Penn State Football: Grading Nittany Lions’ Recent Transfer Portal Additions
Penn State Football is set to face off against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl in a few days, but that does not mean Penn State’s staff has been solely focused on the remainder of the 2024 season.
Unfortunately due to the NCAA calendar, Penn State’s football staff has been forced to double up game prep for the College Football Playoff with putting the final pieces together of Penn State’s 2025 roster in the transfer portal (and keeping the team intact in both 2024 and 2025).
So far this offseason, the Nittany Lions have lost a few players already to the transfer portal before the team’s season is even over (including a tough loss of backup quarterback Beau Pribula).
However, Penn State has also received the commitment from three players for Penn State’s 2025 roster via the transfer portal.
Here is a breakdown of these three additions.
Grading Penn State Football’s Transfer Portal Acquisitions
Wide Receiver Kyron Hudson
Wide receiver Kyron Hudson committed to the Nittany Lions after spending the past four seasons with the USC Trojans. Hudson recorded 38 receptions for 462 yards and three touchdowns in 2024.
Penn State’s weakness on offense the past two seasons has been at wide receiver. Hudson’s 38 receptions and 462 yards on the season would rank second among Nittany Lions receivers behind only Harrison Wallace III on the season.
According to PFF, Hudson also did not have a drop in 2024, something that the Nittany Lions have struggled with in recent seasons.
Hudson’s addition gives quarterback Drew Allar another reliable weapon for 2025 as the Nittany Lions offense looks to reload with plenty of weapons around Allar for his final season in Happy Valley.
Kyron Hudson’s Role
Hudson should step in and immediately enter the starting rotation as one of the Nittany Lions’ top four receivers for next season. Hudson will compete with Harrison Wallace III, Omari Evans, and Devonte Ross (discussed later) to lead Penn State in targets next season.
Kyron Hudson Grade: B
Hudson is a sure-handed, reliable receiver that gives Penn State another weapon in the passing attack at a position of need. While Hudson will likely not be a true number one receiver for Allar and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, he gives Allar a reliable target to spread the ball around to next season.
Defensive end Enai White
Once upon a time, Enai White was a top two prospect in the state of Pennsylvania and a top 50 product nationally.
While the class of 2022 was one of the best ever at Penn State, ranking sixth nationally and including star playmakers Allar, Nick Singleton, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Abdul Carter, Penn State would have loved to add another elite pass rusher to the fold. Instead, Enai White committed to Texas A&M’s top ranked class that included five top defensive line prospects.
Three years later, White has played in only thirteen games and has dealt with injuries limiting his development at Texas A&M.
White returns to Pennsylvania next season to hopefully fulfill the high potential that evaluators saw out of high school.
Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes and the Penn State staff brought White in as a developmental project, not as an immediate starter for next season. If White can grow into his full potential, he will be a steal in the transfer portal.
With Carter almost guaranteed to head to the NFL draft after the season, Smith Vilbert out of eligibility, and Dani Dennis-Sutton with an NFL decision to make, Penn State needed additional numbers at defensive end or edge next season. White is a good fit to play a depth role until he is ready to step in as a starter later in his Penn State career.
Enai White’s Role
I would expect Enai White to play a rotational role at edge for Penn State next season. White could grow into a starting role if he develops throughout the season, but I would not expect him to start immediately next season.
Enai White Grade: C+
With White’s injury history, its hard to grade White as a transfer at the moment. Penn State has a chance to hit the lottery with White if he is able to develop into his potential as a top 50 prospect in the 2022 class. However, if he is able to reach that ceiling is a major question after playing in only thirteen games in three seasons at Texas A&M.
Wide Receiver Devonte Ross
Devonte Ross was one of the most productive receivers in the nation in 2024.
For the Troy Trojans in 2024, Ross caught 76 passes for 1,043 yards and 11 touchdowns. Ross had both big play ability (Ross caught a 98 yard touchdown against Florida A&M) and consistency (Ross caught five or more passes in eight games last season).
One of the questions surrounding Ross will be how his game will translate from the group of five to the power five. Ross answered some of this against Iowa last season, when he caught five passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns against the Hawkeyes in September.
Ross has top end speed to get over top of the defense and has shown plenty of elite production in his three seasons at Troy.
Devontae Ross’s Role
Ross will be expected to come in and compete for a starting role and plenty of targets in Penn State’s offense next season. Ross will compete through the spring with Omari Evans, Harrison Wallace III, and fellow transfer Kyron Hudson for both starts and targets from Drew Allar next season.
Devontae Ross Grade: B+
Ross’ major question mark is how his smaller size will hold up for a full season in the Big Ten.
At only 5-foot-11, 160 pounds, Ross is undersized for a typical Big Ten receiver. However, on tape, his game shows plenty of potential to transfer over to the Big Ten at a very high level. Ross has the potential to be an extremely productive wide receiver next season for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State Football expects to remain active in the transfer portal throughout the rest of the winter portal window and the spring transfer portal window as well.
The Nittany Lions still will look to fill depth at linebacker, defensive tackle and end, and potentially safety through the portal as new entrants and targets emerge. So far, with three transfer portal pickups, Penn State is doing well filling positions of need with high-potential players.
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Penn State Football Reporter at NittanyCentral
Robert Shields covers Penn State Football for Nittany Central. As a Penn State graduate, Robert has covered Penn State football since 2019, but had been a fan of the Nittany Lions for well over a decade. During his undergraduate education, Robert was a manager in the athletic department of a division III school, working in various aspects of athletic management at football, soccer, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse games.
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