For Shorter, growth potential remains high

Trace McSorley wasn’t asked for a name.

Meeting with the media following the Nittany Lions’ 27-24 Citrus Bowl loss New Year’s Day, the quarterback was only asked to assess the shape in which he’s leaving the program.

McSorley’s landing spot, however, after explaining the unlimited potential of the younger players collectively throughout the roster, was instructive.

“I mean, the month Justin Shorter had, in my mind, was the best months I've seen this last month out of any of those kids,” said McSorley. “I mean, he grew leaps and bounds in that last month. And that can be said for all those guys. They just continue to get better and better.”

Given Shorter’s season, one in which the former Rivals.com five-star wideout appeared in just four games and made exactly two impressions on the stat page during the regular season – one 9-yard rush against Rutgers and a 3-yard reception against Wisconsin, the affirmation from McSorley offered a rare insight.

At one point expected to be an immediate contributor to the Nittany Lions, Shorter was acknowledged as lost to an unspecified injury through preseason practices and into the regular season. Though he appeared briefly against Kent State, a game head coach James Franklin utilized as an opportunity for many true freshmen, redshirting or not, Shorter wouldn’t again return to action until the tenth week of the season.

Describing Shorter’s status as “kind of a week-to-week deal” in October, Franklin laid the groundwork for a probable redshirt season for the former Rivals.com No. 3 wide receiver and No. 18 overall player in the Class of 2018.

“If they keep improving or we have some deficiencies or injuries or things like that where those guys can jump in and help us, we still have the ability at this point in the season to green light them and play them the rest of the season,” said Franklin. “Or we still have the ability to use their four games and each week, we'll take it week-by-week and see what we think is the best scenario to give our team the best chance to be successful.”

Ultimately landing on the redshirt season, that left Shorter opportunities against the Badgers, Scarlet Knights and, eventually, Kentucky. According to McSorley, that time was to Shorter’s benefit. His Citrus Bowl performance indicated as much, Shorter reeling in a pair of receptions for 17 yards.

And, maybe more important, in a game the Nittany Lions finished with 75 plays from scrimmage, Shorter was on the field for 36 of them according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced statistics. The number nearly doubled Shorter’s total snap count for his three previous outings, setting up an offseason with an opportunity for further development.

According to fellow freshman K.J. Hamler, himself coming off a redshirt his first season at Penn State while finishing his debut year of action as the Nittany Lions’ leading receiver in both catches and yards, that development needs to take place in one specific area.

“Little Shorter, he's gotta learn to trust in himself. He doesn't really trust in himself and believe in himself sometimes,” said Hamler. “But I keep telling him, ‘You gotta relax. You're too tense.’”

Aligning with Franklin’s comments through the course of the season describing Shorter as showing “real flashes,” Hamler intends to be a big influence as those bursts evolve into a steadier output.

“Sometimes he drops balls in practice that he shouldn't drop and he knows he can make them. But he's all uptight,” said Hamler. “So I'm going to work with him this summer. We all are. We're going to be a different wide receiver unit come next fall. He’s just gotta be more relaxed and trust himself.”

Should that happen, coming off a season in which the Nittany Lion receiving unit failed to meet the standards set in either of the two previous 2016 and 2017 campaigns, respectively, Hamler is expecting a better overall effort out of the group moving forward. Including out of Shorter.

Said Hamler, "Technique-wise, strength, and speed-wise, we can all get bigger and faster, so we just gotta put a multiple of the amount of time of work that we put into this year to get back and better next year."