Penn State QB Jaxon Smolik is entering the NCAA transfer portal

Penn State quarterback Jaxon Smolik has decided to enter his name into the transfer portal, On3’s Hayes Fawcett reports.

A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Smolik came into the 2025 season battling Ethan Grunkemeyer to be PSU’s No. 2 quarterback behind Drew Allar. In the end, Grunkemeyer was named the winner of that battle for week one of the regular season, and that held true throughout the season. Grunkemeyer is also now in the portal.

Of course, Allar suffered an ankle injury against Northwestern that ended his season, making Grunkemeyer the starter, moving Smolik up to No. 2 on the depth chart. Under interim head coach Terry Smith, Penn State tried to get Smolik involved against Iowa. He totaled 11 snaps in that game but was ultimately forced to leave the game with an injury, ending his season.

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“He brings some more athleticism to it,” Smith told the media when asked about Smolik being a change-of-pace option against the Hawkeyes. “Just wanted to give those guys a lot to prepare for, and, if we could see a play or two to be made by him, which he did, it turned out to help us move the sticks.”

Injuries have been an issue for the 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback throughout his time in State College. In March 2024, Blue White Illustrated confirmed that Smolik had suffered a significant injury that would keep him out indefinitely. He returned to the practice field during the 2024 season but didn’t play at all last season.

A Class of 2023 prospect, Smolik redshirted one of his three seasons at Penn State, giving him two more seasons to play elsewhere. Out of high school, the Dowling Catholic prospect originally committed to Tulane. However, he earned a late invitation to the Elite 11 Finals in June 2022 and put together a very strong showing that grabbed the interest of multiple Power Four schools, including Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

Penn State, which was searching for a quarterback at the time after moving on from Florida native Marcus Stokes, invited Smolik to camp in late July to compete with a few other rising quarterbacks. He ended up being the one who earned a scholarship that day and would commit to the Nittany Lions a few weeks later in Aug. 2022.