2027 Recruiting Thread

[PSU89er]

This says Indiana has $38m vs $30m for PSU. I agree that Indiana's recruiting so far this year is unimpressive.

NIL Tracker 2026 | School Rankings | The Sideline

Just shows that its not exclusively about how much money you have, but about the way you are going to spend it. PSU is using some money to land higher level recruits, but they are stopping and are not going to land the highest level ones. IU is basically out of that entire game, and is 100% about the portal.

 

[RolexKong]

Just shows that its not exclusively about how much money you have, but about the way you are going to spend it. PSU is using some money to land higher level recruits, but they are stopping and are not going to land the highest level ones. IU is basically out of that entire game, and is 100% about the portal.

Wouldn't rely too much on those numbers.

 

[bdgan]

Just shows that its not exclusively about how much money you have, but about the way you are going to spend it. PSU is using some money to land higher level recruits, but they are stopping and are not going to land the highest level ones. IU is basically out of that entire game, and is 100% about the portal.

I'm not sure why you say Indiana is totally about the portal. Their brief history in the portal:

2024: Took a lot of 3* talent from JMU that outperformed
2025: QB Mendoza (4* .93) was the only marquis add IMO
2026: WR Nick Marsh (4* .95) was the only marquis add IMO

PSU's transfers from Iowa State need to have a JMU like outperformance this fall in order to have success like Indy had in 2024. That might be a stretch but that's the hope.

PSU desperately needs a transfer portal QB next year. I hope we can get a 4* .93 like Indy did.

PSU needed a portal WR this year and got Sowell (4* 93) but he wasn't on any all conference list. The problem is he only has 1 year of eligibility. Losing Taylor be a big loss considering our depth chart. and the fact that Nebraska's 3 starting WRs all have two years of eligibility remaining. If we lose Taylor we'll need 2 portal WRs next year.

 

[Moogy]

My 2 cents...Franklin's best asset was his ability to recruit. His biggest weakness was game prep and gameday decisions. Far too often we had a roster that gave us a chance to win "The Big Game" only to come up short.

Insert Campbell, who is thought to be better at game prep and gameday decisions but he's never been able to recruit the level of talent that Franklin was able to recruit. However, now that Campbell is at PSU he is recruiting at the same level as Franklin did at PSU and is now at VaTech. Look at VaTech's class and it's almost the same as PSU's.

(Recruiting) Campbell = Franklin

Franklin, at PSU, recruited top 15 classes regularly (based on average stars), popping better classes here and there ... his classes typically were majority composite 4 stars, with some 3 stars. Rarely hit on a 5 star. Campbell's "first" class (ignoring the disaster that was the 2026 class) is top 20 (barely), with more 3 stars than 4 stars (13 to 8), and no 5 stars. This matters, obviously, because the 4 stars are more likely to be impact players than 3 stars, and you usually only get a limited number of impact players (rather than filler) per class, and you don't necessarily know who those players will be, beforehand.

Some will try to excuse Campbell's class, saying it's a new NIL era and we're limited, and he's just getting his feet wet. I'd say a new coach who has a ton of openings, due to a failed recruiting class the year before, should be in his honeymoon period with recruits, and get more and better ... not less.

Campbell stepped into a better situation, and had it take a step back ... Franklin stepped into a lesser situation and made it better, improving VT's recruiting rankings (13 4-star, 12 3-star this year).

That's not to say that Campbell can't build things up, and can't end up improving his recruiting here ... because if he can do more with less, than there's a possibility recruits will come here to be "more," as well ... but, right now, Franklin has the clear edge in recruiting ability.

It is what it is. The team isn't going to do any better or worse based on how we try to characterize their recruiting efforts/abilities, so not sure why we're trying to twist this assessment.

(Gameday) Campbell > Franklin

Of course we'll have to wait for the season to see how Campbell manages this roster but this is the perception. After Campbell was hired the only negative surrounding Campbell was whether or not he could recruit the kind of talent that could make PSU competitive in the B1G and Nationally. Early results show he can and is. Now let's wait to see if he's the upgrade we think he is on the sidelines. WE ARE!

