During his tenure at Iowa State, Matt Campbell was a coach who relied heavily on the transfer portal. His program has always been about development, and such his clear top priority since arriving in Happy Valley, leading up to the January 2-16 Transfer Portal window has been high school recruiting and roster retention.
That may all change, though, once the portal opens up. Even if Penn State hadn’t moved on from James Franklin midway through the season, the roster would have still needed a significant overhaul this offseason. The 2025 squad, which proved to be Franklin’s last in Happy Valley, was senior-laden and built to compete for the national title. Now, with the transition from Franklin to Campbell, the need for an infusion of veteran talent through the portal is even more glaring.
The good news for Campbell and his new program is that the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country is staring him right in the face.
Former Iowa State players litter the top of the transfer portal rankings
On Tuesday, Saturday Blitz released its positional rankings for TE, OL, EDGE, DL, LB, CB, and S and updated its rankings for QB, WR, and RB. Those rankings, which include at least a top 10 for each position if not more, feature seven former Cyclones who have announced their intention to enter the transfer portal. Two of those seven players rank No. 1 at their respective positions:
- QB Rocco Becht, positional ranking: No. 8
- WR Brett Eskildsen, positional ranking: No. 21
- TE Benjamin Brahmer, positional ranking: No. 1
- TE Gabe Burkle, positional ranking: No. 6
- LB Caleb Bacon, positional ranking: No. 9
- CB Jontez Williams, positional ranking: No. 1
- CB Jeremiah Cooper, positional ranking: No. 5
That list doesn’t include safety Marcus Neal Jr., who announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Monday and will likely be one of the top players at the position in the next rankings update.
Much of Iowa State’s roster, which Campbell led to an 8-4 record this season after winning 11 games in 2024, is heading to the transfer portal. It’s far from a guarantee that all of Campbell’s former players follow him east from Ames, but it’s a safe bet that at least a few of his former players will don blue and white next season.
At cornerback, for example, Campbell has an easy decision to make. He has talented young cornerbacks, but with AJ Harris, Penn State’s CB1 for the past two seasons, heading to the transfer portal, he will almost certainly pursue Jontez Williams and/or Jeremiah Cooper.
At quarterback, though, things are much more complicated. Ethan Grunkemeyer played well in his redshirt freshman year after taking over for Drew Allar midseason, including setting a career-high in passing yards in the Pinstripe Bowl win over Clemson to end the season. Campbell will need to decide between keeping Grunkemeyer, who has three seasons of eligibility remaining, and bringing in Becht, who is entering his final year of eligibility but is a three-year starter in offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser’s offense.
Either way, Campbell has plenty of talent from his former roster to choose from this offseason, and if he makes a push to bring former Cyclone stars to Happy Valley, he could land the No. 1 portal class in the country.