Penn State defensive end Jordan Mayer is no longer with the Nittany Lions

Penn State defensive end Jordan Mayer is no longer with the Nittany Lions. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Jefferson, Pa., native is not on the team’s online roster and did not take part in last weekend’s Blue-White practice at Beaver Stadium. It’s unclear when he left the program and why. But, the redshirt sophomore cannot enter the transfer portal to play somewhere else in 2026 at this point.

Mayer came to Penn State in 2024 after spending his first collegiate season at Wisconsin. In his first year, he found a role on special teams. Per PFF, he suited up for 68 speical teams snaps. Almost all of them were on the kick return team. In 2025, Mayer was listed as out on the team’s injury report for every game during the 2025 season.

Lions247 first reported Mayer’s departure.

Sizing up the Penn State defensive ends room

Penn State heads into the summer with just 10 defensive ends on its roster. One of them, Aiden Probst, is a walk-on. Another is Lavar Arrington II, who is playing the position for the first time. Joining those two are a number of transfers, including Ikenna Ezeogu from Iowa State and Alex McPherson from Coloado, in addition to a number of returns like sophomore Yvan Kemajou.

“I think when you talk about Alex McPherson, he played a ton of reps at Colorado,” Penn State coach Matt Campbell said in April. “He actually started against us last year when we played them out there. And so, I think it was that fine balance of seeing there was some really talented young players here. I just think when you watch and you see what Yvon did.

More: Watch PSU Blue-White Open Practice Highlights

“Obviously, you had to go back a year and watch what Max Granville did, but you saw Max working in the weight room. Then obviously, Ike, Ike’s a guy that you talk about a guy that has maybe flashed every single day so far. That group’s really grown. And I think it was that fine balance of getting production. Guys that have played quality reps. And yet, knowing that you had some really great developmental football players who had proven to play quality reps in critical moments really for Penn State football. And then obviously you saw LaVar.

“You saw this group starting to grow. So I’m really excited about what this group’s got the ability to look like. We talked about Jackson [Ford] last time. He’s a guy that continues to grow and probably flashed maybe a little bit sooner than maybe we would have even known as a freshman. But that room’s got some really talented players.

“And then, I think some of the position flexibility too of those interior guys, there’s some guys that can slide out and play. I think the biggest thing was the strength and physicality on that defensive line that we really would like and kind of wanted to grow forward.”