Three Nittany Lions named to 'Big Ten Preseason Honors' list, most in conference

The 2025 Penn State Nittany Lions football roster is riddled with star power, and members of the Big Ten media furthered this claim.

Ahead of Big Ten Media Days, the conference released its 2025 Big Ten Preseason Honors list, and three Nittany Lions made the 16-player group. This is tied for the most selections in the conference with Ohio State.

The players honored from Penn State were QB Drew Allar, DE Dani Dennis-Sutton, and RB Nicholas Singleton. 

Other honorees include:

• QB Luke Altmyer, Illinois

• OLB Gabe Jacas, Illinois

• DL Mikail Kamara, Indiana

• DB D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana

• OT Gennings Dunker, Iowa

• C Logan Jones, Iowa

• DB Koi Perich, Minnesota

• OLB Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon

• DB Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

• SAF Caleb Downs, Ohio State    

• WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State

• LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State    

The Nittany Lions have grand expectations for this season, even appearing as the no. 1 team in the country in ESPN's 2025 post-spring Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings.

Allar, Singleton, and crew will combine for what could possibly be the best offense of the James Franklin era, and at the very least, his best offense since Saquon Barkley left for the NFL.

Meanwhile, Dennis-Sutton headlines a defense filled with both returning production and a handful of key transfer portal additions, including North Carolina transfer LB Amare Campbell and Alabama transfer S King Mack.

They will be led by new Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles, whose Ohio State defense last season led the nation in points allowed per game - a staggering number of 12.9 PPG.