Obviously, if we're basing recruiting ability, in part, on what they've done at their new schools, judging their gameday abilities is an Incomplete right now, as neither has performed with their new squads. But I'm willing to give the edge to Campbell ... Franklin's game day mistakes are well known, and frustrating. I honestly didn't follow Campbell, or ISU, that closely to be able to judge him, specifically ... but, again, as I posted months ago, when I looked at results and schedules, Campbell's teams would often "underperform" as well. When they beat a top team, they'd lose to 2 scrubs, sort of thing. When they'd rise up in the rankings, they'd eventually fall back whenever expectations were put on them. What caused that, I don't know as, again, I didn't follow them that closely.

He still did more with less (though I'd like to have seen him grew the "less" more based on that success), and while he isn't hitting home runs so far, he's at least definitely in the game, so there's optimism there.

But I know what we're likely headed for ... assuming we do somewhere between OKish and well ... but not gangbusters ... those who had been calling for Franklin's head for years, and are now vilifying him as da debil, will excuse away all Campbell-led squads' shortcomings as being the result of lack of NIL money/Kraft/the general ruination of college football, and will deflect (almost) all criticism of Campbell. Those who critique Campbell at all will be labeled as Franklin-lovers and trolls. Anything bad that happens at VT will be more evidence that Franklin sucks and we're glad we're rid of him.

It's not fun or interesting when the script is already written, and has little to no basis in reality.

 

[Marshall2323]

Fans expectations don't win or lose a game, but you can keep carrying on everyday like you have been like you're some moral authority on anything. Every program in the nation was behind IU last year...and most were the year before too. I'm not sure you understand what you're trying to flex as that was a dud....LOL. So this year we can expect Vandy to win a MNC? Northwestern....moving forward Bama, tOSU, UGA.....all are sunk because IU won it last year....got it.

Most got you were upset and in mourning.........for JF being fired, but you don't even stand on a hill anymore. You just want to cry foul because a HC got fired in a year he was ranked 2nd in the nation and lost to some awful teams and fell on his face in spectacular fashion. He made the decision to throw more money at depth instead of possibly pushing harder in the portal or with recruits. It was his call and it didn't work....oh well.

JF is still a good HC, good person IMO, but I root for PSU....he's gone. MC hasn't coached a game and now all of a sudden stars do matter to you.....when for YEARS you were about trusting the coach......you're a hypocrite. I have time...I'll see what MC does. I have zero ill will for JF....but he's gone so at some you point you will move on from being a scorned lover fanboy of his....hopefully. Grown men who are fanboys over coaches are odd people to me.

IU proved to be better than anyone on the field last season. Great insight. In 2024 PSU had a better team. I was saddened by CJF's firing, but accepted that it was the correct move. The timing and the lack of good judgement after by the AD, is fair to question. Kraft alone is responsible for pissing away an entire recruiting class. Franklin's only role in my discussions centers around the fact that Campbell must do better. Like it or not, ultimately that's how he will be judged. It's pure BS that Franklin threw money away.....an old wives tale originated with Kraft toadies. PSU never played NIL with the top 10....please stop the propaganda. No one really believes it and Franklin currently has more NIL resources at VT than he had a PSU.
As for stars ....they matter if you are not improving the level of recruiting at PSU. There will be dire circumstances at PSU after 2026 if difference makers aren't added to the mix of solid recruits. PSU will be where they are with NIL, fighting for 4th place and possibly lower in the conference.
But hey, excellence at the highest level was promised. Also a NC. Just keep the faith, it's all Sunshine Lollypops and Rainbows from here on out.

 

[Marshall2323]

I think most people realize that we don't have the money to buy a top 5 class. We were just hoping we could buy a top 10-15 class.

The money problem extends beyond recruiting. You must also recruit the players on your roster everyday. They have reps who are gauging the market and looking for the best deal. So even if a 3* develops like a Tyler Warren..... You will have to have the funds to pony up and keep him. I certainly hope something comes along to regulate and stabilize things. But for the moment, this is reality.

 

[Marshall2323]

I said 5 star, 5 star players get 5 star money. Look at Olesh last year, sat all year with mega bucks thrown at him
now he's at Oregon, and they probably had to pay him handsomely. He hasn't played a down yet, my point.

Are difference makers cheaper to acquire out of high school or obtaining them in the portal?
It isn't really an issue if PSU is at 20 or 22 in NIL..... they can't afford it either way. But we will have luxury boxes.

