There is cautious optimism surrounding Penn State football’s receiving corps that the Nittany Lions could once again have substantial depth at all three receiver spots this season.
“I’d like to say that we’re at six [deep], but I’m not really necessarily sure on that,” Penn State coach James Franklin said Monday of the room’s depth. “We’ll see how this week plays out to finalize that but we’d really like to have a legitimate two deep at at every position. And I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re there. I’d say there’s probably five guys that we feel comfortable putting out there with maybe the sixth guy being right on the edge that we need to see something over these first couple of weeks of the season in practice and in games to feel that way.”
While Penn State certainly hasn’t lacked for top-end talent among its main receivers group, the Nittany Lions haven’t had two players with more than 50 receptions in a season since 2017, when Penn State had four.
One would be hard pressed to find faults in the games of KJ Hamler and Jahan Dotson — Penn State’s two primary receivers since 2017 — but beyond the likes of Parker Washington and a handful of various tight ends, the Nittany Lions haven’t displayed the same true receiving depth that made them so talented and threatening in 2016 and 2017.
This could very well be the year to change that, ironically following in the wake of Dotson’s departure to the NFL, but the Nittany Lions have a trio of made and potential stars in Parker Washington, Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley and KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Beyond that there are some question marks in terms of who might step up, although those question might be more for the outsiders than those on the team.
“I think we got a lot of depth,” quarterback Sean Clifford said on Monday. “Those three are definitely hard to overlook. They’re fantastic players with a lot of talent that are ready to go on for Thursday. But the same time, you know, I think that Harrison ‘Trey’ Wallace is somebody who stands out, somebody has been rotating with the ones makes a lot of plays. Malick Meiga another great player, Jaden Dottin and my brother Liam Clifford. I think there’s the young bucks Omari Evans, Kaden Saunders — those are all names that really stood out to me. We’ve we’ve seen a lot of Parker and heard a lot about Mitch but those guys in the in the two deep are really pushing those older guys to get better every day and making sure that they’re on their game every single day. So it’s been impressive to watch everybody work. There’s no drop off in confidence for me.”
It will be interesting to see how the depth in this room pans out alongside the development of tight ends Theo Johnson, Tyler Warren and Brenton Strange. The aforementioned Wallace was an otherwise unheralded three-star Alabama based prospect in Penn State’s 2021 class while there has long been optimism that Meiga could develop into a downfield threat with his 6-foot-4 frame. Younger players like Dottin and the unproven Clifford alongside Evans and Saunders are difficult to project without seeing in meaningful moments.
That said, in a world where having many options could mean having no good options, Penn State seems to be leaning toward lots of options being a good problem. A welcome sight for an offense looking to continue its diversification under second-year offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
