Portal Update: Michigan Transfer Picks Penn State

Wafle is a 6-foot-2, 298-pounder who spent the 2024 season at Michigan. He redshirted his freshman season after becoming a three-star recruit for The Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey.

In a scouting report for 247Sports, Brian Dohn described Wafle as a “Power Four starter.”

“Thick build with plus length,” Wafle said. “Has low center of gravity and plays low to win leverage. Has snaps on both sides of ball as fullback and defensive lineman. Strong, physical, hard-nosed player with strong work ethic. Showed ability to bend during spring workout. Ferocious style of play evident during in-game eval in fall 2021. Gets off quickly at snap and covers ground well in first three steps. Shows stack-and-shed ability. Can take on block and re-direction along line of scrimmage. Can anchor in run game. Willing to take on and fight through double teams. Relies heavily on power and strength and often wins leverage by sinking hips. Plays with high effort and has strong work ethic. Does show rip and spin moves but needs to continue to develop technique and diversify move sets. Has to maintain lower body flexibility while also getting stronger. Multi-year starter at high-level program. Has late round NFL draft potential.”

MORE BIG NEWS

Zane Durant during pregame warmups at Hard Rock Stadium.

Wafle committing isn’t the only DL news Penn State got Saturday.

One of Penn State football’s best players is coming back for 2025.

Saturday morning, a defensive lineman by the name of Zane Durant announced via X (formerly Twitter) that he’s returning to Penn State for the 2025 season, which will be his last year of eligibility.

https://Twitter.com/darealbabyzane/status/1878102438365843751?s=46

This is a big deal, both literally and figuratively.

It’s literally a big deal because Durant is a big man, at 6-foot-1 and 288 pounds. It’s figuratively a big deal because, with possible exception of Abdul Carter, there’s a case to be made that no Penn State defender was better than Durant in 2024.

Durant wasn’t named to either the Big Ten’s first or second-teams. That confused people because Durant has become arguably one of the best defensive tackles in college football. He more than doubled his tackles from last season, going from 17 to 42, and even playing on the interior, had 28 pressures per Pro Football Focus, which is third on the team. He also had 11 tackles for loss.

Durant was named to third-team All Big-Ten. Many felt that wasn’t enough.

Now, Penn State has gotten DL help from the transfer portal.