Max Granville
A four-star recruit out of high school, with an offer sheet that included Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn. He reclassified up a year, graduating early to enroll for the 2024 season instead of 2025. In high school, he had 38.5 sacks across his three-year career, including six strip-sacks in 2022; first-team all-state as a linebacker, second-team on offense. Granville was also a track standout, named top male athlete at the 2024 TAPPS Championships after placing 2nd in the 110m hurdles and shot put, 3rd in the 300m hurdles.
Granville debuted as a true freshman in 2024 against Kent State, playing in 7 games including 3 in the postseason. He spelled Abdul Carter in a situational role during the Fiesta Bowl win over Boise State and was described as “trending up” by the coaching staff. Expectations were high for a 2025 breakout, the knee injury that spring while training at home in Texas cost him the entire 2025 season. He’s since completed rehab and says he feels “great,” “fast,” and has put on muscle heading into 2026, where he’ll compete for a starting defensive end spot alongside Ike Ezeogu, Alexander McPherson, and Yvan Kemajou as Penn State replaces departed starters Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zuriah Fisher.
Ben Brahmer
Ben Brahmer joins Penn State as a senior tight end and one of the more accomplished transfer additions on the roster. The 6’7″, 255-pound Nebraska native was a three-star recruit out of high school, ranked the No. 3 player in the state and No. 32 tight end nationally.
Over three seasons at Iowa State, Brahmer caught 75 passes for 977 yards and 9 touchdowns. His breakout came in 2025, when he led the Cyclones with 37 catches for 446 yards (12.1 yards per catch) and a team-high 6 touchdowns, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors and a Mackey Award semifinalist nod. He was rated the No. 1 tight end in the transfer portal before following head coach Matt Campbell to Penn State, stepping into a tight end room with a strong recent pedigree, as he will try to follow in the steps of Tyler Warren, Theo Johnson, and Brenton Strange, and the rest of the Penn State tight ends currently on an NFL roster.
18 more days!