" in addition to the position-specific recruits. Four-star David Davis already committed to Penn State.
Derrek Cooper, Jalen Lott, Davian Groce, CJ Sadler, Kaydon Finley, Tyriq Green, Amari Latimer, Jamarrion Gordon, Amari Sabb, Jacob Eberhart, Sharroid Whitehead, Allen Hill, Elijah Pendleton, and Eyan Stead are the miscellaneous athletes that the Nittany Lions will likely miss out on.
Four-stars Carter Meadows and Jackson Ford have the Nittany Lions in the running. Meadows, who would likely join the edges on the roster, has Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and South Carolina as his finalists. Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin are the other schools vying for Ford.
Penn State did not land its sole offer extended to a class of 2026 kicker. Harran Zureikat chose Georgia to take his NCAA career.