We have finally made it to the Sweet 16! Here’s where our bracket stands today:
We have a number of close matchups on the Abdul/Micah side of the bracket in the second round: #1 Abdul Carter (96.6%) over #9 Parker Washington (3.4%) #4 Jaquan Brisker (54%) over #5 Mike Gesicki (54%) #3 Trace McSorley (95.1%) over #6 Marcus Allen (4.9%) #2 Carl Nassib (50.8%) over Nick Singleton (49.2%) … 135-131 vote #1 Micah Parsons (92.5) over #8 Amani Oruwariye (7.5%) #5 Joey Porter Jr. (51.9%) over #4 Anthony Zettel
(48.1%) #3 Chris Godwin (88%) over #6 DaeSean Hamilton (12%) #2 Jahan Dotson (84.6%) over #10 Adrian Amos (15.4%)
We’re down to our final 16. Google Form to vote is below.
1/4: Saquon Barkley vs. KJ Hamler
What can be said or argued about Saquon Barkley that already isn’t known? One of the most dominant running backs not just at Penn State during the 21st Century, but really in all of college football. He could win by dancing like Barry Sanders or bowling a defender over like Adrian Peterson. Truly one of a kind and he has all the accolades to show for it.
4. KJ Hamler
Perhaps outside of Saquon Barkley, was there a more electric offensive player at Penn State since 2014 than KJ Hamler? The “speedy freshman” bursted onto the scene after a redshirt season in 2017, showcasing elite big play ability whenever he got his hands on the football.
2/14: Olu Fashanu vs. Zakee Wheatley
14. Zakee Wheatley
What a career for Zakee Wheatley, who kind of had a throwback career of sorts. Redshirts his first season, plays a rotational backup role for the next two seasons, and then starts his final two seasons. He was just a dude who got better every season he played, and he might have the record most games played as a Nittany Lion with 58.
2. Olu Fashanu
Along with Saquon Barkley, Carl Nassib, and Abdul Carter, Olu Fashanu is one of four “consensus” All-Americans at Penn State during the James Franklin tenure. So although he only started 21 games due to some injuries in 2022, Fashanu was a dominant left tackle.
1/5: Tyler Warren vs. Kaytron Allen
1. Tyler Warren
Tyler Warren was so special as a player that I needed to make sure his rushing stats — as a tight end — were included in the screenshot above. I mean, his redshirt senior year jump is just unheard of. Yes, he was a good player in 2023, but he went from pretty good tight end to one of the best players in Penn State’s history. Just a ridiculous 2024 season that earned him this 1 seed.
Penn State’s all-time leading rusher was a joy to watch, and in a disappointing 2025 season as a whole for the Nittany Lions, Kaytron Allen was one of the few bright spots of “Oh, this guy got better and took his game to another level.” He nows leads Happy Valley as Penn State’s all-time leader in rushing yards, and as someone who was as dependable as a running back comes.
2/6: Yetur Gross-Matos vs. Chop Robinson
We’ll see what the voting shows, but I think Yetur Gross-Matos is one of the more underrated players of the Franklin era. He’s a two-time first-team All-B1G player, and I mean, look at those sack and TFL numbers — 19 sacks and 37 TFLs. That is not far off from Abdul Carter’s 23 sacks and 39.5 TFLs, and Carter had four extra games to do it with.
There are some players who stats don’t do justice to how good they were, and man, I’d put Chop Robinson in that. I am *shocked* he only had 9.5 sacks and 17.5 TFLs in his career in Happy Valley because he was an absolute demon at defensive end on two of the best defenses the Nittany Lions have had.
1/4: Abul Carter vs. Jaquan Brisker
1. Abdul Carter
I would say Abdul Carter was a stud from his first game at Penn State, but he got ejected on the first play of his debut against which meant we had to wait a wee bit longer to see the absurdity that was Abdul Carter. I mean, what an absolute joy to experience his progression. From a promising freshman linebacker to a devastating junior defensive end, Abdul left no doubts he was a savage. Him playing against Notre Dame with one freaking functioning arm was the stuff of legends.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more complete safety at Penn State than Jaquan Brisker, who earned second-team All-American honors in 2021. The dude just had no weaknesses in his game. He could play the deep parts of the field as a centerfielder, but yet could come up and stop the run like a linebacker. Special player.
2/3: Carl Nassib vs. Trace McSorley
2. Carl Nassib
I mentioned that Tyler Warren’s junior-to-senior jump was unforeseen, but Carl Nassib takes the cake for most ridiculous improvement between seasons maybe ever? I mean, he was a walk-on that didn’t really play that much and then his final season he’s breaking Penn State’s sacks in a season record in what was really 10 games because he got hurt against Northwestern. As poster ckmneon pointed out, had he stayed healthy and played a normal allotment of snaps the last 3 games, he was on pace to have a 20 sack, 26 TFL, and 8 forced fumble season. WHAT?!
I’m trying my best in these blurbs to not let my ~personal~ opinion impact the voting, which means I need to stay quiet about Trace because THIS IS MY GUY. But, I mean, Trace was just freaking awesome, man. I can’t wait until he’s head coach here and Patrick Koerbler Jr. is the staring QB under him <3
1/5: Micah Parsons vs. Joey Porter Jr.
We only got two years of Micah Parsons, but what an incredible two years it was. Parsons led the Nittany Lions in total tackles as a true freshman, and then put up a 109-tackle, 5-sack, 14-TFL sophomore season where he earned All-American honors. I know there will be some debate on if Parsons deserves the 1-seed given his limited stay in Happy Valley, but the dude was clearly awesome.
Having the longest arms of any corner ever at Penn State, Joey Porter Jr. was a three-year starter at Penn State who was consistently on All-B1G teams — third-team twice and first-team once. While the interception numbers are small, JPJ proved to be as close to a lockdown corner as one can be in the college game. He was named the team’s defensive MVP in the 2022 season, a year in which Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac, and Ji’Ayir Brown starred as well.
2/3: Jahan Dotson vs. Chris Godwin
2. Jahan Dotson
If there was a 2-seed that made me question the four 1 seeds, it’s Jahan Dotson. Like really, what was the difference between Tyler Warren’s 2024 season and Jahan Dotson’s 2021 season? One played for a much better team than the other? Because, I don’t know man, but to my eye Dotson was on the same level of dominance that Warren was. Truly a special player. I’m excited to see him potentially match up with Micah Parsons in this region’s finals.
3. Chris Godwin
Chris Godwin is one of three Penn State players to have 1,000+ receiving yards in a season during the Franklin era, with the other two being Tyler Warren (2024) and Jahan Dotson (2021). That’s how good Godwin was, who somehow never made a first-team All-B1G. Crazy!
