Penn State Nittany Lions predicted to finally land their quarterback following a long and winding road of uncertainty
The Penn State Nittany Lions may have finally found their 2027 quarterback recruit. It was a long road to get here, but HC Matt Campbell has his guy.
Ever since head coach Matt Campbell took over at Penn State, there has been a new energy injected into the program. That has started to spill over to the recruiting efforts, where the Nittany Lions are beginning to gain some momentum for the 2027 class.
It appears that Penn State may finally have its face of the 2027 recruiting class very soon. Rivals recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong has officially logged an expert prediction for the Nittany Lions to land 2027 Westwood (Mass.) Xaverian Brothers quarterback William Wood. This has been rumored a ton lately, and barring something unforeseen late, is expected to happen in the near future.
Whenever a team makes a coaching staff transition, it will take some time for the recruiting operation to get on track. Head coach James Franklin was a good recruiter, but the board had to reshuffle after he was fired this past season. That included the quarterback board.
There has been some smoke surrounding 2027 Marion (Mass.) Tabor Academy four-star signal caller Peter Bourque, and even recently, but he appears destined for Georgia or Virginia Tech. Penn State has zeroed in on Wood, who is one of the more underrated quarterbacks in the 2027 class.
William Wood’s recruiting background
Wood is considered to be a four-star player by ESPN and a three-star by both Rivals and 247 Sports. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Wood currently sits as a three-star, the No. 488 overall player, the No. 29 quarterback, and the No. 3 player from the state of Massachusetts for the 2027 recruiting class.
ESPN is the highest on the Massachusetts native right now. On that platform, Wood is pegged as a four-star and the No. 20 quarterback in the class. They are certainly the outlier in terms of the major recruiting platforms.
While the rankings are nothing special, the Nittany Lions have clearly prioritized Wood. His top offers include Penn State, Arkansas, Maryland, UNC, West Virginia, Boston College, Stanford, Wake Forest, Syracuse, ECU, UConn, Coastal Carolina, Delaware, UMass, Rhode Island, and Harvard.
During his junior season in 2025, Wood put together an impressive campaign. In 13 games, he managed to throw for 2,800 and 42 touchdowns, while winning his third consecutive state championship. That’s coming off a 2024 season where Wood threw for 1,121 yards, 21 touchdowns, and just one interception.