Penn State freshmen creating depth and production with development at wide receiver
Mitch Tinsley wants to be on the field as often as possible. The Penn State wide receiver is one of the team’s best players and has proven his worth time and time again. He has earned the ability to do just that as a “tap” player at receiver — meaning he only comes out of the game when he checks himself out.
Despite wanting to play as much as possible, that doesn’t mean he won’t come out. Tinsley trusts what the receiver group as a whole has developed and knows there won’t be a drop off if he’s forced to come to the sideline.
“I believe in the guys that are behind me,” Tinsley said. “... They can come in and make plays just like I can. At the end of the day, if I have to come out of the game I believe in those guys.”
He has that faith for good reason. The Nittany Lions have gone from a wide receiver group that head coach James Franklin trusted five or six players to play, to one that has become one of the deepest the team has on offense.
Franklin said that the growth has come from playing the first two games of the year and seeing young players develop into trusted options on the outside.
“Yeah, I think (the wide receiver rotation is) expanding,” he said. “Getting Jaden Dottin back has expanded that. Omari (Evans), a guy that’s really starting to come on and gain some confidence as well. Kaden Saunders has been able to get in and play a little bit. So the list is expanding.”
The development of that depth could prove to be crucial for Penn State this season. The Nittany Lions started the year with three “tap” players — Tinsley, Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith — at receiver and only two trusted backups.
Now the number of backups has increased and soon the number of snaps they play may as well. The most prominent of the group has been Tre Wallace, who caught his first pass as a Nittany Lion against Ohio. Wallace is a gifted athlete, with the ability to leap for jump balls and blow by his defenders. But his refinement has allowed him to take a major step forward as a receiver.
He is no longer just an athlete on the outside — he is an all-around weapon who can make things happen with and without the ball in his hands.
“I feel like Tre, from when I got here in the spring, has improved a lot,” Tinsley said. “He was always a baller. I feel like he’s always asking good questions. He wants to get better each and every day. I feel like with that attitude, the sky is the limit for him. As far as the game in Ohio, he just took advantage of the opportunities he got. I feel like more opportunities are gonna come his way.”
The other young player to step up has been a true freshman who hasn’t played the position for long. Omari Evans spent most of his time in high school at quarterback, exhibiting the breakaway speed that made him an appealing recruit for Franklin and the Nittany Lions.
He enrolled at Penn State in January and has taken full advantage of his time with the program and wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield.
Evans came in as a ball of clay but is already becoming a threat at wide receiver. He turned that rapid development into a touchdown against the Bobcats — from fellow freshman Drew Allar — and brings the speedy skillset that any offense can make use of in college football.
“He’s got some skills and talents that aren’t really coachable,” Franklin said. “You know, God given talents skills and ability in terms of speed. ... For him, it’s — he has not played a lot of wide receiver in his life, so this development was important. But more than anything, it’s knowing the system inside and out, understanding defenses, and getting in the weight room to get strong enough to develop the size that he was going to need to. Because speed was never going to be an issue for him. It was all about strength and wide receiver fundamentals and techniques and understanding defenses, strengths, weaknesses, and how we want to attack.”
The next step will be for one of the young wide receivers — like Evans, Saunders and Wallace — to make enough of a mark to push their way into the starting lineup. While the team’s starters are experienced, that does not mean they’re guaranteed to keep their place on the field.
The trio of young players has enough talent to make that move and make their mark on the position group and the field sooner rather than later.
