Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1472993
A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 47 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M WIDE RECEIVERS sons, including all nine games as a true freshman in 2020. • Caught 7 passes in the Outback Bowl this past January, the third-highest total in PSU's postseason history. MARQUIS WILSON Jr. | 5-11 | 184 • Is listed as an athlete on Penn State's 2022 roster and may end up playing offense and defense this season as he did in 2021, when he finished with 3 catches for 29 yards while also making 6 tackles. • Became the first PSU player since Dae'Lun Darien in 2017 to see action on both sides of the ball in a single game when he played offense and defense against Ball State last season. NEWCOMERS OMARI EVANS Fr. | 6-0 | 179 • Excelled as a quarterback during his senior year at Shoemaker (Texas) High, finishing with 853 yards and 8 touchdowns as a passer, while also rushing for 818 yards and 8 scores. ANTHONY IVEY Fr. | 5-11 | 180 • Finished with 875 all-purpose yards as a senior at Manheim Township (Pa.) High, including 49 catches for 654 yards and 9 touchdowns. TYLER JOHNSON Fr. | 6-0 | 175 • Totaled 40 catches for 1,278 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior at Magna Vista (Va.) High. KADEN SAUNDERS Fr. | 5-10 | 178 • Had 38 catches for 392 yards, 28 carries for 324 yards and 10 kickoff returns for 269 yards as a senior at Westerville (Ohio) South High. • Was a four-year letterman and two-time team captain. • Enrolled at Penn State in January and had 3 catches for 18 yards in the Blue-White Game. MITCHELL TINSLEY Sr.+ | 6-1 | 203 • Earned second-team All-Conference USA recognition after totaling 87 receptions for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns at West- ern Kentucky in 2021, his final season at the school. • Finished with a team-high 43 catches for 377 yards and 4 touchdowns during the Hilltoppers' 12-game 2020 season. • Spent two years at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he totaled 57 catches for 556 yards. • Had 19 catches for 350 yards in his lone season of varsity football at Lee's Summit (Mo.) High. BY THE NUMBERS 15.3 Yards per reception by KeAndre Lam- bert-Smith during the 2021 season. Lambert-Smith, who will be a third-year sopho- more this fall, was seventh in the Big Ten in yards per catch a year ago. He ended the season by averaging 24.7 yards on 3 catches in the Outback Bowl against Arkansas, the fourth-best average in PSU's bowl history. 100 Career receptions by third-year sopho- more Parker Washington. That total is the second-highest in school history for a receiver in his first two seasons. The Penn State record- holder is DaeSean Hamilton with 127 catches in the 2014 and '15 seasons. 195 Yards receiving compiled by Mitchell Tinsley in two games against Big Ten opponents last season. Playing for Western Ken- tucky at the time, Tinsley had 4 catches for 68 yards in a 33-31 loss to Indiana and 7 for 127 yards in a 48-31 defeat at Michigan State. Tinsley will play his final season at Penn State after finishing second in Conference USA with 1,402 yards receiv- ing last year. KeAndre Lambert-Smith wrapped up his second- year freshman season by scoring the only Penn State touchdown of the Outback Bowl. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Washington has been an outstanding comple- mentary threat, but aside from the Outback Bowl against Arkansas, a game that Dotson sat out, he has not been the focal point of opposing defenses. He will be now. Tinsley is experienced, having totaled 1,779 yards in two seasons at the FBS level, but this will be his first season playing in a Power Five conference. And while Lambert-Smith has been a contributor the past two years, he has just 2 career touchdown receptions to his credit. What's more, aside from those three players, there's almost no productivity returning. The eight other scholarship wideouts on Penn State's roster heading into the 2022 season have com- bined to make only 3 catches for 78 yards. DEPTH ★★ As noted above, the Nittany Lions have virtu- ally no experience behind their top three wide- outs. Even if Washington, Tinsley and Lambert- Smith live up to the loftiest expectations, Penn State will still need some of its backups to take a step forward this fall. The most likely candidate for a breakout sea- son is third-year sophomore Malick Meiga. The 6-4, 203-pound Meiga has already had a break- out moment, catching a 67-yard touchdown pass against Rutgers last year. More of that would be most welcome. OVERALL GRADE ★★★ We're taking some things on faith here. The first is that Washington and Lambert-Smith will continue on the trajectory they appeared to be on last season — a season that ended with the two combining to account for 10 of Penn State's 15 catches and 172 of its 198 receiving yards in the Outback Bowl. We're also figuring that Tinsley will make a smooth transition to Power Five football. He'll have a hard time replicating the gaudy numbers he compiled at Western Kentucky last year, but his success against a pair of Big Ten opponents — Michigan State and Indiana — bodes well. After that, the key will be for Meiga and/or redshirt sophomore Jaden Dottin to step up, or for one or two of the four wideouts in Penn State's 2022 recruiting class to show that they're ready to contribute right away.