Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1390373
nor Jones caught a single pass at Penn State before hitting the transfer portal. Dunmore le in October and was still looking for a new school as of late June. Jones entered the portal in January and resurfaced at UAB. NUMBERS GAME Penn State got 73 re- ceptions from true freshmen last season, the fourth-highest total in the country behind Mississippi State (158), LSU (112) and Texas Tech (80). Of those 73 catches, 51 were by true freshman wideouts, as Washington 1nished with 36 for 489 yards, while Lambert-Smith added 15 for 138. OUTLOOK Aer a couple of seasons in which the Nittany Lions' wideout corps was beset by dropped passes and general inconsistency, things started trending back up last year. That was primarily be- cause of Dotson, who enjoyed a better season than even the most wild-eyed op- timist could have expected. His 884 re- ceiving yards (on 52 catches) led the Big Ten and easily surpassed the combined output from his 1rst two seasons (40 catches for 691 yards). Dotson's break- through, combined with the emergence of freshmen Washington and Lambert- Smith, gave Penn State reason to feel hopeful about its future at this position group. Now, the future is here. Are the Nittany Lions ready to live up to the potential they displayed last year? Maybe so. In addition to the players cited above, they've got 1ve freshman-eligible receivers, including two who will be expected to make their on-1eld debuts this fall: Dottin and Meiga. As good as Dotson and Washing- ton may be, the Lions need to build depth. Indeed, that was one of Stubble1eld's primary goals in spring practice. "Right now, we have a couple of known guys, and we're trying to get Malick Meiga, Jaden Dottin [and] Cam Sullivan- Brown" to develop into playmakers, Stub- ble1eld said. "It's de1nitely going to be exciting to see these guys grow and con- tinue to get better so that when somebody else comes into the game, there's not a big drop-oC, or there's no drop-oC. That's the goal." –M.H. YARDS AFTER CATCH As a redshirt freshman last season, Strange was Penn State's fourth-leading receiver with 17 catches for 164 yards and a pair of TDs. Photo by Mark Selders/ Penn State Athletics >>