In their words: Receivers

Between Penn State's Pro Day Tuesday and Wednesday's media availability, early impressions out of spring practice have been plentiful this week.

Wednesday, we looked at Penn State's quarterbacks. Thursday, we tackled the running back position. And today, let’s move on to the receivers and how they’re being assessed moving forward this spring.

When former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley met with the media following his Pro Day performance on Tuesday, he was given plenty of opportunities to dissect the position he was leaving.

A job up for grabs between the likes of Tommy Stevens, Sean Clifford, and Will Levis, one whose competition is likely to extend through the summer and into preseason camp, the passed baton at quarterback will undoubtedly be a critical component to Penn State’s future.

Yet, coming off a 2018 season in which Penn State’s offense took a step back, McSorley’s wide receiver targets were a primary culprit in that devolution.

Charged with 38 drops for the season, as opposed to 24 in 2016 or 26 in 2017, the Nittany Lions’ veteran receivers struggled. DeAndre Thompkins, Juwan Johnson, and Brandon Polk combined for 21 of those 38 drops, and following the season, Johnson and Polk transferred out to go along with the graduation of Thompkins.

What remains is a group McSorley has yet to wrap his head around, led by rising redshirt sophomore and the most veteran of Penn State’s returning receivers, K.J. Hamler.

“There are a lot of young guys. I was talking to K.J. It’s weird, you’re the old head now. And he’s just a redshirt sophomore,” said McSorley. “He’s taken that leadership role. Getting those guys going. The little I saw of them the other day, Jahan (Dotson) and Justin (Shorter) looked good. They looked smooth. Jahan looked a little faster. He was moving and making good catches. Both those guys have talent and a ton of potential.”

To no surprise, both Shorter and Dotson lined up alongside Hamler with Penn State’s first-team offense at the program’s partially opened practice session on Wednesday afternoon.

Having lined up against them as recently as the team’s bowl practices in December, safety Nick Scott ran through the gauntlet of Penn State’s options at the position.

“I think they're ready. Obviously, they still have a little bit more growing to do, but I would feel confident with those guys on the field if we have to play Ohio State today,” said Scott. “We've got some good talent. Extremely fast.

“Jahan Dotson is a guy that stands out to me a lot. Although we didn't see him probably as much as everybody would have liked to, he's extremely fluid. He's probably one of our more consistent receivers. He's got great hands, he's great at tracking the ball. We all know what K.J. can do. Cam (Sullivan-Brown) is a guy that is, I think, a sleeper wide receiver for our team. He's extremely athletic. He was a little banged up earlier in the season, which kind of held him off the field a little bit. But I've always been impressed with how he tracks deep balls and things like that.”

Worth noting, Sullivan-Brown appears to also be banged-up this spring as he was present, but did not participate, in Penn State's Wednesday practice. Further, returning receiver Mac Hippenhammer is spending the spring competing with the baseball program.

Continuing, Scott turned his attention to Shorter and the oft-cited knock on his true freshman season, marred both by a preseason injury as well as inconsistency at practice once he did return to full strength.

“Justin Shorter, he's a big-time receiver,” said Scott. “I just want to see consistency from him, which I think he'll get with more reps. Big, strong guy with speed.”

From Franklin’s perspective, those perceptions appear to be on track.

Initially pointing to the receivers as a position most in need of answering questions this spring during his pre-spring practice press conference, Franklin provided an update on the group’s progress after the team’s session on Wednesday.

“Receiver, those young guys are getting a bunch of reps. Justin Shorter at the end of the year really started to come on. Obviously, Jahan really did some good things for us. K.J. did some really good things for us. Daniel (George), really starting to come on at the end of the season,” said Franklin. “So for Daniel and Justin, it's going to be really important that they continue to have a strong spring and go into the summer with confidence. I think we've got a pretty good group there, and now it's, who are those next guys that are going to step up that are either currently with us right now that we recruited and signed last year coming in as freshmen, or possibly some transfers.”

Whoever those players prove to be, the added caveat for the position is that new assistant coach Gerad Parker will have them under his watch, and he has been said to have made a strong initial impression.

“I think those (receivers), they're extremely ready,” said Scott. “They got a good wide receivers coach that I hear is really on his stuff, knows what he's doing, and is a good teacher. So you combine that with their ability and I think they'll be a big asset for our team next year.”