‘I want to dominate’: Penn State’s Justin Shorter believes he can win Big Ten Freshman of the Year
At 3 a.m. on a Saturday in February, Penn State wide receiver Justin Shorter sat in his Beaver Hall dorm and played Fortnite, chatting with walk-on quarterback Grayson Kline over their gaming headsets. That is, until Shorter put the controller down.
“You want to go throw?” Shorter asked Kline, now a tight end. His teammate obliged. Shorter and Kline walked to Holuba Hall, turned on the lights at the indoor facility and ran routes.
Shorter — sitting in the Lasch Football Building on Wednesday afternoon, conducting his first interview since arriving on campus last June — laughed and shrugged his shoulders while recounting the story. The redshirt freshman, an 18-year-old kid, didn’t think it was weird to skip out on a frat party or social to instead work on his craft. Which, for those who know Shorter, shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Penn State head coach James Franklin once said that Shorter, a former five-star prospect, is “as good a high school receiver that I’ve ever seen.” But the New Jersey native wasn’t a blue-chip recruit at birth. Shorter is a wired worker — and that has given him the confidence to set lofty goals for his Penn State career, one that seems poised to take off.
“Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Biletnikoff Award winner. National championship. Big Ten championship. I want to dominate,” Shorter said, rattling off what he has written in blue marker on his dorm mirror. “Every day when I wake up and go in front of the mirror, fix myself up, I see them right there. And I read them. And then I work toward them.”
Shorter said winning the Biletnikoff Award — given to the nation’s top receiver, featuring past winners like Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Bobby Engram — is a goal for 2020 and beyond. But the No. 1 wide receiver in the 2018 recruiting cycle believes Big Ten Freshman of the Year is within reach now.
This time last year, some thought he might contend for the honor as a true freshman. Instead, Shorter suffered an offseason injury that plagued him much of the 2018 season. Penn State’s policy is to not discuss injury specifics, and Franklin never divulged what happened. But Shorter’s high school coach, South Brunswick’s Joe Goerge, told the CDT that a preseason dislocated kneecap limited the wideout’s production and playing time in the fall. Shorter played in four games as a true freshman, catching three passes and keeping his year of eligibility.
Shorter is healed up now. The receiver said he finally felt “normal” as the Nittany Lions prepared for Kentucky and the Citrus Bowl. It was after Penn State’s narrow loss in Orlando that quarterback Trace McSorley singled Shorter out in his postgame press conference, saying the up-and-comer “grew leaps and bounds” in bowl practices.
“That’s when I started to really pick things up,” Shorter added. “Now I’m using spring ball to work off of that.”
As Shorter pushes for a starting job — a strong likelihood come Aug. 31, while not a guarantee — he is leaning on what got him to this point: Routine and discipline.
When Shorter started playing organized football in eighth grade, he opened a Microsoft Word document on his computer at home in Monmouth Junction, N.J., and typed out what he wanted to accomplish over the next four years: Develop into a Division I talent, earn a scholarship offer and become the No. 1 wide receiver in the country.
Shorter secured the first two after a breakout sophomore season. He recorded 31 catches, 582 yards and eight touchdowns for South Brunswick in 2015, an eye-opening campaign for his high school coach. “It became pretty clear that he was going to be a special player,” Goerge said. Before Shorter took the field in 2016, he had offers from Michigan, Miami, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Wisconsin and more — and committed to Penn State.
But at the time of his decision, Shorter still hadn’t completed his checklist. Still a four-star prospect, he had more work to do.
That’s when his father, JD, challenged him. He asked his son, “Do you want to be great?” Shorter responded not with words, but action. Every day, even in-season, the budding prospect woke up at 5 a.m., cranked out 30-minute speed drills, hit the gym down the road, went to school, finished homework and caught 200 balls before going to bed. No, he didn’t have a JUGs machine; that’s where JD — and even his mother, Paula — chipped in. All to move from 247 Sports’ No. 8 receiver in the country to its No. 1 spot.
“That’s what we did every day,” Shorter said. “It was all for this point. It was all so I could be rated the highest wide receiver.”
Added Goerge: “He’s self-motivated. You don’t see a lot of those type of kids, especially when they have the natural talent that he has.”
Shorter isn’t one to rest on his laurels, either. When he’s not roping Kline into 3 a.m. route-running sessions, the former Under Armour All-American goes full-tilt in team-organized workouts; quarterback Tommy Stevens said Shorter has “taken ownership” of the opportunity in front of him. Back at his dorm, Shorter works on his grip strength with a bucket of rice. Seriously. The pass-catcher digs both hands to the bottom of the bucket, makes a fist for 30 seconds, releases and repeats the process.
“I’ll have veins popping out of my arms like I’m Superman or the Hulk,” Shorter said, shaking his head. “They’re just habits you have to create. ... If you work hard, good things will come to you.” And he’s hoping those good things come in 2019.
When Shorter arrived on campus on June 23, 2018 — one day after his high school graduation — he didn’t know he’d injure his knee. He didn’t know only four games, and fewer catches, would be the sum of his first collegiate campaign.
But as his dad parked the family car outside the Lasch Building, Shorter’s new goals — Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Biletnikoff winner and more — came to mind. It was then that he reflected on the 5 a.m. mornings in the past — and the 3 a.m. workouts to come.
“Dang, I’m actually here,” Shorter recalled. “I hopped out of the car and was like, ‘OK, it’s time to go to work.’”
