Penn State's transplant roster gets some respect on Athlon Sports' Preseason All-Big Ten Team
The Penn State Nittany Lions have a roster that will take Nittany Lions fans a couple of weeks to learn.
There are new faces at nearly every position, and the guys who will be making plays will likely be all new to the Penn State program. That, fortunately, doesn't matter at all for how good they will be.
The Nittany Lions roster is going to be heavily weighted towards transfers, and truthfully, that isn't a huge surprise after the mass exodus that was the end of the 2025 season.
Athlon Sports put out their preseason all-conference teams for each conference, and for the Nittany Lions, they landed eight on the All-Big Ten team.
The first one, and probably the best player that will be on the Nittany Lions offense, will be tight end Ben Brahmer. Brahmer is a massive 6'7" tight end who spent the start of his career at Iowa State for three years under Matt Campbell.
As a Cyclone, he was above average at best. Over three seasons, he has just 75 catches for 977 yards and nine touchdowns. He is a matchup nightmare and is looking to be set loose in his fourth season in college football.
Brahmer is listed on the second team along with linebacker Caleb Bacon and safety Marcus Neal Jr.
Neal Jr. is going to quickly become a fan favorite in Happy Valley. He plays the safety position with incredible physicality and IQ. He is rarely out of position, and when it is time to make a tackle, he isn't shy about it.
On the third team are the following Nittany Lions. Running back Carson Hanson, lineman Anthony Donkoh, linebacker Tony Rojas, safety Jeremiah Cooper, and kicker Ryan Barker. Rojas is a leader of this Penn State team, and if he can perform to his potential, he will land better than the third team.
Lastly, on the fourth team is wide receiver Chase Sowell. Sowell is at his fourth school in his career. He began at Colorado before transferring to East Carolina and then going to Iowa State.
He is coming to Penn State off of over 1,700 yards and six touchdowns over the past three seasons.
Together, all eight of the Nittany Lions are reasons to be excited about the Penn State roster heading into next year. It will be a patchwork group, but they will compete each and every week and will definitely turn some heads throughout the 2026-27 season.
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