Michigan football offers Penn's Joey Slackman, the top available DT in transfer portal
Michigan Wolverines football is preparing for this weekend’s Big Ten championship game against Iowa, but has one eye on the transfer portal. The Maize and Blue have offered Penn transfer defensive tackle Joey Slackman, a 6-foot-4, 300-pounder who will graduate in December and have one year of eligibility remaining.
“Honored to receive an offer from the University of Michigan!” Slackman wrote on X. He has also reported offers from Northwestern, Washington, Florida, Missouri, TCU, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia Tech, Illinois, Rutgers, Houston, Pittsburgh, BYU and UConn.
Slackman entered the transfer portal Nov. 20. At the time, he wrote a thank you “to the Penn brotherhood for an amazing 4.5 years” and said he’s “excited to see what comes next.” The portal opens Dec. 4 for all college football players, but graduates are able to enter now.
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The Commack, N.Y., native is rated by On3 as the No. 3 overall player and top-ranked defensive tackle in the transfer portal. Over the last three seasons at the FCS level, he racked up 115 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 2 forced fumble and a blocked kick.
Slackman registered 50 tackles, including 12 behind the line of scrimmage and 4 sacks, with 1 pass breakup this season. His 90.1 overall Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade led all FCS defensive tackles, as did his 92.8 run-defense rating. He posted 18 pressures as a pass rusher, which was tied for 36th among FCS interior defensive linemen. Penn posted a 6-4 overall record and 3-4 mark in the Ivy League.
A first-team all-conference selection, Slackman is currently one of four finalists for the Ivy League’s Defensive Player of the Year award. He would be the first Quaker to win the award since 2015.
He was named All-Ivy honorable mention in 2022, when he totaled 49 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries and 2 pass breakups, both of which led to interceptions. He started all 10 outings. He played in nine clashes the prior year, finishing with 16 tackles, including 3.5 for loss.
Slackman was unranked as a recruit out of Commack (N.Y.) High in the 2020 class, before walking onto the team in 2021 after being recruited to Penn as a wrestler. At the high school level, he won the 285-pound state wrestling championship in 2019.
