Penn State football’s starting corners in 2023 were Kalen King, Johnny Dixon, and Daequan Hardy. All three corners have since departed from the program, leaving a chasm in the secondary.

Cam Miller got his first career start in the Peach Bowl where he played alongside Hardy. But the two were unable to slow down Ole Miss’s passing attack and other than Miller, now a junior, it looked like the Nittany Lions were going to have to roll the dice with starting underclassmen heading into the 2024 offseason.

To help eliminate the question marks surrounding the position, James Franklin dove into the transfer portal and came back with corners Jalen Kimber and A.J. Harris. Kimber, a Florida transfer, and Harris, a Georgia transfer, came to Penn State at different points in their careers, but with similar goals: they both wanted to play.

The redshirt senior Kimber left Florida for the transfer portal and originally committed to Louisville at the end of December. Less than two weeks later, he flipped his commitment to Penn State. Kimber said in April that he eventually chose the Nittany Lions because he saw the NFL talent defensive backs coach Terry Smith helped produce and said he wanted to be next.

Harris, a sophomore, played for Georgia in a loaded cornerback room last season but left at the end of the season. When Harris committed to Penn State, he had to work his way up the depth chart again and welcomed the challenge.

Now, both transfers are the starting corners for the Nittany Lions’ defense in 2024.

Kimber made his 12th career start, and Harris his first, against West Virginia Saturday. The transfers helped hold the Mountaineers to just 161 receiving yards as their leading receiver Preston Fox barely eclipsed 40 yards.

“It meant the world to me getting my first opportunity to play for Penn State,” Harris said Tuesday. “The program has really taken me and welcomed me with open arms, so I just wanted to really go out there and leave it all out on the field for my team and my coaching staff.”

Kimber wasn’t available to speak with the media this week, but Franklin said Wednesday why he decided to start Kimber in the season opener.

“I think he’s really grown in all the stuff off the field, from a developmental standpoint,” Franklin said. “Especially in the weight room, he got bigger, stronger, faster, and more explosive, [and] he’s a veteran guy.”

All of a sudden, what was perhaps the biggest weakness for the Nittany Lions heading into the 2024 season seems like it could be one of their biggest strengths. Not only have Kimber and Harris filled much-needed holes on the depth chart, but they’ve also helped to build depth at cornerback by giving younger players more time to develop.

“We have more depth than we had in the past year,” senior safety Jaylen Reed said Wednesday morning. “It provides us a variety of formations we can use and packages we can create.”

Penn State fans saw a glimpse of that depth on Saturday as sophomore Elliot Washington II hauled in his first career interception in the fourth quarter.

“He is making a huge impact in a lot of different ways,” Franklin said of Washington.

It wasn’t easy for Harris and Kimber to get the starting roles. For most of the offseason, it looked like Miller was going to be the starter due to his three years of experience with Penn State. However, safety Zakee Wheatley noted Harris and Kimber’s consistent work ethic throughout the offseason.

“I’ve seen them come in every single day and work,” Wheatley said after practice Wednesday. “They’re dogs. I feel very confident seeing both of them beside me [on the field].”

Before starting at Penn State and Florida, Kimber, like Harris, originally committed to Georgia out of high school. Kimber was on the 2021 National Championship team and although Harris didn’t win a title last season in Athens, he played with many players who had.

Harris said both his old Georgia teammates and his new Penn State teammates share similar mindsets: focus on what you can control.

“I believe we just need to stay focused on the moment and just focus on Bowling Green right now,” Harris said. “That’s all we can control. [Don’t] focus on any of the outside noise and everything will take care of itself.”