No. 1 ranked tight end linked to major college football program in transfer portal

Matt Campbell made waves in the coaching carousel by taking over the Penn State program, and now he could find himself in the market for one of his former players in the college football transfer portal.

Iowa State tight end Benjamin Brahmer is poised to enter the portal in 2026, and Penn State has emerged as the school under early consideration for the player, according to On3 Sports.

Highly-ranked transfer prospect

Brahmer is considered the No. 1 tight end in the 2026 transfer portal cycle, according to both the 247Sports and On3 Sports transfer player rankings.

The 6-foot-7, 255-pounder was also rated as the No. 16 overall player in the transfer portal, irrespective of position, according to the 247Sports Composite.

What he's done on the field

The tight end has 75 career receptions for 977 yards over three seasons, and had 37 grabs for 446 yards and 6 touchdowns while averaging over 12 yards per catch in 2025.

As a recruit

A member of the 2023 college football recruiting class, Brahmer was a three-star prospect out of Pierce (Neb.) High School.

Experts listed him as the No. 3 overall player in the state and the No. 32 tight end in the country, according to a consensus of the national recruiting services.

Matt Campbell has been raiding his old school

The former Iowa State head coach has spared no effort in bringing over some of his highly-prized recruits from his former school over to Penn State.

Campbell has been busy behind the scenes, signing a reported seven former Iowa State commits to the Nittany Lions instead, including three in just the past week.

Three-star 2026 linebacker Keian Kaiser pledged to Penn State on Christmas Eve, joining offensive linemen Pete Eglitis and Mason Bandhauer in leaving the Cyclones for Happy Valley this week.

Penn State had two commitments in the early signing period at the beginning of December, putting the Nittany Lions outside of the 136 FBS teams in the national recruiting rankings in the wake of the 54-day marathon to find a replacement for James Franklin as head coach.

Since the Campbell hire on Dec. 8, they’ve climbed up to 122nd nationally.

Penn State has nine total commits as of Saturday, and Campbell’s staff is still working hard to add a few more by the February signing period, not to mention their prospective efforts in the transfer portal.

As part of that effort, Campbell and Penn State could be in the market for one of his former offensive weapons, and one of the most highly-regarded players in the transfer portal.

(On3)

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