Depth chart breakdown: Where Penn State football stands at wide receiver in 2020
Penn State football’s wide receiver rotation is one of the team’s biggest question marks heading into the season.
The 2019 squad’s leading receiver, K.J. Hamler, is off to the NFL after leaving with two seasons of eligibility remaining, and former five-star recruit Justin Shorter transferred from the program during last season.
Let’s take a look at where the position stands and who could step up heading into the 2020 season.
Projected starters
Junior Jahan Dotson, redshirt sophomore Daniel George and redshirt freshman John Dunmore
Dotson is the only wide receiver who heads into the season locked into a starting spot. The junior wide receiver is a slim-framed slot receiver that needs to stay inside to provide the most value he can for the Nittany Lions.
He’s a fluid athlete who gets in and out of breaks easily and can create separation against high-level cornerbacks. He struggles with more physical cornerbacks who can jam him at the line of scrimmage and knock him off his route. He doesn’t have the frame to add much weight, but he creates plenty of separation from the slot and should lead the position in receptions this season as a reliable target for Sean Clifford.
The other two starting receiver spots are up for grabs, with two veterans trying to win the jobs over a group of freshmen. If the 2019 season at Minnesota is any indication of how Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense will distribute the ball, one of the two other starters will establish themselves as a high-level receiving threat.
Ciarrocca’s top three receivers at Minnesota in 2019 combined for 2,908 yards. Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth should soak up some of that yardage, but there’s still enough of a passing attack for a second wide receiver to take a big step forward. That makes the other starting spots crucial to the offense’s success in 2020.
We’ll give the nod at those two spots to George and Dunmore, a veteran and freshman, respectively.
George is a big and physical outside receiver who looks the part at wide receiver but has to refine his game to reach his upside.
His biggest issue is one that Penn State fans know all too well. George’s hands weren’t great last season and that’s a big issue to overcome, especially in the middle of a pandemic when players have fewer opportunities to get out and catch passes.
He’ll need to have fewer drops in 2020 to take a step forward, but if he does, George has the kind of physical profile that can succeed on the outside in Ciarrocca’s offense.
Dunmore has good size and showed how good of a route runner he was in high school. After a year of gaining strength, he’ll need to prove he hasn’t lost any of his mobility. The redshirt freshman is big enough to play on the outside and has the requisite hands and ball skills to succeed.
While George has been on campus longer than Dunmore, the younger receiver has a more solid floor for 2020 because of his skillset.
Both receivers will be fighting to earn the starting spots and they’ll have to fight even harder to keep them with the depth and young talent behind them in the wide receiver room.
Key backups
Redshirt freshman T.J. Jones and redshirt junior Cam Sullivan-Brown
Jones and Sullivan-Brown could very well win starting positions this season and will likely have roles in the offense regardless of their status as a starter or backup.
Sullivan-Brown is the elder statesman among scholarship receivers but has battled injuries throughout his Penn State career. His best fit from a receiving standpoint is the slot because of the space it allows him to operate in, but his best chance for playing time will come on the outside. He’s caught 12 passes in his time as a Nittany Lion but could provide the requisite physicality needed to block on the outside in Ciarrocca’s offense.
The redshirt junior receiver can provide physicality and experience on the outside as long as injuries don’t derail him, but he doesn’t provide some of the upside his position mates do because he’s not on their level when it comes to athleticism. Sullivan-Brown’s playing time will largely depend on his health and how far along his teammates are in their development. If the younger receivers aren’t ready to take on a big role, he could soak up reps on the outside.
Jones is entering his second season on campus and provides a distinct skill-set on the outside. He’s bigger than Sullivan-Brown and has more athletic upside than the redshirt junior. And while Jones hasn’t caught a pass in his time as a Nittany Lion, that’s only 12 fewer than Sullivan-Brown. The redshirt freshman showed off good ball skills in high school but needs refinement in his route running. He has a legitimate chance to make an impact on the outside if his strength and physicality can translate to blocking and he can carry over what he did as a receiver in high school.
Freshman to watch
True freshman KeAndre Lambert-Smith
Lambert-Smith and fellow freshman Parker Washington are primed to compete early in their careers. Washington has the physical makeup and ball skills to battle for a role right away, but Lambert-Smith gets the nod here because of his athleticism and ability as a route-runner.
The true freshman has elite acceleration, posting a 3.83 shuttle time at The Opening Finals last July. He can get in and out of breaks as well as any receiver on the roster and has the speed and moves to be a playmaker in the open field. Expectations are high for the talented receiver, but he has a chance to exceed them early. Lambert-Smith might be the most gifted receiver in the room and will have a chance to earn playing time because of the uncertainty at the position.
He doesn’t have any college experience, but that holds true for several other options at wideout. Even those with experience don’t have much of it and that could open the door for several freshmen, including Lambert-Smith, to earn targets.
It’s unreasonable to expect Lambert-Smith to be the No. 1 receiver as a freshman, but he could be the team’s second option at the position by year’s end.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 5:52 PM.
