Michigan Emerges As The Favorite To Land Penn State Transfer

A former highly rated recruit has entered his name into the transfer portal and Michigan looks to be the favorite to land him.

Penn State linebacker Lance Dixon entered his name into the transfer portal on Thursday and, in doing so, led many to speculate that Michigan would be the destination of choice.

Dixon, who was part of Penn State’s 2019 recruiting class, was one of the highest rated linebackers in the country coming out of high school. As a redshirt freshman, Dixon appeared in nine games during the 2020 season - including his first start against Ohio State where he notched a career high in tackles (five) with one forced fumble.

The former highly rated recruit out of West Bloomfield (Mich.) High School was named Michigan Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today, earned all-state honors and helped lead the Lakers to a State Championship appearance. The 6-2, 215 pound linebacker was once considered to be a hybrid safety/linebacker - possessing enough speed to excel in man-to-man coverage and the type of physicality to do damage up front in the running game.

Not only is Dixon from the state of Michigan, he also played high school football for a head coach that officially joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff earlier this week - Ron Bellamy. During Dixon’s recruitment, Bellamy shared his thoughts on the versatile prospect.

“He’s pretty intense; he’s a high-character kid,’’ coach Ron Bellamy said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. “A great teammate, a great kid to coach. He’s a kid that’s very unselfish. Last year, he had been playing safety his whole life, and we asked him to move down to outside linebacker. We thought he had a bright future there. Most kids give you some resistance. He didn’t give us any. It was like whatever you guys need me to do. Obviously, it has been a blessing for him because he had a very good junior season for the first time playing linebacker.’’

“The biggest transition for him, now being five-yards away and linemen and tight ends and receivers are coming to block you,’’ Bellamy said. “Once he learned how to get rid of that problem he regained his high level of physicality. He’s a hybrid. I think he’ll end up being around 225.’’

Michigan is without question an appealing destination for Dixon, as former West Bloomfield teammates Makari Paige and Cornell Wheeler are already on the roster. They’ll soon be joined on campus by another highly-rated West Bloomfield product, Donovan Edwards - arguably the top running back prospect in the 2021 class.

With all of the connections seemingly already in place at Michigan, it’s hard to imagine Dixon winding up anywhere other than Ann Arbor.