 

[PSUForever]

The biggest hole in our '27 class is WR (Captain Obvious statement). The miss on Taylor (assuming he ain't coming) feels like a miscalculation and poor forward planning by the GM and Campbell. What I mean is I think they should have seen this coming or been better prepared for this kind of outcome. What is the average payday for mid-high 4 star guys? Is Taylor an anomaly at $1 million? What did Dean get to flip to Georgia? What did Hall get at Auburn?

I think the staff needed to have a backup plan ready with a high 3 star guy that they had built a relationship with and even got a commitment from prior to Taylor bolting. Maybe we don't have the budget, meaning to pay Taylor whatever it was we had budgeted and pay this high 3 star guy. Then in that case at least have a good relationship with a backup that we could get. Or if that wouldn't work then we needed to cool on Taylor and pursue the high 3 star guy. My point is there were strategies to avoid simply being totally empty handed like it appears now.

Taylor had shown he was following the money as Nebby has always been in play until he disingenuously said he was canceling his OV visit there. Then what do you know? The offer gets bigger from Matt Rhule and suddenly Nebraska is the best visit he has had. He clearly is playing us against them with the game "who's the higgest bidder?" and who cares if I play on a 7-5 /6-6 team for 3 straight years.

My point is this guy seems to have played us or should I say he and his family played us and we should have been better prepared for this Murphy's Law scenario to unfold. These primma donna high 4 star guys will do that to you.

Maybe we have someone in mind as a backup to Taylor. I dunno. Or maybe the backup is to prioritize and spend in the portal next January. Just seems like we should at least have two HS WR recruits in the '27 class.

I do think Campbell has done a solid job with this '27 class. I like that we just got the CB out of Texas and the Alexander pickup is an excellent one. With that said, I do think it is fair to be critical of him over this Taylor miss. Not saying we should be paying Taylor $1 mill but the seemingly lack of a contingency plan is poor planning.

 

[psu83]

Franklin, at PSU, recruited top 15 classes regularly (based on average stars), popping better classes here and there ... his classes typically were majority composite 4 stars, with some 3 stars. Rarely hit on a 5 star. Campbell's "first" class (ignoring the disaster that was the 2026 class) is top 20 (barely), with more 3 stars than 4 stars (13 to 8), and no 5 stars. This matters, obviously, because the 4 stars are more likely to be impact players than 3 stars, and you usually only get a limited number of impact players (rather than filler) per class, and you don't necessarily know who those players will be, beforehand.

Some will try to excuse Campbell's class, saying it's a new NIL era and we're limited, and he's just getting his feet wet. I'd say a new coach who has a ton of openings, due to a failed recruiting class the year before, should be in his honeymoon period with recruits, and get more and better ... not less.

Campbell stepped into a better situation, and had it take a step back ... Franklin stepped into a lesser situation and made it better, improving VT's recruiting rankings (13 4-star, 12 3-star this year).

That's not to say that Campbell can't build things up, and can't end up improving his recruiting here ... because if he can do more with less, than there's a possibility recruits will come here to be "more," as well ... but, right now, Franklin has the clear edge in recruiting ability.

It is what it is. The team isn't going to do any better or worse based on how we try to characterize their recruiting efforts/abilities, so not sure why we're trying to twist this assessment.



Obviously, if we're basing recruiting ability, in part, on what they've done at their new schools, judging their gameday abilities is an Incomplete right now, as neither has performed with their new squads. But I'm willing to give the edge to Campbell ... Franklin's game day mistakes are well known, and frustrating. I honestly didn't follow Campbell, or ISU, that closely to be able to judge him, specifically ... but, again, as I posted months ago, when I looked at results and schedules, Campbell's teams would often "underperform" as well. When they beat a top team, they'd lose to 2 scrubs, sort of thing. When they'd rise up in the rankings, they'd eventually fall back whenever expectations were put on them. What caused that, I don't know as, again, I didn't follow them that closely.

He still did more with less (though I'd like to have seen him grew the "less" more based on that success), and while he isn't hitting home runs so far, he's at least definitely in the game, so there's optimism there.

But I know what we're likely headed for ... assuming we do somewhere between OKish and well ... but not gangbusters ... those who had been calling for Franklin's head for years, and are now vilifying him as da debil, will excuse away all Campbell-led squads' shortcomings as being the result of lack of NIL money/Kraft/the general ruination of college football, and will deflect (almost) all criticism of Campbell. Those who critique Campbell at all will be labeled as Franklin-lovers and trolls. Anything bad that happens at VT will be more evidence that Franklin sucks and we're glad we're rid of him.

