In hindsight, it looks preordained that Rocco Becht would follow Matt Campbell to Penn State and Ethan Grunkemeyer would make the trek to Virginia Tech with James Franklin. However, coming off Grunkemeyer’s impressive six-game stretch as the Nitany Lions’ starting quarterback to end last season, it didn’t seem so obvious.Â
Grunkemeyer played well as a redshirt freshman. The former four-star took some time to find his footing against a brutally tough schedule to start the second half of the year, but he finished with 1,339 yards and eight touchdowns to four interceptions. Over his four-game win streak, he averaged 194.3 yards per game while completing 73.8 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and no picks.Â
Becht, meanwhile, was coming off a year in which he battled injuries and took a clear statistical step back after wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel left Iowa State for the NFL. Those same shoulder injuries even forced him to miss nearly all of spring in Happy Valley. That’s enough to lend credence to the idea that Penn State should have stuck with Grunkemeyer over Becht, and it’s without mentioning that Becht is entering his final year of eligibility while Grunkemeyer has three remaining.Â
Still, Penn State made the right call going with the veteran to help ease the transition to Campbell, and Billy Tucker’s list of the top 100 newcomers in college football for ESPN reinforces that idea.Â
Rocco Becht ranked No. 6 in ESPN’s top 100 newcomers list for 2026 CFB season
Tucker didn’t simply rank players based on their abilities; he also factored in the team’s need at the position. Obviously, undergoing coaching transitions, both Penn State and Virginia Tech desperately needed starting quarterbacks, so that factor is largely a wash. So, primarily considering their skillset, Becht ranked 21 spots higher than Grunkemeyer at No. 6, while the former Penn State four-star recruit slotted in at No. 37.Â
He may improve with better health as a redshirt senior compared to a 2025 campaign played with an AC sprain in his right shoulder and a torn labrum in his left, but it’s safe to say that Becht has largely hit his ceiling as a college quarterback. He’s a confident downfield thrower, passably accurate to all three levels, and a better runner than you’d expect, which often comes into play on late downs. There probably isn’t a whole lot more room for growth.Â
Grunkemeyer, however, is just scratching the surface. He’ll never be a high-level playmaker outside of structure or with his legs, but he has a big arm, and unlike his predecessor in Happy Valley, he’s not afraid to use it. As he got more comfortable last season, he began to test tighter windows over the middle of the field, and that was a lethal combination to pair with Penn State’s physical run game.Â
He could be a real NFL prospect in a few years, and typically, at the start of a new coaching regime, that upside would be valuable. But not with this Penn State schedule.Â
Campbell is tasked with building a long-term winner in Happy Valley, but looking at the schedule, he may never get a better chance to make the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. Penn State avoids Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon, and gets USC at home. The Nittany Lions also play four of the five teams with the worst odds to win the Big Ten: Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue, and Rutgers, which are all 300-1 in the FanDuel Sportsbook.Â
Grunkemeyer may end up surpassing Becht’s ceiling, but the veteran is the better player right now, and that’s what Campbell needed to take full advantage of the Big Ten’s scheduling gift.
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