Portal Watch: Big Ten players to monitor as potential transfers
Freshman Air Noland might be the odd man out in a stacked Ohio State quarterback room.
pennstate.rivals.com
Signing Birchmeier in the 2023 class was a major win for head coach James Franklin and the Penn State staff. He was one of the most heavily recruited prospects in that recruiting class and finished the rankings cycle at No. 40 in the Rivals250.
Since then, Birchmeier has played a total of 16 snaps in his college career and doesn’t seem to be within shouting distance of playing this season. He used his redshirt during the 2023 season and is using one of his four years of eligibility riding the bench this year while Cooper Cousins, J’ven Williams and Dominic Rulli seemingly pass him on the depth chart.
A four-star in the 2022 recruiting class, Cross looked like the next man up in a long line of impressive tight ends at Penn State. Instead, the Wisconsin native has been overshadowed by the likes of Tyler Warren, Theo Johnson, Brenton Strange, Khalil Dinkins and Luke Reynolds.
Cross has the talent to contribute but it’s hard to find playing time when competing with a tight end group like the one Penn State has assembled. He’s played just 24 snaps in his career with the Nittany Lions.