When 2027 wide receiver Jamir Dean committed to Penn State football, he was a rising three-star recruit and very soon after earned his fourth star via 247Sports rankings in mid-May. He wasn't finishing rising on the charts there, though, either.
On Monday, Rivals updated its 2027 class rankings. The top 300 recruits got shaken up and to no one's surprise, Dean earned a spot on that list. The wide receiver is now ranked No. 111 nationally on the Rivals300 rankings and remains a four-star prospect in the class.
While he hasn't surged into five-star territory yet, it's still a brutal reminder to the Nittany Lions of a star wideout they let slip through their fingers. Dean flipped his commitment to Georgia on June 15 after his two official visits. Penn State has just one committed in their 2027 class in four-star Landon Blum after failing to land four-stars Khalil Taylor and Deshawn Hall after hearing of Dean's departure from the class.
With the updated rankings coming out, Rivals posted the top 10 biggest risers in the class. Just rubbing more salt in the wound, Dean was of course on that list at No. 8 after being an unranked recruit prior to the update.
Biggest risers in the updated Rivals300 rankings📈
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 13, 2026
Read: https://t.co/Fbb2teBLvP pic.twitter.com/0ZhESNv02B
Four-star wide receiver Jamir Dean is one of the biggest risers on Rivals300 rankings after flipping his Penn State commitment
Penn State hasn't had a wowing wide receiver in quite some time. It's one of the top position groups new head coach Matt Campbell is tasked with improving, and so far, he's succumbing into the same pattern former head coach James Franklin fell into.
The 2027 class isn't the end-all-be-all, but it's not a great start whatsoever. Campbell had a chance at landing (and retaining) three wide receivers ranked in the top 30. Taylor is the highest-ranked wideout at No. 18 followed by Dean at No. 20 and Hall at No. 29, per Rivals position rankings.
It's not just about landing blue-chip prospects either, it's about being legitimate competition in their recruitment. Campbell has security with Dean for less than a week before things got shaky with the Bulldogs, and that's when he was a three-star recruit. Without even mentioning Taylor's or Hall's processes, how Dean fell out of Campbell's hands is enough of a red flag.
Hopefully the 2027 cycle was a wake-up call for Campbell and his staff in terms of how aggressive they must be in recruiting, especially in the NIL era, but they have to find answers at wide receiver sooner rather than later if they plan on getting the Nittany Lions back into national title contention.
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