James Franklin makes pitch to portal linebackers to help address roster ‘concerns’

Penn State football officially wrapped up spring practice on Saturday afternoon with the annual Blue-White Game. The Nittany Lions now have a little over four months to shift focus and prepare for the season opener against Nevada.

Expected to be a top-five team heading into the fall, it may be now or never for the Nittany Lions to compete for a national championship in 2025. The program returned NFL-caliber talent on both sides of the ball this offseason and has used the transfer portal to attack areas of need, such as the addition of wide receivers Kyron Hudson, Devonte Ross, and – most recently – Trebor Pena.

However, as Penn State football heads into the summer, there’s an emerging weakness at the one position that has been a staple in Happy Valley: linebacker. The Nittany Lions return veterans Dom DeLuca and Tony Rojas but otherwise face a position room filled with young, unproven talent.

“The young guys have taken some steps,” James Franklin said following Saturday’s scrimmage. “[Anthony] Speca is doing some really good things. [He] probably had the most complete, consistent spring, from a grade standpoint, things like that. Kari [Jackson] is super physical. Obviously, DeLuca, you guys all know who DeLuca is, the type of player he is. I think he’s going to thrive in this [defense]. Getting Rojas back is going to be important as well.”

Franklin: Penn State will look at linebackers in the portal this offseason

The Nittany Lions’ efforts to build critical depth at the position this spring suffered a severe blow when redshirt sophomore Ta’Mere Robinson left the program, transferring to USC. As a result, Franklin put out a not-so-subtle message to veteran linebackers currently in the transfer portal who are looking to make an impact in 2025.

“I think we’re in good shape, but there’s some concerns there,” he said. “You know, we lost a guy that we didn’t anticipate losing. As you guys know, we’re not a big portal team, but we’re going to have to address some issues. So, if there is a linebacker out there that wants to come and be a part of our program and play for LBU, the most historic linebacker program in the history of college football, there’s an opportunity here to join the room and compete. So we will look at that.

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“I think we got enough in the room, but to get through an entire season, if we get some injuries, it could get challenging. So, we’re going to look at the portal and see if we can find a solution. As you guys know, more times than not, we’d like it to be somebody that is connected to us and that we know, because we got a really good locker room. And I will make sure that we’re bringing the right people in our locker room. We’re very protective of that.”

Penn State has been in contact with several linebackers during the spring portal window, such as Boise State transfer Andrew Simpson. However, many have identified former North Carolina standout Amare Campbell as a potential plug-and-play candidate for the Nittany Lions. Campbell recorded 76 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks as a sophomore for the Tar Heels in 2024.

🦁🦁come home https://t.co/8d1qypPgRl

— Tony Rojas (@Tony_Rojas5) April 22, 2025

You can watch James Franklin’s full press conference from the 2025 Blue-White Game on the Basic Blues Nation YouTube channel.

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