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The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
Five key transfers for Penn State
- Story byThe Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
- Five key transfers for Penn State
Even without a coaching change, the transfer portal and NIL make college football rosters look drastically different season to season.
And when you add in a monumental coaching change such as Matt Campbell's arrival in State College, the turnover can be even higher.
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As expected, Campbell brought two dozen players with him from Iowa State, along with some true freshmen who signed with the Cyclones before flipping to Penn State.
Here are five of the most important transfers heading into the 2026 season, which starts Sept. 5 against Marshall:
1. Rocco Becht, QBOne of the nation's most experienced returning quarterbacks, Becht leads a huge contingent of players coming from Ames to Happy Valley.
The importance of the senior who already has 39 career starts — with 26 wins — cannot be overstated. Only one QB on the 2025 Penn State roster returns in 2026 and that is walk-on Jack Lambert.
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Behind Becht is redshirt freshman Alex Manske, true freshmen Peyton Falzone and Kase Evans, along with transfer Connor Barry.
Barry is the most experienced backup. After transferring down from Appalachian State to Division 3 Christopher Newport, Barry was a second-team All-American after leading Newport to a 10-0 regular season, throwing for more than 2,800 yards and racking up 46 total touchdowns.
Manske, who came from Iowa State in the portal, missed all of spring practice with an injury, putting more onus on Becht — who has more than 9,000 career passing yards — to be productive and healthy.
2. Chase Sowell, WR
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Another Iowa State transfer, Sowell averaged nearly 16 yards a catch on 32 grabs as a junior after averaging 20 yards a catch as a sophomore.
He offers some explosive experience in another position group where there is a huge turnover.
Sowell presents a big body at 6-foot-3, teaming up with fellow ISU transfer Brett Eskildsen to offer some experience in a room where the top returner is sophomore Koby Howard.
3. Siale Taupaki, DT
While other positions (below) might have a higher profile, Taupaki's oversized presence inside following a transfer from UCLA will be critical with the loss of the likes of Alonzo Ford and All-American Zane Durant.
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While the Nittany Lions do bring back some promising edge players, that isn't the case inside.
At 6-4, 337 pounds, Taupaki and fellow transfer Armstrong Nmodim (6-2, 319; Oklahoma State) also add some much-needed beef up front in D'Anton Lynn's return to Penn State as the defensive coordinator.
4A/B. Carson Hansen & James Peoples, RB
When Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton used up their final years of eligibility, with them went 8,000 yards rushing and more than 80 career touchdowns.
Quinton Martin and Corey Smith stayed — the former rushing for more than 100 yards in the bowl win over Clemson — so having experienced backs such as Hansen and Peoples is vital.
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Hansen ran for more than 1,700 yards and 19 TDs while sharing the backfield in Ames with Becht over the past two seasons. Peoples comes from Ohio State, where he was part of a loaded backfield there and saw limited reps.
5. Marcus Neal, S
A deep and veteran cornerbacks room can be boosted by a hammer at safety, which is what Neal provides after transferring from, of course, Iowa State.
A 6-1, 216-pound thumper, Neal started all 12 games as a sophomore last fall, racking up 77 total tackles, including 40 solo. Neal, an All-Big 12 pick, had 11 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, two interceptions and one forced fumble.