It's not fun or interesting when the script is already written, and has little to no basis in reality.

So you're saying FSHCJF could recruit talent but couldn't coach it? Or does the fault fall on all the inept coordinators he brought in?

 

[LMTLION]

The biggest hole in our '27 class is WR (Captain Obvious statement). The miss on Taylor (assuming he ain't coming) feels like a miscalculation and poor forward planning by the GM and Campbell. What I mean is I think they should have seen this coming or been better prepared for this kind of outcome. What is the average payday for mid-high 4 star guys? Is Taylor an anomaly at $1 million? What did Dean get to flip to Georgia? What did Hall get at Auburn?

I think the staff needed to have a backup plan ready with a high 3 star guy that they had built a relationship with and even got a commitment from prior to Taylor bolting. Maybe we don't have the budget, meaning to pay Taylor whatever it was we had budgeted and pay this high 3 star guy. Then in that case at least have a good relationship with a backup that we could get. Or if that wouldn't work then we needed to cool on Taylor and pursue the high 3 star guy. My point is there were strategies to avoid simply being totally empty handed like it appears now.

Taylor had shown he was following the money as Nebby has always been in play until he disingenuously said he was canceling his OV visit there. Then what do you know? The offer gets bigger from Matt Rhule and suddenly Nebraska is the best visit he has had. He clearly is playing us against them with the game "who's the higgest bidder?" and who cares if I play on a 7-5 /6-6 team for 3 straight years.

My point is this guy seems to have played us or should I say he and his family played us and we should have been better prepared for this Murphy's Law scenario to unfold. These primma donna high 4 star guys will do that to you.

Maybe we have someone in mind as a backup to Taylor. I dunno. Or maybe the backup is to prioritize and spend in the portal next January. Just seems like we should at least have two HS WR recruits in the '27 class.

I do think Campbell has done a solid job with this '27 class. I like that we just got the CB out of Texas and the Alexander pickup is an excellent one. With that said, I do think it is fair to be critical of him over this Taylor miss. Not saying we should be paying Taylor $1 mill but the seemingly lack of a contingency plan.

Well stated. It’s OK to not want to get into a bidding war into the ridiculous $ realm, but it is a big miss to not have a back up plan. It’s the only position group they didn’t get right to date, but there’s plenty of time between now and December to make it happen. They do want to flip this guy:

Jamar Taylor - All Teams

Browse every school recruiting Jamar Taylor at On3.com — RPM predictions, interest level, and commit status.

www.on3.com

 

[PSUForever]

Well stated. It’s OK to not want to get into a bidding war into the ridiculous $ realm, but it is a big miss to not have a back up plan. It’s the only position group they didn’t get right to date, but there’s plenty of time between now and December to make it happen. They do want to flip this guy:

Jamar Taylor - All Teams

Browse every school recruiting Jamar Taylor at On3.com — RPM predictions, interest level, and commit status.

www.on3.com

Do you know if we are going to try to flip him or just speculating? We never even have offered so how interested would he be?

 

[LB99]

The biggest hole in our '27 class is WR (Captain Obvious statement). The miss on Taylor (assuming he ain't coming) feels like a miscalculation and poor forward planning by the GM and Campbell. What I mean is I think they should have seen this coming or been better prepared for this kind of outcome. What is the average payday for mid-high 4 star guys? Is Taylor an anomaly at $1 million? What did Dean get to flip to Georgia? What did Hall get at Auburn?

I think the staff needed to have a backup plan ready with a high 3 star guy that they had built a relationship with and even got a commitment from prior to Taylor bolting. Maybe we don't have the budget, meaning to pay Taylor whatever it was we had budgeted and pay this high 3 star guy. Then in that case at least have a good relationship with a backup that we could get. Or if that wouldn't work then we needed to cool on Taylor and pursue the high 3 star guy. My point is there were strategies to avoid simply being totally empty handed like it appears now.

Taylor had shown he was following the money as Nebby has always been in play until he disingenuously said he was canceling his OV visit there. Then what do you know? The offer gets bigger from Matt Rhule and suddenly Nebraska is the best visit he has had. He clearly is playing us against them with the game "who's the higgest bidder?" and who cares if I play on a 7-5 /6-6 team for 3 straight years.

