Penn State is a top contender for the No. 1 offensive tackle in the country

On top of having some of the most high expectations for its 2025-26 season in the country, Penn State football also has pressure to impress class of 2027 recruits after tumbling down in the 2026 recruitment rankings.

Five-star Kennedy Brown, the No. 1 overall, offensive tackle, and Texas recruit, named his top teams ahead of the fall. The Nittany Lions are one of seven. Oregon, Texas, Texas A&M, SMU, Georgia, and Clemson are the other likely contenders, as of now, to land the five-star recruit.

According to On3 Rivals, Brown took unofficial visits to Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, and Clemson during the spring and start of summer. While he's seen the Longhorns twice, the other trending teams for considerations shouldn't be counted out yet.

Right now the Nittany Lions have a lot of focus on landing elite quarterbacks given their poor class of 2026 results, but putting together an overall top tier recruitment class can't slip their minds.

It'll be an uphill battle for Penn State to compete with in-state schools for the offensive tackle, like Texas and Texas A&M, and get Brown to take his collegiate career up north.

After the 2025-26 season, the Nittany Lions will lose four offensive linemen, Nick Dawkins, Drew Shelton, Nolan Rucci, and Mason Carlan. Dawkins, Shelton, and Rucci are all starters and while the line still has Vega Ioane and Anthony Donkoh, given they return to Penn State, it'll have to start filtering in just as high of talent that's filtering out.

Landing the No. 1 recruit from the class of 2027 wouldn't hurt to say the very least. 247Sports' Gabe Brooks wrote in Brown's scouting report:

"[Brown is a g]ifted offensive tackle prospect whose verified height belies elite frame length. Broad-shouldered build couples with enormous reach. Displays impressive movement ability in general, whether traveling in the run game or playing laterally in pass protection. Owns encouraging shot put numbers at this early stage. Impressive combine testing data in short-area athleticism reflect promising functional mobility in pads. Somewhat high-cut, but a capable bender who works for leverage. Plays with some segmentation at times but displays encouraging locomotion in general. Owns excellent tools in the form of huge tackle-specific features. Could easily see long-term development into a high-level left tackle or an elite right tackle."

On3 reported that Brown scheduled game day visits with each of his top schools. Penn State already has one important game day visit scheduled for running back commit Kemon Spell for the Oregon White Out game on Sept. 27.