Penn State’s surprise Gabe Jenkins miss makes another 4-star target make-or-break

Matt Campbell has done a good job rebuilding Penn State’s 2027 recruiting class after James Franklin’s early groundwork was dismantled. With 18 commits, the class ranks seventh in the country. However, Campbell hasn’t had much success reconnecting with those former Franklin commits, so his first full class in Happy Valley will be almost entirely in his image. 

Most notably, in-state five-star running back Kemon Spell chose Georgia over Penn State, but recently the Nittany Lions have lost out in battles for two other former commits. On Monday, four-star offensive tackle Layton Von Brandt chose Auburn, and on Wednesday, four-star in-state safety Gabe Jenkins unexpectedly committed to Colorado. 

Jenkins was expected to rejoin the Nittany Lions class with official visits to Penn State, Pitt, and Colorado, but after his trip to Boulder over the weekend, he was sold on Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes. Now, Campbell will need to turn his attention to another four-star safety, Cooper Ohnmacht, a Midwest target from his time at Iowa State who has become a make-or-break player for the class. 

Cooper Ohnmacht becomes a major priority with Jenkins off the board

Despite losing Zakee Wheatley to the NFL after graduation and Dejuan Lane to Tennessee, Penn State is largely set at safety for this year, with Iowa State transfers Marcus Neal Jr., Jeremiah Cooper, and Jamison Patton set to fill key roles in the secondary. Neal has eligibility remaining beyond this season, but Cooper and Patton are both entering their senior years, so Campbell must continue to add young talent at safety. 

Jenkins didn’t necessarily project as an immediate contributor for Penn State. His stock has fallen slightly with the recruiting services, down to the 321st overall player in the class. So, Campbell may have been forced into the portal either way while he works to restock the cupboard with high school talent. 

Despite taking the job after the early signing period, Campbell was able to convince three-star safeties Tyrell Chatman, Christian Askew, and Bryson Williams to flip from Iowa State to Penn State in the 2026 class. Those moves help to curb the program’s desperation for safety help in the 2027 cycle, but Chatman and Askew rank outside the top 500 players in last year’s class, while Askew is the 1,260th-ranked recruit according to 247Sports Composite. 

Ohnmacht carries a ranking almost identical to Jenkins as the 324th-ranked player in the 2027 class. Still considered an athlete with two-way ability, he’s a much better fit for Penn State as a safety than as a wide receiver at 6-foot, 185 pounds. Campbell largely has prioritized big-bodied receivers since arriving in Happy Valley. 

Ohnmacht may not be an early contributor for the Nittany Lions either, but he’s the highest-ranked safety prospect scheduled for an official visit to Penn State this spring. He’ll be in Happy Valley on June 19, the final weekend of official visits, and Campbell will have pressure to close the deal and add a blue-chip safety to the class.

Positionally, Penn State can recover from the Jenkins miss, but it does have another impact. With his commitment, half of the top 20 players in Pennsylvania have committed and only one has committed to the Nittany Lions. There is still time to correct that troubling trend, but Ohnmacht, as a Kansas native, won't help solve Campbell's budding in-state issue.

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