{"id":11071342,"date":"2026-01-02T10:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/?p=11071342&preview=true&preview_id=11071342"},"modified":"2026-01-02T17:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T22:21:11","slug":"penn-state-football-roster-tracker-whos-staying-whos-in-the-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/2026\/01\/02\/penn-state-football-roster-tracker-whos-staying-whos-in-the-portal\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State football roster tracker: Who\u2019s staying, who\u2019s in the portal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The moves regarding the Penn State football roster are coming at a dizzying pace as the NCAA transfer portal opened Friday.<\/p>\n

Safety King Mack, who started eight games after returning to the Nittany Lions, is the latest and most surprising player to enter the portal. He emerged as a team leader after James Franklin was fired as head coach and Terry Smith was named interim coach.<\/p>\n

A junior from Miami, Fla., he began his career at Penn State in 2023, transferred to Alabama for the 2024 season and came back to the Lions for this season. One report said that he might be headed to Tennessee, where he would join defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter, who\u2019s leaving Penn State for the Volunteers.<\/p>\n

Mack is one of several front-line Penn State players who plan to transfer, joining quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, offensive lineman T.J. Shanahan, tight end Luke Reynolds, defensive ends Zuriah Fisher, Jaylen Harvey and Chaz Coleman, defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, linebacker Keon Wylie and cornerbacks A.J. Harris and Elliot Washington II.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan
Ryan Barker, left,, the most accurate kicker in Penn State history, announces he’s staying for the 2026 season. (AP Photo\/Barry Reeger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ryan Barker, the most accurate kicker in school history, announced early Friday morning that he\u2019s returning to Penn State, along with linebacker Tony Rojas, cornerback Audavion Collins, safety Dejuan Lane and others.<\/p>\n

The Penn State roster tracker below will be updated frequently.<\/p>\n

\n

Players returning<\/h3>\n

Owen Aliciene:<\/strong> offensive lineman, freshman<\/p>\n

Ryan Barker:<\/strong> kicker, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Henry Boehme:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Audavion Collins:<\/strong> cornerback, redshirt junior<\/p>\n

Cooper Cousins:<\/strong> offensive lineman, sophomore<\/p>\n

Daryus Dixson: <\/strong>cornerback, freshman<\/p>\n

Anthony Donkoh:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Finn Furmanek:<\/strong> tight end, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Max Granville:<\/strong> defensive end, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Koby Howard:<\/strong> wide receiver, freshman<\/p>\n

Yvan Kemajou:<\/strong> defensive end, freshman<\/p>\n

Dejuan Lane:<\/strong> safety, sophomore<\/p>\n

Quinton Martin Jr.:<\/strong> running back, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Chimdy Onoh:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Andrew Rappleyea:<\/strong> tight end, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Tony Rojas:<\/strong> linebacker, junior<\/p>\n

Garrett Sexton:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Alex Tatsch:<\/strong> linebacker, freshman<\/p>\n

Vaboue Toure:<\/strong> safety, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

\n

Players in the transfer portal<\/h3>\n

Alex Birchmeier:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Eagan Boyer:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Josiah Brown:<\/strong> wide receiver, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Chaz Coleman:<\/strong> defensive end, freshman<\/p>\n

Aaron Enterline:<\/strong> wide receiver, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Jeff Exinor Jr.:<\/strong> wide receiver, freshman<\/p>\n

Zuriah Fisher:<\/strong> defensive end, redshirt senior<\/p>\n

Xavier Gilliam:<\/strong> defensive tackle, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Ethan Grunkemeyer:<\/strong> quarterback, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

A.J. Harris:<\/strong> cornerback, junior<\/p>\n

Jaylen Harvey:<\/strong> defensive end, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Anthony Ivey:<\/strong> wide receiver, redshirt junior<\/p>\n

Kari Jackson:<\/strong> linebacker, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Daniel Jennings:<\/strong> defensive end, freshman<\/p>\n

Karson Kiesewetter:<\/strong> safety, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Bekkem Kritza:<\/strong> quarterback, freshman<\/p>\n

King Mack:<\/strong> safety, junior<\/p>\n

Lamont Payne Jr.:<\/strong> safety, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Luke Reynolds:<\/strong> tight end, sophomore<\/p>\n

Kaden Saunders:<\/strong> wide receiver, redshirt junior<\/p>\n

Joey Schlaffer:<\/strong> tight end, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

T.J. Shanahan:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Sam Siafa:<\/strong> defensive tackle, redshirt junior<\/p>\n

Corey Smith:<\/strong> running back, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Jaxon Smolik:<\/strong> quarterback, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Anthony Speca:<\/strong> linebacker, redshirt freshman<\/p>\n

Cam Wallace:<\/strong> running back, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Elliot Washington II:<\/strong> cornerback, junior<\/p>\n

J\u2019ven Williams:<\/strong> offensive lineman, redshirt sophomore<\/p>\n

Keon Wylie:<\/strong> linebacker, redshirt junior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the Nittany Lions’ decisions as the NCAA transfer portal opens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10495190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-01-02T15:55:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"6e88167d-3a34-455f-b1aa-5126e26d5feb","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-01-02T22:21:16Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AbogWfTo0RV-xqlEm4m1f6w","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[579,577,6761],"tags":[2466],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[1940],"class_list":["post-11071342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-sports","category-sports","category-top-stories-tmc","tag-penn-state"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"579","primary_tag":2466,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"Penn State football roster tracker","short_title":"","syndication_source":{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/2026\/01\/02\/penn-state-football-roster-tracker-whos-staying-whos-in-the-portal","id":"cG9zdDo4NzI3NTI=","siteName":"Slot","syndicationSourceStack":[{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/2026\/01\/02\/penn-state-football-roster-tracker-whos-staying-whos-in-the-portal","id":"cG9zdDo4NzI3NTI=","siteName":"Slot","sourceUrl":"https:\/\/slot.medianewsgroup.com"}],"source_url":"https:\/\/slot.medianewsgroup.com","print_workflow_exported_ts":true},"market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":10495190,"title":"REG-Z-PennStateMack-1218-01","filename":"REG-Z-PennStateMack-1218-01.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/REG-Z-PennStateMack-1218-01.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/2025\/12\/17\/penn-state-football-king-mack-blames-lack-of-leadership-buy-in-for-6-6-season\/reg-z-pennstatemack-1218-01\/","alt":"","author":"2","description":"","caption":"Penn State junior safety King Mack is on the move again after making eight starts this season. 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