Despite calls for a newfound aggressiveness in the transfer portal this offseason, James Franklin has struggled to get his program in the mix for the top wide receivers on the market. Instead, with Penn State desperate to upgrade its talent level on the outside for 2025, he’s set his sights on two of the best Group of Five wide receivers in the country.
FIU transfer Eric Rivers and Miami (OH) transfer Reggie Virgil are reportedly scheduled for official visits to Happy Valley.
Rivers was on Penn State’s radar immediately after entering the portal. He led FIU, who Penn State will play at Beaver Stadium in a non-conference game in 2025, with 62 catches for 1,172 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s a menacing deep threat, averaging over 18 yards per reception, and would finally allow Drew Allar and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to threaten defenses vertically. Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that Rivers’ visit to Penn State is scheduled for December 19-20, with the Nittany Lions preparing to face SMU in the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff on Saturday, December 21.
Rivers, who began his collegiate career at Memphis, has one year of eligibility remaining, which would align with Allar if he chooses to return for his senior season instead of entering the 2025 NFL draft. Also, with Kotelnicki’s name surfacing for the head coaching job at West Virginia this offseason, he may only be around for one more year, a potential “last dance” situation for the Penn State offense.
So, maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that Virgil also has one year of eligibility left after three seasons at Miami (OH). The 6-foot-4 190-pound target caught one pass in each of his first two years with the RedHawks, but in 2024 he broke out, hauling in 41 passes for 816 yards and nine touchdowns. By 247Sports’s transfer portal rankings, Virgil is the No. 10 receiver in this year’s portal class, one spot ahead of Rivers.
With his combination of size and speed, Virgil, like Rivers, would give the Penn State offense the reliable field stretcher that it needs. He averaged 19.9 yards per reception in 2024 with nine catches on targets over 20 yards downfield, five of which went for touchdowns.
Both River and Virgil appear to be upgrades over Omari Evans and Liam Clifford, Penn State’s WR2 and 3 this season, but there is risk in bringing a G5 player up to the Big Ten level. The last time Penn State did it at wide receiver was with Dante Cephas from Kent State in 2023 and he transferred again after one disappointing season.
Franklin hasn’t had much luck with wide receiver transfers at all. Last offseason he landed Julian Fleming to help replace Cephas and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but he finished the 2024 regular season with just 14 catches and doesn’t figure to be a part of Kotelnicki’s gameplan in the CFP. That could incentivize Penn State to take both Virgil, Rivers, and maybe a third transfer as well.