Well, folks, ample time has passed for Matt Campbell to build up his first recruiting class as Penn State football’s head coach. He inherited a class with no commits and needed to hit the ground running to turn it around.

After five-and-a-half months, Penn State currently sits at No. 8 on 247Sports’ composite 2027 class rankings, good for third in the Big Ten behind UCLA and USC. Not too shabby considering the mess he walked into.

After some notable commitments at key positions in recent days, what else can Campbell and Co. do to build up the class?

Quarterbacks

Penn State locked down three-star Massachusetts signal caller Will Wood after missing out on four-star Peter Bourque to Virginia Tech. Once it was clear that Bourque was gaining significant interest from other programs, Campbell sent the dogs out to Wood for an in-home visit. Safe to say it made a good impression.

Thank you for a great home visit @PennStateFball #WEARE pic.twitter.com/TqMreVcUdR

— Will Wood 4 27’ QB (@willwood11_) May 9, 2026

Bourque and Wood even acknowledged their recruiting saga after they both committed to their respective schools.

@willwood11_ https://t.co/V1FDBX6qjC

— Peter Bourque c/o2027 (@PeterBourque7) May 16, 2026

With Wood in place for the 2027 class, it doesn’t seem like the Nittany Lions need to put their resources toward another at the position for now. Penn State still has Iowa State transfer Alex Manske behind Rocco Becht — who did get reps at Iowa State in 2025 — and freshmen Kase Evans and Peyton Falzone learning the ropes. Connor Barry and Jack Lambert are also in the room, but their doors seem more closed than open.

Running Backs

Penn State used the last two weeks to reel in four-star running back Aiden Gibson out of South Carolina and three-star Chukwuma Odoh out of New Jersey. With Penn State’s future at the running back position looking slightly light, both were big splashes for Savon Huggins.

Gibson averaged 119.1 rushing yards per game in his high school career. Odoh has 2,225 career rushing yards. The Nittany Lions’ 2027 running back class is in good hands overall, to say the least.

Wide Receivers

Penn State’s only two pledges at wideout in the 2027 class are four-star Landon Blum and three-star Jamir Dean. Blum is an Iowa native, but he didn’t get his Iowa State offer until six days before Penn State offered him. He committed to Penn State on April 4 while in town for an unofficial visit, becoming Penn State’s first offensive commit in the class, first four-star, and the first commit for Kashif Moore.

On the other side, Dean has blossomed into a four-star recruit and received an offer from Georgia on May 6. The Bulldogs are gaining traction for a flip, and Dean is likely to take an official visit soon, per Rivals. If Dean does flip, Moore will have to hit the ground running again. It would be a sizable hit to the recruiting class as a whole and a lot of damage for the new receiving corps.

An option for Moore could be four-star Khalil Taylor. He was formerly committed to Penn State under James Franklin and has kept the Nittany Lions in his top schools throughout the past few months. His commitment, whether to Penn State or not, should be made soon.

Tight Ends

Taylor Mouser landed his first Penn State tight end recruit in South Dakota four-star Cooper Terwilliger on April 13. Terwilliger is the third-highest-rated player in the Nittany Lions’ haul to date, as well as the No. 1 player in his home state, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Campbell and Co. first offered the tight end on April 16, 2024, while at Iowa State. He was one of the early players Campbell re-offered when he took the Penn State job in December. Campbell and Mouser wanted Terwilliger for a long time, and it looks like he’ll serve as Penn State’s big splash at the position for the cycle.

However, the Nittany Lions should try to snag another to diversify the room heading into 2027. This could come in the form of 6-foot-7 Sean Currie, who will announce his commitment on Friday.

Offensive Line

Penn State’s hottest coach on the recruiting trail has easily been Ryan Clanton. He’s secured pledges from four offensive line recruits in three-stars David Tarawallie, Owen Reilly, Ryan Robbins, and Jon Sassic. While the collection of three stars isn’t exactly flashy, neither is the offensive line.

Clanton does need some more reinforcements down the line, however. Cooper Cousins seems ahead of schedule in his development and could enter the NFL Draft after his junior year in 2026.

Penn State doesn’t have much offensive line depth beyond that, especially after the mass exodus following the 2026 NFL Draft. It’s a new era for the line. No Nick Dawkins, no Vega Ioane, no Drew Shelton. Clanton needs a strong and abundant class, for once the Iowa State transfers start leaving, too.

Cornerbacks

Penn State’s highest-rated pledge in the 2027 class is four-star cornerback Kei’Shjuan Telfair. The Nittany Lions also hold commitments from three-star Semajay Robinson, Ka’ron Ceaser, and Zachary Gleason Jr.

Honestly, Penn State looks pretty set at the position for the class.

Terry Smith slipped back into his role as cornerbacks coach and made quick work of the recruiting trail to build a respectable class. You just have to imagine how easy it is for that guy to win over high schoolers. He did have a good track record recruiting guys to a James Franklin-led team, after all.

Safeties

The lone safety in Penn State’s Class of 2027 so far is three-star Jonathan Galette out of New Jersey.

The Nittany Lions do enter 2026 with a strong young safety core, though. Vaboue Toure is set to take on an increased role following a solid 2025 campaign. Marcus Neal Jr. and Jeremiah Cooper are the clear tandem at the position, but they’re both expected to depart for the NFL Draft following the season.

Outside of that, Penn State has redshirt sophomore Syracuse transfer Ibn McDaniels, sophomore Boston College transfer Omarion Davis, and a slew of freshmen. There are only nine safeties rostered currently, and with Neal and Cooper set to leave, Broomfield has to start getting some more guys in the door.

Linebackers

Just like the safety group, Penn State only has one commit at the position in three-star Blake Betton. He was first offered by Iowa State on May 16, 2025, and promptly received a new offer from Penn State once the Campbell regime took over.

While Penn State does have a strong young linebacker duo in Cam Smith and Alex Tatsch that saw solid action in 2025, the majority of the room is in their junior year or above. Tony Rojas is likely to leave for the NFL Draft, and Iowa State transfers Kooper Ebel, Cael Brezine, and Caleb Bacon can follow suit.

There’s a mass exodus coming. Tyson Veidt has to get his numbers up. The standard is different at LBU. A crystal ball prediction for three-star Case Alexander could help his cause.

Defensive Line

The Nittany Lions hold only two defensive line pledges in the 2027 class from four-star Stanley Montgomery and three-star Carter Blattner. It’s a little unfair to rate Ikaika Malloe’s efforts in light of UCLA’s monster recruiting class so far — Malloe built those relationships for the Bruins and Bob Chesney seems to be a master salesman — but there needs to be a little more action in actual commitments for Penn State.

The Nittany Lions and Christian Smith don’t even hold a commitment from an edge rusher in the class so far. There’s still a long road to go, but Smith needs to pick up some slack. He’s the only position coach on staff without a commit in the class so far.