With Penn State’s 2025 season on the horizon, we’re rolling out a series of predictions over the next few weeks. Some will be big storylines. Some will be oddly specific. All predictions will be based on what we know from past seasons and spring camp. Let’s do it.
Joey Porter Jr. was close to making Penn State history.
Porter, the former Penn State star cornerback, was the first pick of the second round of the 2023 NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Porter is thriving in the Steel City, so it doesn’t really matter that he surprisingly fell a few spots. But Penn State was one pick away from having its first first-round defensive back.
Maybe, just maybe, 2026 is the year for a Nittany Lion to make history.
Prediction: A.J. Harris will be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Abdul Carter stole the show on last year’s Penn State defense. Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, who dominated during the Nittany Lions’ College Football Playoff run, is set to follow in Carter’s footsteps. But don’t sleep on Harris being a first-round pick, too.
Harris was one of the best corners in college football last year, and not enough people were talking about him. The former five-star recruit transferred to Penn State after one year at Georgia and almost instantly became a lockdown starter on the outside.
In 15 starts, Harris logged 48 tackles, four TFLs, five pass breakups and one interception — but the second-year player’s underlying numbers were even more impressive.
According to Pro Football Focus, Harris allowed only 26 receptions on 46 targets for 281 yards and one touchdown while being penalized just twice. Harris’ PFF coverage grade was an 81.3, ranking 23rd out of 141 FBS cornerbacks with at least 350 coverage snaps. Harris’ grade ranked second in the Big Ten behind only Indiana’s DeAngelo Ponds (85).
Penn State vs Oregon, Big Ten Championship, Dec. 7, 2024
Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris celebrates a tackle during the fourth quarter of the Big ten Championship game on Dec. 7, 2024 Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.comJoe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com
Harris, a third-team All-Big Ten pick, flew relatively under the radar due to his lack of interceptions. But anyone who watched Penn State last year knows the 6-foot-1, 184-pound corner has first-round potential, especially if he ups his game in 2025.
“Harris thrived in his first season at Penn State after transferring from Georgia, showing easy vertical speed and change-of-direction ability,” wrote ESPN’s Jordan Reid, who included Harris in his way-too-early 2026 NFL mock draft. “He attaches in man coverage but also shows comfort in zone. Scouts just want to see more ball production.”
Whether or not Harris has more interceptions and pass breakups might not be up to him. Teams might throw away from him, similar to how quarterbacks avoided Porter in 2022. There are also a handful of returning corners he’ll compete with for first-round consideration, including Ponds, Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy, Colorado’s DJ McKinney and Texas’ Malik Muhammad.
But there’s no denying Harris has the talent to become a first-round pick in 2026. And I predict that he will — ending Penn State’s program-long drought.