Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
now they're having to cram months of face-to-face learning into a relatively brief practice window leading up to the season. Dotson is the one proven commodity in Penn State's receiver corps. Heading into his junior season, he's caught 40 passes for 691 yards and =ve touchdowns. The other returnees – George and Sulli- van-Brown – are still looking to break out. George seemed like he was on the verge of doing that last year but was hampered by a hand injury that he su?ered in September, an injury that continued to bother him for much of the Big Ten slate. To date, the redshirt sophomore has caught 11 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown. Sullivan-Brown had an even rougher 2019 campaign, as he su?ered a season-ending injury in the Big Ten opener at Maryland. Heading into his redshirt junior season, he's totaled 12 catches for 105 yards. Except for those three players and Black, a juco transfer, the scholarship wideout corps consists of freshmen. Dunmore and Jones were on hand last fall but only played in one game apiece and didn't have any catches. The rest have only just started practicing at the major-college level. That might seem worrisome, but Stubble- =eld appreciates that he has a blank canvas to work with as he preps for his =rst season at PSU – especially given that the passing game struggled the past two seasons, ranking seventh in the Big Ten in 2017 and eighth last year. "The players in the room right now, they didn't really play last year," Stubble=eld said. "Whatever is said about last year's team, which had a phenomenal year, this is 2020, and we have guys in this room who need to be ready to take the next step in their careers and just produce, >at-out produce. I'm not talking to [John Dunmore] and saying, 'J.D., your route against Michigan really wasn't [right].' I'm not saying that to him, because he didn't play. There are a lot of young guys, and a@er being here a year, two years, they have to be ready to make a big play." –M.H. P H I L ' S T A K E With K.J. Hamler having le@ for the NFL and former =ve-star recruit Justin Shorter headed o? to Florida, the wide receiver corps enters the upcoming season as Penn State's biggest ques- tion mark on o?ense or defense. Jahan Dotson is the only pro- jected starter with more than a handful of receptions. Dotson =nished his sophomore season with 27 catches for 488 yards and =ve touchdowns. He'll most likely replace Hamler at the slot receiver spot. The other two starting wide receiver posi- tions are totally up for grabs. Daniel George is the projected starter at the X-WR spot, while redshirt freshmen T.J. Jones and John Dunmore are expected to battle for the Z position. Redshirt junior Cam Sullivan-Brown, juco transfer Norval Black, and true freshmen KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Jaden Dot- tin, Parker Washington and Malick Meiga are all in the picture. Two of these additional wide receivers will have to emerge as solid playmakers in order for Penn State to have the type of passing game it will need to challenge Ohio State. ■ >>