It isn’t a stretch to say former Penn State punter Jordan Stout left State College as one of the more impactful transfers in recent memory.
The Baltimore Ravens drafted Stout with the 130th pick in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft after he produced three successful seasons in Happy Valley following his transfer from Virginia Tech in 2019.
Stout starred as the Nittany Lions’ punter and kickoff specialist, and he handled 23 of Penn State’s 25 field goal attempts last year.
His 46.1 yards-per-punt average in 2021 netted him accolades as the Big Ten’s Eddleman–Fields Punter of the Year.
Stout’s departure creates a vacuum Penn State hopes to fill by the Sept. 1 season opener at Purdue. In addition to losing Stout, the program welcomed special teams coordinator Stacy Collins in January after Oregon hired Joe Lorig to head its special teams unit.
The program returns fifth-year kicker Jake Pinegar, an honorable mention Big Ten selection as a sophomore in 2019.
Pinegar started as Penn State’s kicker that season and connected on 11 of his 12 field-goal attempts (91.67%).
Pinegar’s production as a kicker dipped in 2020 with Stout’s emergence. He made nine of 13 attempts (69.23%) during that shortened nine-game season.
Last year, the Ankeny, Iowa, native went 1 of 2 on field-goal attempts. Pinegar brings a career 73.47% average on field-goal attempts in 36 career games into 2022.
Penn State’s special teams unit also includes kicker Sander Sahaydak, who used a redshirt season in 2021.
While Pinegar has the inside track on field goal and kickoff duties, the battle for starting punter remains murky.
Alex Bacchetta (freshman), Gabriel Nwosu (redshirt freshman) and Barney Amor (redshirt senior) are contenders to succeed Stout at punter.
Nwosu redshirted last season after arriving on campus as a five-star kicker/punter by Kohl’s Kicking Camps.
He earned accolades from Penn State coach James Franklin this spring for his showing in April’s Blue-White Game.
Bacchetta didn’t arrive at Penn State until May, but like Nwosu, the Georgia native earned widespread praise for a successful prep career. Kohl’s Kicking Camps ranked Bacchetta the No. 1 punter in the 2022 recruiting class, while 247Sports listed him at No. 2 in its 2022 national punter rankings.
Bacchetta attended the same high school as former Penn State punter Blake Gillikin (New Orleans Saints). Franklin during the spring said Gillikin has been effusive in his praise of Bacchetta.
Amor began his collegiate career at Colgate in 2017 and transferred to Penn State following the 2020 season.
In 2019, his final season at Colgate, Amor ranked second in the Patriot League with a 42.1 yards-per-punt average.
The Patriot League canceled its 2020 fall sports season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Whoever emerges as Penn State’s starting punter will benefit from the consistency of having veteran Chris Stoll as long snapper. The fifth-year Nittany Lion is one of six team captains this year.
Former wide receiver Jahan Dotson (Washington Commanders) returned 14 punts last season as the Nittany Lions’ primary punt returner.
Parker Washington is expected to fill that role this year. He returned two punts for 23 yards last season.
Running back Devyn Ford (redshirt junior) returns as the team’s premier kick returner. He recorded a team-high 12 kick returns for 258 yards (21.50 average) in 2021.