My point is this guy seems to have played us or should I say he and his family played us and we should have been better prepared for this Murphy's Law scenario to unfold. These primma donna high 4 star guys will do that to you.

Maybe we have someone in mind as a backup to Taylor. I dunno. Or maybe the backup is to prioritize and spend in the portal next January. Just seems like we should at least have two HS WR recruits in the '27 class.

I do think Campbell has done a solid job with this '27 class. I like that we just got the CB out of Texas and the Alexander pickup is an excellent one. With that said, I do think it is fair to be critical of him over this Taylor miss. Not saying we should be paying Taylor $1 mill but the seemingly lack of a contingency plan is poor planning.

Well said.

 

[LB99]

Well stated. It’s OK to not want to get into a bidding war into the ridiculous $ realm, but it is a big miss to not have a back up plan. It’s the only position group they didn’t get right to date, but there’s plenty of time between now and December to make it happen. They do want to flip this guy:

Jamar Taylor - All Teams

Browse every school recruiting Jamar Taylor at On3.com — RPM predictions, interest level, and commit status.

www.on3.com

At some point, to get an upper level player, they may have to break their mold and pay them the going rate. I know the narrative is don’t do that, but as PSUForever said, this should be a learning experience for them. It does, however, appear that they are not used to recruiting high level players with these sorts of pitfalls.

 

[LMTLION]

Do you know if we are going to try to flip him or just speculating? We never even have offered so how interested would he be?

It has been said elsewhere there is an attempt to flip. Will Wood recently followed him on x.

 

[Alphalion75]

Well stated. It’s OK to not want to get into a bidding war into the ridiculous $ realm, but it is a big miss to not have a back up plan. It’s the only position group they didn’t get right to date, but there’s plenty of time between now and December to make it happen. They do want to flip this guy:

Jamar Taylor - All Teams

Browse every school recruiting Jamar Taylor at On3.com — RPM predictions, interest level, and commit status.

www.on3.com

Are you implying that the staff is working on trying to flip Jamar Taylor? This kid is long, lean and a playmaker.

 

[LMTLION]

At some point, to get an upper level player, they may have to break their mold and pay them the going rate. I know the narrative is don’t do that, but as PSUForever said, this should be a learning experience for them. It does, however, appear that they are not used to recruiting high level players with these sorts of pitfalls.

Agreed. WR seems to be a learning experience. We got game breakers at rb and te in this class but not wr (no offense to Blum who is a really good get.)

 

[ZouaveLion]

I feel that quite a bit or the Taylor discourse is because he is a WR, and we all know how that position has been on the field and in recruiting in.recent years....bad. It s also because, let s be honest the in state recruiting for 2027 has had a lot of misses. Taylor would just add to the list.
Overall l think Campbell and the.staff have done a nice job thus far. I don t think any of us truly know the true situation of the NIL package...the amount and how much they re saving for the portal.
I for one will.be happy when the season starts and we can discuss the games and not the.musings of 17 and.18 year old kids on official visits and the.good vibes that.lead to crystal ball.projections that are smashed a week later.

 

[PSUForever]

At some point, to get an upper level player, they may have to break their mold and pay them the going rate. I know the narrative is don’t do that, but as PSUForever said, this should be a learning experience for them. It does, however, appear that they are not used to recruiting high level players with these sorts of pitfalls.

Yeah, this seems like we just don't have the experience or savviness or negotiation ability or whatever with these high end guys. Just a bad look for the staff considering we have no contingency.

I agree we may need to adjust the approach with some of these position groups to get a couple high end elite guys as in top 200 or 150 guys. Those guys should be a good investment as in becoming a bonafide starter for you by year 2 and a fairly good probability of being an all B10 player.

WR would be one position group and in my mind the highest priority to splurge so to speak and EDGE could be another. The tricky part or just more difficult part is you need a whole strategy to make it work starting with what you are paying the current guys who will be the starters (in this case Howard and the ISU transfer Sowell?). We obviously were unprepared to play in the $1 mill neighborhood with Taylor.

I am frustrated over our WR position group and our inability to procure a lot of 4 star HS talent. I thought Campbell would take it to a much higher level than BGJ but it is not panning out that way. Taylor would have been one of the crown jewels in the class in a position group where we really needed it so that is what hurts. But it doesn't look like it is in the cards.

