Blue White Illustrated

February 2020

Penn State Sports Magazine

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over Georgia, Iowa and Michigan. At 6- 5, 245 pounds, he turned in a laser-timed 4.63-second 40-yard time at The Open- ing in suburban Dallas last July. It was the fastest 40-yard time at The Opening by a player weighing more than 220 pounds. With the graduation of Nick Bowers, the Lions will be looking to rebuild some depth behind two-year starter Pat Freiermuth. Kuntz and Strange are set to return, and Johnson 9gures to be in that mix, too. He did su:er a shoulder injury during a seven-on-seven drill while preparing for the UnderArmour All- America Game earlier this month. But as he told BWI's Ryan Snyder before en- rolling at PSU, the injury was not seri- ous. "I'm 9ne. It's not bad at all," Johnson said. "No ligament damage or anything like that. I didn't even need the sling then. As soon as they put it back, I was 9ne." It wouldn't be surprising to see John- son listed at about 255 pounds by the time preseason practice begins in Au- gust. Nor would it be surprising if he were to play this fall and become a valu- able asset in Penn State's two-tight end alignment with Freiermuth. 2. KeANDRE LAMBERT With Hamler forgoing his last two seasons of eligibil- ity and Justin Shorter entering the transfer portal in November, Penn State returns only one established receiver, Jahan Dotson, in 2020. This past season, Dotson totaled 27 catches for 488 yards and 9ve touchdowns. Of the scholarship wideouts who caught at least one pass last year, the only ones other than Dot- son who are set to return next season are Daniel George, Cam Sullivan-Brown and Mac Hippenhammer. The Nittany Lions do have some other promising receivers on their roster. John Dunmore and T.J. Jones are com- ing off redshirt seasons, and Penn State is welcoming five receiver recruits this year. In addition to Lambert, the Lions signed Dottin, Norval Black, Malick Meiga and Parker Washington in De- cember. All are reported to be quality wideouts, but all are unproven at the FBS level. Lambert might be the best of the bunch, with three 1,000-yard receiving seasons at the high school level and a 5.8 four-star rating from Rivals. The one big question about his readiness for early playing time is his size. He's listed at 6- 1, 180 pounds. Is he physically ready to be a major contributor this fall? 3. ENZO JENNINGS Jennings was ranked by Rivals as the 24th-best safety in the country for the Class of 2020 and re- ceived a four-star rating. He played well in the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 2. With Garrett Taylor graduating, it's ex- pected that redshirt junior Jonathan Sutherland and redshirt freshman Tyler Rudolph will compete for the boundary safety position in spring practice. Jen- nings will have a chance to make the depth chart with a solid performance, and he might also have a chance to contribute on the punt- and kicko:-coverage units. 4. CAZIAH HOLMES The 5-11, 190- pound running back had a spectacular senior season at Cocoa (Fla.) High, rushing for nearly 1,500 yards and aver- aging more than 13 yards per carry. It will be hard for him to get many carries at running back this fall with Brown, Cain, Ford and Slade all set to return. But there is an area in which he could have a major impact on the team's im- mediate future: punt and kicko: re- turns. Holmes was a sensational returner in high school. He reportedly has 4.48-second 40-yard speed. All told, this year's January enrollees may not have the type of immediate im- pact that the Class of 2019 did. But one thing appears all but certain as we look to the future of Penn State's recruiting e:orts: From here on out, classes with 10 or more early enrollees will be the rule, not the exception. ■

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