11/7/2021 football Edit

Dotson the latest in growing line of Penn State star receivers

Jahan Dotson is just the latest in a long line of big time wide receivers for Penn State in recent years. (Steve Manuel/BWI)

Clay Sauertieg • Happy Valley Insider

Beat Writer

Clay Sauertieg is a 2015 Penn State graduate with a degree in print journalism and a focus in sports journalism who has covered Penn State wrestling since 2013 and football since 2014.

Penn State has become one of the top schools in the nation at producing NFL-level talent at the receiver position.

To call Penn State "Wide Receiver U" would be, even for the most ardent Nittany Lions' supporter, a bit of a stretch.

The Nittany Lions have, however, turned themselves into one of the country's top producers of talent at the position, with Jahan Dotson being the latest evidence of this trend.

Dotson's record-setting performance on Saturday, in which he had 11 catches for 242 yard and three scores, caught the eyes of fans, draft gurus and scouts across the country as he continues to propel himself up 2022 NFL Draft boards.

The showing was just the latest in what has been a breathtaking season from the junior. He now has 71 catches for 932 yards and nine touchdowns with three regular season games remaining. While it's unlikely Dotson catches Allen Robinson's record of 1,432 yards set in 2013, he very likely could catch Chris Godwin, who sits at No. 2 on the list with 1,101 yards in 2015.

While longtime fans will remember the days of Joe Jurevicius, O.J. McDuffie and Bobby Engram, the late Joe Paterno era wasn't particularly fruitful in terms of producing NFL talent at the wideout position. Bryant Johnson was a big-time prospect and first-round pick, but the big-bodied wideout from Baltimore struggled at the NFL level. And while the trio of Deon Butler, Derek Williams and Jordan Norwood all saw plenty of success in blue and white, that didn't translate to equivalent success in the league (though Norwood's Super Bowl ring could argue otherwise).

That all began to change with the appointment of Bill O'Brien as Penn State head coach.

Though he was a Paterno-era recruit, Robinson flourished under O'Brien and wide receiver coach Stan Hixon, becoming one of the nation's top targets and parlaying that into a selection as the 61st overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Robinson has since become one of the league's top wide receivers and cashed a nice check when he signed a three-year, $42M deal from the Chicago Bears in 2018.

After Robinson, it was DaeSean Hamilton and Chris Godwin who took starring roles. Hamilton caught a program-record 214 passes at Penn State before being selected in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. His teammate, Godwin, has had even more success when it comes to the pro ranks. The Middletown (De.) product somehow dropped to the third round in the 2017 draft, where he was eventually selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All he's done since is land himself in the 2019 Pro Bowl and become one of Tom Brady's favorite targets, leading to what will likely be a lucrative contract from either the Bucs or whichever team he chooses should he hit free agency in 2022.

Finally, there's KJ Hamler. An absolute dynamo for Trace McSorley and Sean Clifford at Penn State, Hamler's remarkable lateral quickness and top-end speed earned him a spot in the second round of 2020 NFL Draft, where he joined the since-released Hamilton in Denver. Hamler flashed at times in his rookie campaign, but was hampered by the Broncos' spotty quarterback play. Unfortunately, his 2021 season got off to a rough start, as he tore his ACL in week three, landing him on the injured reserve.

With Dotson set to be the next Nittany Lions' star to head to the next level, the NFL will soon be full of Penn Stater's at the wide receiver position, something that's sure to be a selling point for James Franklin and Taylor Stubblefield in the years to come.