I do think we will have much better WR development under Campbell so maybe we can get an 88 or 89 guy to be an impact player. That is a key point we can't lose sight of. Under BGJ and Hagans all our WR development went the wrong way.

 

[PSUForever]

Agreed. WR seems to be a learning experience. We got game breakers at rb and te in this class but not wr (no offense to Blum who is a really good get.)

Good point about Blum. Excited he is on the roster. Great size at 6'4.

 

[Alphalion75]

Good point about Blum. Excited he is on the roster. Great size at 6'4.

Jamar Taylor is also 6'4". With those 2 guys in the lineup it would create some real match up issues for the opposition. Hope we can flip Taylor.

 

[bdgan]

The biggest hole in our '27 class is WR (Captain Obvious statement). The miss on Taylor (assuming he ain't coming) feels like a miscalculation and poor forward planning by the GM and Campbell. What I mean is I think they should have seen this coming or been better prepared for this kind of outcome. What is the average payday for mid-high 4 star guys? Is Taylor an anomaly at $1 million? What did Dean get to flip to Georgia? What did Hall get at Auburn?

I suspect there is another factor with our WR recruiting that nobody is talking about. Nebraska got a 5* 98 rated QB Trae Taylor. PSU got 3* 88 rated QB Will Wood. NIL money aside who would you rather sign up with as a young WR prospect?

That's why Grunk & Borque were big losses. The good news is that a lot of teams have been able to add a good 1 or 2 year portal QB. That position isn't like WR, LB, or DB. The #2 at those positions still starts. The #2 QB seldom sees the field so by their junior year they're often open to transferring. The bad news is we still need the WRs.

 

[Bison13]

Well stated. It’s OK to not want to get into a bidding war into the ridiculous $ realm, but it is a big miss to not have a back up plan. It’s the only position group they didn’t get right to date, but there’s plenty of time between now and December to make it happen. They do want to flip this guy:

Jamar Taylor - All Teams

Browse every school recruiting Jamar Taylor at On3.com — RPM predictions, interest level, and commit status.

www.on3.com

I posted about this kid weeks ago, I knew they weren’t gonna give Taylor 700 K or more in this kid looks to be a bigger option at half the price

 

[PSU4U]

A 7 million a year for 10 years from 2022 to 2031 with incentives is a lot of money he was making, so he
asked for a raise in his 3rd year ? Facing a Beaver Stadium project, and NIL was just bad timing.

It was more than that but ok.

 

[rigi19041]

Are you implying that the staff is working on trying to flip Jamar Taylor? This kid is long, lean and a playmaker.

That is who the insiders said psu would target.

 

[psu83]

H

I suspect there is another factor with our WR recruiting that nobody is talking about. Nebraska got a 5* 98 rated QB Trae Taylor. PSU got 3* 88 rated QB Will Wood. NIL money aside who would you rather sign up with as a young WR prospect?

That's why Grunk & Borque were big losses. The good news is that a lot of teams have been able to add a good 1 or 2 year portal QB. That position isn't like WR, LB, or DB. The #2 at those positions still starts. The #2 QB seldom sees the field so by their junior year they're often open to transferring. The bad news is we still need the WRs.

How'd their last 5 * QB work out?

 

[LMTLION]

I suspect there is another factor with our WR recruiting that nobody is talking about. Nebraska got a 5* 98 rated QB Trae Taylor. PSU got 3* 88 rated QB Will Wood. NIL money aside who would you rather sign up with as a young WR prospect?

That's why Grunk & Borque were big losses. The good news is that a lot of teams have been able to add a good 1 or 2 year portal QB. That position isn't like WR, LB, or DB. The #2 at those positions still starts. The #2 QB seldom sees the field so by their junior year they're often open to transferring. The bad news is we still need the WRs.

Money, not the qb, is what matters to Taylor. Will that QB even be there by December? Nebraska’s track record of developing QBs and WR’s in recent years is pretty awful, worse than our own and certainly far worse than Campbell’s track record. We are in a show me the money type of college football universe right now.

 

[PSUForever]

I suspect there is another factor with our WR recruiting that nobody is talking about. Nebraska got a 5* 98 rated QB Trae Taylor. PSU got 3* 88 rated QB Will Wood. NIL money aside who would you rather sign up with as a young WR prospect?

