Penn State football adds Air Force cadet to 2024 roster

As Penn State football prepares to kick off 2024 preseason camp this week, the program has made a summer addition to its roster. The Nittany Lions will add depth along the offensive front in the form of Air Force graduate transfer Mason Carlan.

James Franklin confirmed the roster move at Big Ten Football Media Days last week. The addition was anticipated for several weeks, given Carlan’s comments on social media in late May.

“God is good! Thank you to all my friends and family, I am forever grateful for your support,” Carlan wrote. “Graduating [from] the Air Force Academy is special, but the people you meet along the way are even more. Next stop Penn State!!!”

God is good! Thank you to all my friends and family, I am forever grateful for your support. Graduating for the Air Force Academy is special, but the people you meet along the way are even more. Next stop Penn State!!! pic.twitter.com/uijbDlEvYe

— Mason Carlan (@CarlanMason) May 31, 2024

A member of the Falcons’ class of 2020, Mason Carlan entered the Air Force Academy as a three-star recruit from North Little Rock (Arkansas) High School.

After not seeing the field in 2020 or 2021, Carlan appeared in five games in 2022, a season in which Air Force was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s top offense line.

Last year, Carlan played in all 13 games. The Falcons ranked second in FBS with 281.5 rushing yards per game.

Mason Carlan is listed at 6-2, 295 pounds on the latest Penn State football roster. The senior will wear No. 76 for the Nittany Lions this fall.

Blue chip edge rusher to join Penn State football program this week

Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Mason Carlan isn’t the only Penn State football roster addition coming into focus recently.

On Thursday, Fort Bend Christian Academy (Texas) defensive end Max Granville announced that he was reclassifying from the 2025 to the 2024 recruiting cycle. With the move, the four-star edge rusher will join the Nittany Lions for fall camp this week.

Previously one of the highest-ranked prospects in the Nittany Lions’ 2025 class, the move will allow Granville to sit and learn behind a veteran group of defensive ends this season. With the reclassification, Penn State ranks No. 15 in On3’s national rankings, respectively, for the 2024 cycle.

Conversely, Granville’s switch knocks Penn State down to No. 17 in the 2025 cycle.

However, it does free up James Franklin and his staff to make additional recruiting moves. The Nittany Lions did so this weekend at the annual Lasch Bash, hosting Ohio State commit and top in-state defender Zahir Mathis for the second time this summer.

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