Penn State football's 2025 depth chart analysis: Will best run game in 30 years be enough?

Penn State football’s 2025 depth chart analysis: Will best run game in 30 years be enough?

Posted by author January 27, 2025 Football

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Penn State football will boast one of the nation’s top rosters in 2025, and the most complete one yet in coach James Franklin’s 11th season.

But it will carry a warning label, for now.

A team primed to make another deep postseason run and play for its first national title in nearly 40 years must find answers to a couple of preseason dilemmas to legitimize its elite expectations.

While the Nittany Lions return College Football Playoff depth, experience and standouts in nearly every area, there are two glaring issues: middle linebacker and receiver.

Could the incoming 2025 recruiting class − which should be finalized by National Signing Day on Feb. 5 − provide some immediate help?

What we do know: This Top 20-rated recruiting group, at least, will supply multiple prospects for both positions, including former Penn State star linebacker LaVar Arrington’s son.

Here’s analysis of a few key positions for Penn State in 2025:

Penn State football: Can a remade receiver room finally produce?

One statistic from the playoff loss to Notre Dame summed up this festering problem: Penn State became the only non-service academy team last season to not have a receiver catch a pass in a game.

The most unproductive group of this offense the past two seasons had reached its nadir.

And so it appears that position coach Marques Hagans is getting to hit a reset button, of sorts. Four of his wideouts, including top targets Tre Wallace and Omari Evans, left via the transfer portal shortly after the season-ending loss to Notre Dame. Another (Julian Fleming) is out of eligibility.

The reboot, for now, features junior backup Liam Clifford and five other returners who combined to make just three receptions last season.

The biggest hope comes from transfers Kyron Hudson (USC) and Devonte Ross (Troy) who offer intriguing playmaking and reliability possibilities.

This team desperately needs to develop a true, dependable No. 1 target for the first time since Jahan Dotson in 2021.

More hope may lie in the second transfer portal cycle this spring.

Recruiting class influence: Each of the four incoming freshmen − Virginia’s Matthew Outen, Florida’s Koby Howard, New York’s Lyric Samuel and Maryland’s Jeff Exinor − are promising in their own right. Outen (the highest rated) and Exinor (most physically mature) have the best shots to help early.

How will Linebacker U. replace Kobe King?

The Lions will return proven playmakers at linebacker this season in junior Tony Rojas and senior Dom DeLuca.

But both are natural outside, roaming playmakers. Kobe King, who is leaving early for the NFL, was the reliable leader in the middle. He handled the playcalling duties. He made sure everyone around him was lined up properly. And he was the defense’s more dependable tackler, especially around scrimmage.

The Lions’ don’t possess another ready-made, 250-pound enforcer to control the middle of the field.

The best bets, for now, may be for Rojas or promising redshirt freshman Anthony Speca (6-foot-1, 226 pounds) to shift and quickly grow into that role.

The position room is full of unproven commodities behind them − which may force a transfer search this spring.

Recruiting class influence: The incoming freshmen, featuring LaVar Arrington Jr. and in-state standouts, Cameron Smith, Dayshaun Burnett and Alex Tasch, will be watched closely. Can someone rise quickly by summer to make the two-deep depth chart? While their upsides make that possible, each seems better suited for special teams work early on.

Offensive and running backs: Best Penn State combination in 30 years?

Penn State returns seven of its top offensive linemen from one of its top units in years.

It also brings back two 1,000-yard rushers.

Which all could make this PSU’s most dominating running game in three decades. This has the makings of the Lions’ first, truly elite group of Big Ten blockers − in terms of talent, depth and experience − since the 1994-95 seasons.

It certainly could be the most intimidating offensive line since, featuring run-game maulers in guards Vega Ioane and Cooper Cousins. It will own three potential All-Big Ten tackles in Drew Shelton, Nolan Rucci and Anthony Donkoh. It also returns its leader, on and off the field, in center Nick Dawkins.

They all will open holes for Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen who each owns the unique possibility of breaking Penn State’s all-time career rushing record next fall.

These guys can’t erase the questions swirling around quarterback Drew Allar and the outside pass game. But they certainly will provide a reliable path.

Recruiting class influence: New Jersey’s Malachi Goodman (6-foot-5, 320 pounds) is a high four-star prospect and arguably the highest-rated member of the entire class. Still, he and fellow rookies Owen Aliciene and Michael Troutman figure to redshirt and grow into incoming roles. Texas A&M transfer TJ Shanahan could contribute more quickly. He owns SEC playing experience coming into his redshirt sophomore season.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.