That's why Grunk & Borque were big losses. The good news is that a lot of teams have been able to add a good 1 or 2 year portal QB. That position isn't like WR, LB, or DB. The #2 at those positions still starts. The #2 QB seldom sees the field so by their junior year they're often open to transferring. The bad news is we still need the WRs.

There is not that much of a difference between Taylor who Nebraska got at QB and Wood. He did bond with Taylor apparently but let's be real, the draw to Nebraska is the money. Heck, he apparently didn't care that much about Taylor when he announced he was canceling all his other visits yet when the deal is sweetened he suddenly wants to play with Taylor.

 

[PSUForever]

I posted about this kid weeks ago, I knew they weren’t gonna give Taylor 700 K or more in this kid looks to be a bigger option at half the price

I just want to get a WR at this point who is a high 3 star.

 

[DaytonRickster]

So, would I count you among those who believes that $$ exists?
But it is just in some "location unknown", due to not having "transparency"?

Do I interpret that correctly? (FWIW: That would be a massive assumption, with no clear evidence to support it)

It is an assumption on my part, nothing more. I'm puzzled as to where the big NIL $'s are that Kraft alluded to? Was he blowing smoke or was the money used/being committed elsewhere?

 

[Blair10]

There is not that much of a difference between Taylor who Nebraska got at QB and Wood. He did bond with Taylor apparently but let's be real, the draw to Nebraska is the money. Heck, he apparently didn't care that much about Taylor when he announced he was canceling all his other visits yet when the deal is sweetened he suddenly wants to play with Taylor.

Exactly. This is the NIL era. Money rules. No one cares who the QB will be.

 

[Nits1989]

I suspect there is another factor with our WR recruiting that nobody is talking about. Nebraska got a 5* 98 rated QB Trae Taylor. PSU got 3* 88 rated QB Will Wood. NIL money aside who would you rather sign up with as a young WR prospect?

That's why Grunk & Borque were big losses. The good news is that a lot of teams have been able to add a good 1 or 2 year portal QB. That position isn't like WR, LB, or DB. The #2 at those positions still starts. The #2 QB seldom sees the field so by their junior year they're often open to transferring. The bad news is we still need the WRs.

We had 5 star Allar and High 4 star Grunk and we still had and have WR problems.

 

[bdgan]

We had 5 star Allar and High 4 star Grunk and we still had and have WR problems.

The year we got Allar we also got 4* 95 Saunders, 4* 93 Ivey, and 3* 89 Evans. That's why people were down on Hagans.

 

[LMTLION]

At risk of sounding bipolar, I possibly could be convinced that Taylor is worth over a mill, particularly if they could find additional sources of nil that would not impact roster or construction elsewhere. Based on what we know about Spell, not sure I would’ve expected this result. Did not know he was a burner to this level.

 

[DaytonRickster]

At risk of sounding bipolar, I possibly could be convinced that Taylor is worth over a mill, particularly if they could find additional sources of nil that would not impact roster or construction elsewhere. Based on what we know about Spell, not sure I would’ve expected this result. Did not know he was a burner to this level.

Maybe PSU tried to find a way to do it and it didn't work out? Hopefully approaching Jamar Taylor (Rutgers commit) brings a flip. No doubt a flip won't be cheap but probably no where near K Taylor $.

 

[LB99]

At risk of sounding bipolar, I possibly could be convinced that Taylor is worth over a mill, particularly if they could find additional sources of nil that would not impact roster or construction elsewhere. Based on what we know about Spell, not sure I would’ve expected this result. Did not know he was a burner to this level.

Yeah. He’s a high level athlete with a lot of potential at the next level. It’s why I said they needed a playmaker in this class and he could fit that role. It’s even more frustrating that he lives about two hours from State College and was previously committed to PSU. Say what you want about Franklin, but he did his homework in recruiting and got in on these types of kids early. High level players are going to take big checks to obtain whether in recruiting or the portal.

 

[rigi19041]

The year we got Allar we also got 4* 95 Saunders, 4* 93 Ivey, and 3* 89 Evans. That's why people were down on Hagans.

Except Hagan's was not even here when they were recruited in 21 for the class of 22. He was hired after the 23 class signed.

Three guys who have done little or nothing with any coach.

 

[Blair10]

The year we got Allar we also got 4* 95 Saunders, 4* 93 Ivey, and 3* 89 Evans. That's why people were down on Hagans.

I have no opinion one way or another regarding Hagans. Hagan’s Penn State duration was just too short and he was aligned to 2 of the worst offensive coordinators in PSU history.

