Penn State football: Nittany Lions targeting top-ranked LB in SEC country

The Nittany Lions’ 2025 recruiting class currently ranks in the top-3 nationally and 1st in the Big Ten. This week, Penn State football targeted a new face as a potential addition to the class: 2025 linebacker Jarcoby Hopson, a top-3 recruit in Mississippi.

Penn State football is targeting 2025 linebacker Jarcoby Hopson, a top-3 recruit in Mississippi

Yesterday, Jarcoby Hopson took to Twitter to announce that he has received a scholarship offer from James Franklin and the Penn State football program. Seeing as the Nittany Lions are universally known as ‘LBU’ due to the program’s track record of developing elite linebackers, this is a move that could make some sense for the young 2025 linebacker recruit.

According to the 247 Sports Composite rankings, Hopson is a four-star linebacker and ranks as the No. 111 recruit in the 2025 class, the No. 11 linebacker in the country, and the No. 2 recruit in Mississippi. Being from SEC country, Hopson has a lot of interest from local and regional programs, such as Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and more. The Nittany Lions are one of two Big Ten programs to show serious interest in Hopson; Mel Tucker’s Michigan State Spartans did the same.

Hopson is yet to make a recruiting trip up north to Big Ten country, though could become a major target for the Nittany Lions over the coming months — if Penn State football wants to establish itself as a legitimate candidate for Hopson, getting him on campus will be essential.

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