It takes more than just one weakness on a roster for a head coach like James Franklin to get fired just six games into the season a year after going to the College Football Playoff semifinals. But, all the teams across the final years of Franklin’s tenure at Penn State had a similar glaring weakness: wide receiver.
Well, Matt Campbell is seemingly going all-out to rectify that issue. It started with bringing wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator Noah Pauley with him from Iowa State, and has continued with adding Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen, Rocco Becht’s top two receivers last season, to the Penn State roster. However, Campbell isn’t done there.
North Carolina State transfer Noah Rogers is reportedly on a visit to Happy Valley after a 33-catch sophomore season for the Wolfpack.
BWI has reported that NC State transfer WR Noah Rogers is on an official visit at Penn State. 👀 pic.twitter.com/8DgxKGVgIi
— The Basic Blues Podcast (@BasicBluesPod) January 6, 2026
NC State transfer WR Noah Rogers takes Penn State visit after entering the portal
Rogers began his career at Ohio State before transferring to NC State years ago. After a breakout redshirt freshman season with 35 catches for 478 yards and a touchdown, he took a small step back as a redshirt sophomore, finishing as the team’s third-leading receiver behind Terrell Anderson and tight end Justin Joly.
Though he’s a former four-star recruit and No. 52 overall player in the 2023 class, Rogers wouldn’t be expected to immediately emerge as Penn State’s No. 1 target in 2026. He’s a big physical outside receiver who could fit nicely into a WR room with Sowell, an electric deep threat, and Eskildsen, who ran hot and cold in Iowa State’s offense last year.
With two years of eligibility remaining, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound North Carolina native may also grow into that kind of volume target star for the Nittany Lions by the 2027 season, especially with a year of coaching from Pauley, if he lands at Penn State.
After landing commitments from 19 former Iowa State players to start the transfer portal window, Campbell and general manager Derek Hoodjer are beginning to branch out to players off other rosters and seem to be prioritizing playmakers with multiple years of eligibility remaining.
Campbell and his staff earned a reputation as some of the best talent developers in the country across his 10 years in Ames, routinely turning three-star talents into NFL draft picks. So, whether it’s Rogers or former Ohio State running back James Peoples, who is also visiting Penn State, they likely, and rightfully, believe they can tap into the potential they had as former highly-touted four-star recruits.