Penn State’s WR struggles were due to poor talent evaluation, not poor player development. Penn State recruited too many WRs who were not B1G caliber receivers.

Saunders, Ivey, and Evans were simply not good enough to play in the B1G conference. They were dreadful.

Star ratings are meaningless if the player isn’t good enough. Just look at Julian Fleming. Fleming was the number one rated 5 star WR coming out of high school. Yet, Fleming was at best the 3rd or 4th option during his 3 years at Ohio State. Fleming turned out to be a total bust at Ohio State and Penn State. He simply was not good enough to be a starting WR in the B1G.

Hits and misses are part of the game for every team. Penn State’s problem: they had a very high WR miss rate under Franklin.

 

[PSU89er]

I'm not sure why you say Indiana is totally about the portal. Their brief history in the portal:

2024: Took a lot of 3* talent from JMU that outperformed
2025: QB Mendoza (4* .93) was the only marquis add IMO
2026: WR Nick Marsh (4* .95) was the only marquis add IMO

PSU's transfers from Iowa State need to have a JMU like outperformance this fall in order to have success like Indy had in 2024. That might be a stretch but that's the hope.

PSU desperately needs a transfer portal QB next year. I hope we can get a 4* .93 like Indy did.

PSU needed a portal WR this year and got Sowell (4* 93) but he wasn't on any all conference list. The problem is he only has 1 year of eligibility. Losing Taylor be a big loss considering our depth chart. and the fact that Nebraska's 3 starting WRs all have two years of eligibility remaining. If we lose Taylor we'll need 2 portal WRs next year.

Lets skip the brief history and I'll give you the real history. IUs success is almost totally about the portal that can not even be debated.

2024: 17 HS recruits, 31 portal transfers (you are correct, a lot from JMU). Im not even going to get into it, but the transfers dominated the two deep lineup.

2025: 23 HS recruits, 23 portal transfers (7 on offense on the two deep {5 starters}, 8 on defense on the two deep {4 starters}, also the starting kicker and punter were portal transfers)
So in 2025, IU brought in 17 out of 23 transfers that were major contributors to the team that won the national title, you say Mendoza was the only marquis add. That is absolute nonsense.

2026: 22 HS recruits, 17 portal transfers (the portal transfer includes 5 four star kids (not just Marsh), all of which are projected to start this year. Of the 17 they brought in on the projected depth chart (6 on offense on the two deep {4 starters}, 7 on defense on the two deep {4 starters}). Thats 13 of 17 projected to be major contributors. That includes the starting QB (Josh Hoover) and a former 5 star CB that was a two year starter at Penn State). Further the projected punter is 2026 portal transfer and the starting kicker is the same guy that started last year (2025 portal). The project starting long snapper is a portal transfer.

 

[Corner Room Breakfast]

Nike was not paying Penn State big dollars, word is less than the expiring contract. That isn't peculiar to PSU. Nike is doing a major retrenchment of its college operations. What it does say is that Nike doesn't consider PSU to be a marquee property.

I guess along with Indiana, Miami, and Texas A&M.

 

[rigi19041]

Lets skip the brief history and I'll give you the real history. IUs success is almost totally about the portal that can not even be debated.

2024: 17 HS recruits, 31 portal transfers (you are correct, a lot from JMU). Im not even going to get into it, but the transfers dominated the two deep lineup.

2025: 23 HS recruits, 23 portal transfers (7 on offense on the two deep {5 starters}, 8 on defense on the two deep {4 starters}, also the starting kicker and punter were portal transfers)
So in 2025, IU brought in 17 out of 23 transfers that were major contributors to the team that won the national title, you say Mendoza was the only marquis add. That is absolute nonsense.

2026: 22 HS recruits, 17 portal transfers (the portal transfer includes 5 four star kids (not just Marsh), all of which are projected to start this year. Of the 17 they brought in on the projected depth chart (6 on offense on the two deep {4 starters}, 7 on defense on the two deep {4 starters}). Thats 13 of 17 projected to be major contributors. That includes the starting QB (Josh Hoover) and a former 5 star CB that was a two year starter at Penn State). Further the projected punter is 2026 portal transfer and the starting kicker is the same guy that started last year (2025 portal). The project starting long snapper is a portal transfer.

So Campbell should make the playoffs this year.