Penn State mid‑camp check
Penn State’s spring work is now in its second half — the team logged its seventh day of drills on Tuesday, will be back on the field Thursday, and staffers are using these practices to settle tight receiver and tight‑end battles. On3 flags one WR and one TE as must‑watch players in the back half of camp, and the program will next show at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago this July. That framing means coaches are shifting from installation to evaluation — the next weeks are when depth charts and role clarity should start to emerge. (on3.com) (on3.com) (x.com)
Penn State has reached the part of spring where coaches stop teaching the whole playbook and start deciding who can actually help on Saturdays. The team logged its seventh practice on Tuesday, opens another media window on Thursday, and wraps spring with an open Blue-White practice on April 25 at Beaver Stadium. (on3.com) (gopsusports.com) That makes the receiver room and the tight end room the most revealing places to watch now, because those are the spots where Penn State still needs pecking order more than star power. On3’s second-half preview singled out one wide receiver and one tight end as the two names to track as camp turns from installation into evaluation. (on3.com 1) (on3.com 2) The wide receiver to watch is Koby Howard, a sophomore listed at 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds on Penn State’s 2026 roster. Howard already has game snaps on his résumé, including his first career start at Michigan State and catches against Indiana and Nebraska last season. (gopsusports.com 1) (gopsusports.com 2) Howard is interesting now because Penn State added transfer size at the position, including Chase Sowell, a redshirt senior listed at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. When a room adds bigger outside targets, the battle shifts to who can win the other jobs, and Howard’s case is quickness, trust, and already having been used in real games. (gopsusports.com 1) (gopsusports.com 2) The tight end to watch is Benjamin Brahmer, the former Iowa State player who followed head coach Matt Campbell to Penn State. Brahmer arrives with the kind of frame Penn State usually turns into a featured piece at the position, and outside coverage this week has already pointed to him as a possible breakout senior. (on3.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Brahmer’s timing matters because Penn State has treated tight end like a headline position for years, not a spare part. The 2026 roster still includes returning tight ends such as Andrew Rappleyea, Finn Furmanek, Cooper Alexander, and Joey Schlaffer, so the second half of camp is where coaches sort out who blocks, who stretches the seam, and who can handle both. (gopsusports.com) (gopsusports.com) This spring also looks different because it is Matt Campbell’s first one in State College after taking over in December. A first spring under a new head coach usually starts with broad installation, then narrows into role tests, and Penn State is now at that narrowing stage. (on3.com) (247sports.com) The next public checkpoint after these April practices is not a game in September but Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on July 28. The conference announced this week that Penn State will appear on the opening day of the three-day event at the Hilton Chicago with head coach Matt Campbell and three players. (bigten.org) (on3.com) By then, Penn State will need cleaner answers than it had at the start of camp. The second half of spring is where a receiver like Koby Howard or a tight end like Benjamin Brahmer can turn from “one to watch” into the guy coaches mention first when July microphones show up in Chicago. (on3.com) (bigten.org)
