Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 6 M A Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M him. I think there will be a good com- petition for those wide receiver spots." Competition is crucial, and Franklin does indeed have it at this position group. After Washington and Tinsley come sophomore KeAndre Lambert-Smith and redshirt freshman Malick Meiga. Fans have a feel for what the former can do, but Meiga continues to be talked about as a physical freak in the weight room who is primed to break out on game day. He looks tremendous but now must match those off-field gains with on-field results. "I would definitely say Malik Meiga is bound for a big year," former Penn State wideout Jahan Dotson said at Pro Day in March. "He's ready for it. He's working. He has the mindset that he wants to get better every single time he's on the field." Other scholarship returnees hoping to improve their playing time include red- shirt sophomore Jaden Dotton and red- shirt freshmen Liam Clifford and Har- rison Wallace III. Kaden Saunders and Omari Evans are a pair of early enrollees about whom the staff is excited. However, both look as though they will need to pack on some weight before being ready to play under the bright lights. Saunders is listed at 5-foot-10, 178 pounds, while Evans stands 6-0, 179. Tight Ends Like Yurcich, Ty Howle is starting his second season on Franklin's coaching staff. And like Yurcich, he knows exactly what he has to work with at the top of his depth chart. The word Penn State head coach James Franklin used to describe transfer wideout Mitchell Tinsley was "polished." Tinsley, originally from Lee's Summit, Mo., made Penn State the third stop of his collegiate career. He began at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas before making waves in two seasons at Western Kentucky. "He's poised," Franklin said. "He's got really good ball skills. He knows how to run routes." In truth, that's exactly what the Nittany Lions need in a wide receivers room where there are few known quantities. Sophomore Parker Washington is the only returning wideout who produced consistently for Penn State last season. With Jahan Dotson now out of the pic - ture, another steady pair of hands should prove beneficial. Tinsley concluded his last season at Western Kentucky with 87 receptions for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns. He posted at least 50 receiving yards in all but one of his 14 games, and he surpassed the 100-yard threshold six times. "Mitchell is a very experienced guy who comes really game-ready," Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said. "He has a lot of experience. I don't think there's any moment where he's wide-eyed. "Once we get through the growing pains, I think you'll see sound fundamen - tals from him and kind of a ready-made wide receiver." Both Yurcich and Franklin indicated that the elevated level of play is an as- pect of Tinsley's move that will benefit him. Yurcich said Tinsley is anticipating tough competition and figures he'll thrive in that setting. Franklin agreed. "I think it's been really good for him from a testing perspective to be able to see the guys he's competing against — what they run, what they jump, all those types of things to see some of those explosive numbers and where he may want to improve," Franklin said. Tinsley enrolled at Penn State expecting to be a major factor in the Nittany Lions' offense this season — and with the knowledge that he would need to earn that right first. He knew Penn State was losing Dotson, and that the Nit - tany Lions needed someone to fill that gap. Like Dotson, Tinsley is an explosive athlete. Listed at 6-foot-1, 203 pounds, he wasn't used as a deep threat too often by the Hilltoppers. His average depth of target was 12.9 yards downfield, a middling number in Conference USA last season. However, Tinsley proved extremely difficult to bring down. His 539 yards af - ter catch ranked second in the league and sixth among Group of Five wideouts. When considering his options, he viewed Penn State as a destination where that skill set would fit well. "Being a one-year guy, I had to make sure that whatever school that I was going to choose to go to, it was going to be the right fit," Tinsley said after he committed. "I felt like Penn State has the offense, and the right pieces that could be around me, to make me be able to be successful next year." Overall, Tinsley appears to have gotten off to a solid start as he looks ahead to what will be his first and only season with the Nittany Lions. Said Franklin, "He's what you would expect out of a guy with as much production as he's had and just an older vet." — David Eckert Mitchell Tinsley Seen As Difference-Maker In Nittany Lions' Wideout Corps Tinsley has joined a receiver group at Penn State that doesn't have an abundance of proven players. In 14 games with Western Kentucky last season, he topped 100 yards receiving six times. PHOTO BY THOMAS FRANK CARR