Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1332070
tions for 56 yards. He also proved to be a
surprisingly e;ective blocker consider-
ing that he was still adjusting to the
American game.
The third and :nal January 2020 en-
rollee to see action was Lambert-Smith.
He :nished the season with 15 recep-
tions for 138 yards as the Nittany Lions'
starting X-wide receiver.
Those contributions from the January
enrollees were signi:cant, but they
don't come close to showing the impact
that Penn State's true freshman class
had on the 2020 season. Keyvone Lee,
who was the last member of the class to
arrive on campus last July, :nished the
season as the team's leading rusher with
438 yards and four touchdowns on 89
carries.
Parker Washington won the starting
slot receiver position and :nished the
season as Penn State's second-leading
pass catcher with 36 receptions for 489
yards and six touchdowns. Washington
may have been the top freshman wide
receiver in the Big Ten for the 2020 sea-
son.
On defense, linebacker Curtis Jacobs
saw action in eight games, totaling nine
tackles, and is expected to compete with
Lance Dixon for the starting Sam OLB
position in spring practice.
Three other Class of 2020 players saw
limited action during the season. Elsdon
earned playing time at middle linebacker
in one game, Amin Vanover played at the
strongside defensive end spot in two
games, and three-technique defensive
tackle Coziah Izzard played in two
games.
That brings us to Penn State's Class of
2021. As of mid-January, the class num-
bered only 15 players, seven of whom en-
rolled at Penn State on Jan. 18, the start
of the spring semester. Those seven were
quarterback Christian Veilleux, o;ensive
linemen Nate Bruce and Landon Teng-
wall, defensive end Rodney McGraw,
linebacker Kobe King, and defensive
backs Kalen King and Je;rey Davis Jr.
It would not surprise me if all seven of
Penn State's January enrollees end up
redshirting next fall. Veilleux, Davis and
Tengwall all had their senior seasons
canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak
and haven't played football in more than
a year.
But as Penn State's director of player
personnel, Andy Frank, pointed out in
December, the chance to take part in
winter workouts and spring practice is
going to be bene:cial no matter what the
players' roles turn out to be in the fall.
"Whether we have spring ball or not –
we're hoping that we do – they are going
to gain experience in the weight room,"
Frank said. "It's a chance to get on cam-
pus and get trained like they've never
been trained before.
"We feel real con:dent in our develop-
ment sta; here. Coach [Dwight] Galt
and his crew do a great job with these
guys, both from a weightli

