Blue White Illustrated

March 2021

Penn State Sports Magazine

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and Ford are healthy this coming fall, the addition of Lovett, coupled with the ex- perience that Lee and Holmes gained during the 2020 season, should give Penn State an enviable situation in the back=eld heading into upcoming cam- paign. WIDE RECEIVER SIGNEES Liam Cli>ord, Harrison Wal- lace, Lonnie White Jr. ANALYSIS Penn State did an excellent job of signing three quality wideouts in Cli>ord, Wallace and White. Their addi- tions will help give the Nittany Lions quality depth at all three wide receiver positions for the 2021 season. As it stands now, the Lions will have 11 scholarship wide receivers on their 2021 roster. The group is led by one of the top returning wide receivers in the Big Ten, Jahan Dotson. A breakout player last fall, Dotson caught 52 passes for a Big Ten- best 884 yards and eight touchdowns. In addition, Parker Washington ex- celled as a true freshman at the slot WR position, =nishing with 36 receptions for 489 yards and six touchdowns. An- other true freshman, KeAndre Lambert- Smith, started at the X-WR position, =nishing the season with 15 receptions for 138 yards. Adding depth will be Daniel George, Cam Sullivan-Brown, Norval Black, Jaden Dottin and Malick Meiga, plus the incoming freshmen. It looks to be a nice blend of experience and youth, and the wide receiver spots should be a real strength for Penn State in 2021. TIGHT END SIGNEE Khalil Dinkins ANALYSIS Even with the departure of Pat Freiermuth, Penn State should still have one of the more talented tight end groups in the Big Ten for the 2021 sea- son. That group will be led by redshirt sophomore Brenton Strange, who be- came Penn State's starting tight end in the =nal four games of the 2020 season a?er Freiermuth underwent surgery to repair a shoulder injury. The former four-star prospect from West Virginia =nished the season as Penn State's fourth-leading receiver with 17 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He also proved to be a good blocking tight in the mold of Freiermuth. In addition, Penn State received a shot in the arm with the emergence of Theo Johnson as a true freshman. Johnson =nished his debut season with just four catches for 56 yards but he showed promise and also proved to be a very ca- pable blocker. With Strange and Johnson both back this coming fall, the Lions will be look- ing to Zack Kuntz, Tyler Warren and Dinkins to provide depth at the tight end spot. PSU lost a future tight end when Holden Staes decommitted in early Feb- ruary, but they still had a four-star TE prospect in their 2022 class in Jerry Cross of Milwaukee. There's been a bit of upheaval at this position group, with assistant coach Tyler Bowen leaving to join the Jacksonville Jaguars' sta> and Ty Howle replacing him, but there's every reason to believe that Penn State will have one of the top tight end units in the Big Ten for the next three or four seasons. OFFENSIVE LINE SIGNEES Nate Bruce, Landon Tengwall ANALYSIS Despite the loss of Will Fries and Michal Menet to graduation, plus C.J. Thorpe's exit via the transfer portal, Penn State should enter the 2021 season with one of the Big Ten's top four o>en- sive lines. The unit is led by tackles Rasheed Walker and Caedan Wallace. Both should end up playing in the NFL at the conclusion of their Penn State football careers. Juice Scruggs and Mike Miranda will most likely battle for the starting right guard and center positions, while others will vie for spots on the depth chart at the interior positions. The list of poten- tial contributors includes a pair of new- comers in Wilson, who recently announced plans to transfer from Har- vard, and Bruce. It also includes return- ing players Des Holmes, Anthony Whigan, Sal Wormley, Nick Dawkins, Bryce E>ner and Golden Israel- Achumba. At the tackle spots, depth will be pro- vided by returnees Holmes, Olu Fashanu, Jimmy Christ and Ibrahim Tra- ore. But Tengwall could also have an im- pact here. The highest-rated player in Penn State's recruiting class, as well as a January enrollee, he might be talented enough to make the three-deep depth chart at either tackle position as a fresh- man. What is really exciting is that Penn State will have 15 o>ensive linemen on its spring roster and 16 on its scholarship roster for 2021 when Wilson arrives on campus in May or June. ■ ELITE PROSPECT Tengwall ap- pears to have the potential to make an early impact at Penn State as a backup at offensive tackle. Photo courtesy of Ri- vals.com

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