Penn State’s 2026 season will feature a completely overhauled roster following an offseason of significant transition. A coaching change led to a flurry of activity in the transfer portal, which led to a number of new faces on the program. We have taken some time to profile each player on the roster this season, but now it is time to dig a little deeper on the 25 players who will play the largest roles on the roster.
We shift our focus today to the defensive side of the football with one of the most important players coming back to the Nittany Lions in 2026; linebacker Tony Rojas.
A promising 2025 season was cut short early in the 2025 season for Tony Rojas. Coming off a stellar sophomore season in 2024 that was recognized with an honorable All-Big Ten mention, Rojas started four games for the Nittany Lions before missing the remainder of the year with a quad injury in a loss to Oregon. The loss of Rojas was felt immediately the following week when Penn State’s defense was shredded by UCLA in a shocking loss that set in motion the eventual firing of head coach James Franklin. In his four games played, Rojas racked up 25 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
Rojas, a native of Virginia, was thought by some to be a potential player to follow Franklin to Virginia Tech during the offseason transfer window, but Rojas has remained committed to the Nittany Lions as Matt Campbell and his staff take over the program. His return is a key one for the defense and the team overall given his potential star power.
Is Tony Rojas back to full speed? That will be the main question for the star linebacker entering this season. Rojas said previously he expects to be cleared to go full speed in fall camp and once the season begins, as he was making good progress in his recovery plan entering the spring.
It feels somewhat obvious to say that a healthy Tony Rojas for a full season will be a major success. But the expectations for Rojas are still high given his potential and previous achievements on the field. Rojas being a full-time starter this season and racking up close to 100 tackles (or more) will make this a successful season for Rojas. Rojas continuing to perform up to the standard of previous Penn State linebacker greats will be key to Penn State’s success in 2026.
A new defensive coordinator and defensive scheme can always pose the threat of seeing some time being needed to fully adjust on the field. Tony Rojas should fit in quite nicely with the new defensive scheme of coordinator D’Anton Lynn, but opposing teams may still try to test things over the middle. If teams like Michigan and USC can find some cracks in the middle of the field and leave Rojas chasing the ball, we could see some difficult times in 2026.
If Tony Rojas truly is ready to go all in on the 2026 season as he has indicated will be the case, then Penn State fans should expect to see some solid play at the linebacker position all year long. Rojas had 58 tackles in the 2024 season and he should easily be able to increase that number as a regular starter. Look for 90 tackles from Rojas with a good number of takedowns behind the line of scrimmage (he has 11.5 career TFL). Rojas should be a candidate for All-Big Ten status at the end of the season.
Kevin McGuire is the lead writer for Nittany Lions Wire, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on BlueSky, Threads or any of these other platforms.
Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State Top 25 players for 2026: Tony Rojas
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
