Penn State football hosts No. 1 recruit in Texas, top 2026 DL this week

Penn State football is now officially halfway through spring practice, marking a significant midway point for the Nittany Lions’ efforts both on the field with the 2024 roster and on the recruiting trail. James Franklin and his staff have welcomed numerous top prospects to Happy Valley recently, including one of the best players that the Lonestar State has to offer in the 2026 recruiting cycle. The Nittany Lions are looking to make further inroads with Texas’s No. 1 recruit, KJ Ford Jr., after the top defensive lineman visited Penn State on Tuesday.

KJ Ford Jr. takes in Happy Valley for the first time

Although extremely early, four-star defensive lineman KJ Ford Jr. is already making waves in the 2026 recruiting cycle. The Duncanville product is 247Sports’ No. 1 prospect out of Texas for 2026 and the fifth-ranked defensive lineman in the country. On3 and Rivals are currently slightly lower on Ford, both of which have him evaluated as an edge rusher.

The 6-3, 225-pound high school sophomore has 15 offers to date, mostly from programs in the southwest. However, Ford’s national brand has been growing, as he’s added offers from UCF, USC, Oklahoma, and Miami in the last two months.

Penn State football was one of the earliest schools in on KJ Ford Jr., offering him as a freshman last May. Now, Ford has made his first trip to Happy Valley. He was on campus Tuesday for an unofficial visit to observe the Nittany Lions’ spring practice.

I’ll be at Penn state today 🔵 @PennStateFball

— Kevin “KJ” Ford Jr 🛸 (@KJ4ord) March 26, 2024

The visit was the ninth of Ford’s young recruitment. He’s only been to two schools multiple times, Oklahoma and nearby SMU. Both programs are considered early contenders, along with in-state Texas A&M. Before linking up with James Franklin and Penn State football this week, KJ Ford Jr. was most recently in Norman after stops at USC and Miami.

Penn State football 2026 recruiting class update

For what it’s worth, Penn State football currently has the No. 6 class nationally for the 2026 recruiting cycle, per 247Sports. That ranking is due to the Nittany Lions’ lone commitment in the class, four-star in-state running back Messiah Mickens.

But 2026 has increasingly come into focus in recent weeks. Outside of KJ Ford Jr., James Franklin and the Nittany Lions played hosts this week to two of the top quarterback prospects in the 2026 cycle, Dia Bell and Faizon Brandon. The latter walked away with an offer from Penn State football on Tuesday.

The Nittany Lions will have several more opportunties to get prospects on campus before the major recruiting event of the spring, the annual Blue-White Game on April 13.

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