Penn State’s 3 most important flip targets before early national signing day for 2025

Recruiting season never ends, and with early signing day right around the corner on December 3, it’s heating up as the college football regular season winds to a close. James Franklin has assembled a solid 2025 recruiting class, which ranks 16th in the country with 26 commits. Last year, Franklin signed his entire 26-player recruiting class on early signing day with no drama, so his work may be done, but there are still a few high-priority flip targets who could be interested in a career in Happy Valley. 

Franklin’s class is good, not elite. The Nittany Lions trail four Big Ten teams in the composite recruiting rankings and aren’t any closer to closing the gap on Ohio State as Ryan Day continues to assemble to No. 1 class in the country. If Penn State routinely finishes behind Ohio State, Oregon, USC, and Michigan in the recruiting process, it could start to finish behind that many teams in the conference standings. 

Penn State’s coaching staff has done a good job addressing the program’s most pressing positional needs, but of this group of flip targets, which are most important for Franklin to land, or at least make a push to?

Penn State football 2025 flip targets

• WR Quincy Porter, NJ: 4-star (Ohio State commit)
• TE Andrew Olesh, PA: 4-star (Michigan commit)
• QB Matt Zollers, PA: 4-star (Missouri commit)
• CB Brandon Finney, MD: 4-star (Oregon commit)
• WR Lex Cyrus, PA: 4-star (South Carolina commit)
• WR Romero Ison, MD: 4-star (USC commit)
• LB Bradley Gompers, PA: 4-star (Duke commit)
• EDGE Zahir Mathis, PA: 4-star (De-committed from Ohio State)

Mathis de-committed from Ohio State on Monday and it may not have been the best time for his stock in the recruiting industry because ON3.com released updated recruiting rankings the same day and Mathis tumbled down 76 spots to No. 201 in the country. Mathis is still a consensus four-star edge rusher out of Philadelphia, and while he may not inch Penn State’s class close to the top 10 after his recent slide, he would add another talented player to a position group that Franklin and defensive line coach Deion Barnes have had a ton of success developing. 

More important than just adding Mathis would be plucking him away from Ohio State and keeping him in PA. Franklin has done well protecting the PA border historically, but in 2025 the best players in PA have been leaking out across the country with Mathis originally intending to play for the Buckeyes, Olesh committed to Michigan, Zollers heading south to Missouri, and even Lex Cyrus and Bradley Gompers looking elsewhere. 

When it comes to Olesh and Zollers, flipping those players would change the look of Penn State's class with another high-end talent at the top. However, Olesh would be entering a crowded tight end room with five-star Luke Reynolds likely to start for the next three years, and at quarterback, Penn State is very excited about Ethan Grunkemeyer's development throughout his freshman season.

Adding wide receiver talent has the be the No. 1 priority for Franklin and his staff before Drew Allar heads to the NFL. Cyrus may not be the type of player who could make an impact as a freshman in Allar’s final season if he even returns for 2025, but Franklin and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki need more darts to throw at the board to see what works. The most impactful addition for next season will likely come from the transfer portal. Still, all avenues must be exhausted to fix the lack of talent in the passing game, especially with Tyler Warren leaving for the league. 

Cyrus was a big loss when he committed to South Carolina over Penn State, but 2026 four-star Penn State running back commit recently visited Columbia with Cyrus, reportedly a long-time friend, and Mickens seems confident he can change Cyrus’s mind. If so, he would join a unique 2025 receiver class with four-star Matthew Outten, a physical yards-after-the-catch threat, four-star Jeff Exinor Jr. an oversized tweener who could end up at tight end, three-star Koby Howard, a true deep threat, and three-star Lyrick Samuel, a physically gifted developmental piece. Cyrus profiles as a quick accelerator who could first make an impact in the return game before seeing time in the slot, and hopefully developing into an outside receiver later into his career. 

In ON3.com’s reshuffle of the 2025 rankings, Porter shot up to No. 17 and was a new five-star recruit. He’s still a consensus four-star but with an incredible high-end evaluation from the ON3 staff. At 6-foot-3, he should see the field early in his career, especially if he flips from Ohio State to Penn State. 

Porter covers a ton of ground with his long strides and can beat defenders over the top or one-on-one with the ball in his hands. He’s big enough and physical at the catch-point to win 50/50 balls. There are questions about Porter’s ability as a route-runner, but even if that skill never develops for him, he’ll immediately be the most talented wide receiver in Happy Valley since Jahan Dotson and the best receiver recruit since Justin Shorter in 2018, also a New Jersey product. Penn State fans will just have to hope that Porter’s career is better than Shorter’s if he changes his mind.