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Nov 25, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Penn State kick returner Saquon Barkley (26) runs the ball against the Maryland Terrapins defense at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
After a long first week, we are out of the first round and onto the second round. Here’s where we stand with our final 32 players.
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We’ll be breaking the second round up into two days because I think this post would crash with all the screenshots if we did all 16 matchups at once. First up, the Barkley Region and Warren Region. The voting form is at the bottom of this post.
1/9: Saquon Barkley vs. Sean Clifford
1. Saquon Barkley
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What can be said or argued about Saquon Barkley that already isn’t known? One of the most dominant running backs not just at Penn State during the 21st Century, but really in all of college football. He could win by dancing like Barry Sanders or bowling a defender over like Adrian Peterson. Truly one of a kind and he has all the accolades to show for it.
9. Sean Clifford
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Sean Clifford’s was a lighting rod at times during his Penn State tenure, even getting benched for Will Levis at one point during the 2020 season. But Clifford earned his job back, and proved to be one of the most productive quarterbacks in Penn State’s history. 10,000+ passing yards, 86 passing touchdowns, and a Rose Bowl victory in his final game is quite the resume.
4/5: KJ Hamler vs. Mike Hull
4. KJ Hamler
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Perhaps outside of Saquon Barkley, was there a more electric offensive player at Penn State since 2014 than KJ Hamler? The “speedy freshman” bursted onto the scene after a redshirt season in 2017, showcasing elite big play ability whenever he got his hands on the football.
5. Mike Hull
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So Sports-Reference has Mike Hull mistakenly named “Ethan Hull” for his 2011 and 2012 seasons, so add on 76 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, and 4 sacks to Hull’s career stats. His 294 career tackles is good for 7th all-time in Penn State history. But really, look at that 2014 season because that’s what got Hull a 5 seed. 140 tackles and 10 TFLs is a super exclusive club, with Dan Connor the last Nittany Lion to do it besides Hull.
6/14: Arnold Ebiketie vs. Zakee Wheatley
6. Arnold Ebiketie
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Arnold Ebiketie came to Penn State from Temple and quickly established himself as one of the best defensive ends in the country in 2021. He had at least one TFL in every game in 2021 except for the Auburn game, and had memorable performances against No. 3 Iowa (3.5 TFLs) and No. 6 Michigan (2 sacks). If he was at Penn State longer, he’d undoubtedly be higher on this list.
14. Zakee Wheatley
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What a career for Zakee Wheatley, who kind of had a throwback career of sorts. Redshirts his first season, plays a rotational backup role for the next two seasons, and then starts his final two seasons. He was just a dude who got better every season he played, and he might have the record most games played as a Nittany Lion with 58.
7/2: Dani Dennis-Sutton vs. Olu Fashanu
7. Dani Dennis-Sutton
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Like Zane Durant, I think there was a hope that Dani Dennis-Sutton would take his game to another level in 2025, and while that didn’t happen, DDS was still a very, very good player. Back-to-back 8.5-sack seasons — to go along with a dozen or so TFLs — doesn’t happen without being a damn good football player. Plus, not listed here was DDS’s 7 forced fumbles the last 3 seasons.
2. Olu Fashanu
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Along with Saquon Barkley, Carl Nassib, and Abdul Carter, Olu Fashanu is one of four consensus All-Americans at Penn State during the James Franklin tenure. So although he only started 21 games due to some injuries in 2022, Fashanu was a dominant left tackle.
1/9: Tyler Warren vs. Miles Sanders
1. Tyler Warren
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Tyler Warren was so special as a player that I needed to make sure his rushing stats — as a tight end — were included in the screenshot above. I mean, his redshirt senior year jump is just unheard of. Yes, he was a good player in 2023, but he went from pretty good tight end to one of the best players in Penn State’s history. Just a ridiculous 2024 season that earned him this 1 seed.
9. Miles Sanders
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Miles Sanders played a limited role behind Saquon Barkley during his first two seasons in Happy Valley, but he broke out as a bonafide RB1 in his lone season as a starter. He’ll always get the Saquon comparisons — fairly or unfairly — but Boobie proved his talent with a second-team All-B1G season in 2018.
4/5: Pat Freiermuth vs. Kaytron Allen
4. Pat Freiermuth
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And injury cut his 2020 season short, but Pat Freiermuth very clearly established himself as one of the best tight ends in Penn State history during his 30 games as a Nittany Lion. He quickly took over a starting role as a true freshman, and then was 1A/1B with KJ Hamler on the Cotton Bowl Champion 2019 squad.
5. Kaytron Allen
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Penn State’s all-time leading rusher was a joy to watch, and in a disappointing 2025 season as a whole for the Nittany Lions, Kaytron Allen was one of the few bright spots of “Oh, this guy got better and took his game to another level.” He nows leads Happy Valley as Penn State’s all-time leader in rushing yards, and as someone who was as dependable as a running back comes.
3/6: Vega Ioane vs. Chop Robinson
6. Chop Robinson
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There are some players who stats don’t do justice to how good they were, and man, I’d put Chop Robinson in that. I am *shocked* he only had 9.5 sacks and 17.5 TFLs in his career in Happy Valley because he was an absolute demon at defensive end on two of the best defenses the Nittany Lions have had.
3. Vega Ioane
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A three-year starter for the Nittany Lions, Vega Ioane was as dominant an offensive guard as there was during the James Franklin era. He had a banner 2025 season, earning first-team All-B1G honors and even some All-American honors too. He’s now poised to be one of the first offensive linemen selected in this year’s NFL draft.
2/10: Yetur Gross-Matos vs. Drew Allar
10. Drew Allar
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Good or bad, I don’t think what I say here will be all that meaningful. You all know Drew Allar. You all have your opinions on him. We’ll let the voting figure it out.
2. Yetur Gross-Matos
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We’ll see what the voting shows, but I think Yetur Gross-Matos is one of the more underrated players of the Franklin era. He’s a two-time first-team All-B1G player, and I mean, look at those sack and TFL numbers — 19 sacks and 37 TFLs. That is not far off from Abdul Carter’s 23 sacks and 39.5 TFLs, and Carter had four extra games to do it with.
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