Although the wins didn't follow the 2026 Nittany Lions, they sure cashed a lot in during the 2026 NFL Draft.
If you were drafting based on the team's record the prior season, the 2026 NFL Draft would have had zero Nittany Lions drafted in it. Instead, Penn State finished with the fourth most players drafted and were just three behind the Ohio State Buckeyes who were in the top spot with 11 players.
If you needed more evidence for how bad af a job that James Franklin was doing as the head coach of Penn State, well, now you have it.
Penn State's eight drafted players were all deserving of the honor. From Vega Ioane in the first round to Drew Allar in the fourth to Kaytron Allen in the sixth, every single Nittany Lion who was picked was deserving of it.
Not only was it impressive that they were selected, but at least five of the eight selections are going to have legitimate opportunities to make NFL rosters and make plays on Sundays.
Ioane goes without saying that there is a very high likelihood that he is Baltimore's day one starter next year on their offensive line.
The rest are going to have to earn it.
Allar in Pittsburgh is likely going to be the backup to Aaron Rodgers, whoever is playing quarterback for the Steelers.
© Dan Powers/USA TODAY | 2026 May 1 The interesting selections are the middle round guys: Zakee Wheatley, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Zane Durant. I believe that each of those guys is going to get legitimate opportunities early in the season to become impactful players on each of their rosters.
I see Wheatley impressing very early on in camp and becoming a legitimate weapon for the Carolina Panthers sooner rather than later.
The final three players are going to have to fight to make rosters next year. Both running backs, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, are going to have to earn it, and offensive lineman Drew Shelton will have to show out to earn spots.
Shelton was a fourth-round pick, so he will be expected to be on the roster, but he will certainly be near the chopping block all year.
For the running backs, there have been several late-round back success stories, and there is nothing to say that either one of those guys couldn't become the next Isaiah Pacheco.
Regardless of how it shakes out, only six schools in America had more draft picks than Penn State, and all of them were within three more players.
Just another reminder for how big of a bummer the 2026 Penn State season truly was.
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