Temple Redshirt Junior DE Arnold Ebiketie Transferring to Penn State

Penn State continues its run in the vaunted transfer portal, landing 6-foot-4, 235-pound Temple defensive end Arnold Ebiketie.

Unlike RB John Lovett and DT Derrick Tangelo, Ebiketie will have more than one year of eligibility remaining (like CB John Dixon) at Penn State. Ebiketie was originally a member of the 2017 recruiting class, and since he used a redshirt year at Temple, he would be allowed to play two more seasons — 2021 and 2022 — in Happy Valley, should it come to that.

The hope though, from both Penn State and Ebiketie, will be that Ebiketie will play his way into an NFL draft pick next spring because folks, Ebiketie is full of potential and is just beginning to scratch the surface on how good he can be.

Originally from Cameroon, Ebiketie got a late start with football, and ended up 6-foot-4, 205-pound low-three-star linebacker recruit who signed with Temple. After a few years with the Temple program, Ebiketie put on enough mass to begin to flourish. During his six-game 2020 season, Ebiketie finished with 42 tackles, 8.5 TFLs, 4 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles, good enough to earn second-team all-AAC honors. If you equate that out to a normal season, that’s 84 tackles, 17 TFLs, 8 sacks, and 6 forced fumbles.

Ebiketie is far from a finished product. He’ll have to continue to add weight — he’s listed in the 235-pound area — if he wants to become a complete, viable defensive end in the Big Ten. But the tools and production are there for Ebiketie, who should be projected to start opposite Adisa Isaac at defensive end for Penn State.

Welcome to Happy Valley, Arnold!