Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 4 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / W I D E R E C E I V E R S / / / / / / / Quick Facts Position coach: Marques Hagans (1st season) Returning starter: KeAndre Lambert-Smith (26 career starts) Departing starters: Parker Washington (24), Mitchell Tinsley (10) Projected new starters: Dante Cephas (21, at Kent State), Harrison Wallace III Top reserves: Liam Clifford, Omari Evans, Malik McClain, Kaden Saunders Newcomers: Carmelo Taylor, Dante Cephas, Malik McClain Moved in: Cristian Driver Moved out: None Scholarship Players (12) No. Name Cl. Ht. Wt. 3 Dante Cephas R.-Sr. 6-0 187 1 KeAndre Lambert-Smith Jr. 6-1 188 11 Malik McClain Jr. 6-4 200 4 Malick Meiga Jr. 6-4 204 2 Liam Clifford R.-So. 6-1 198 6 Harrison Wallace III R-So. 6-1 194 5 Omari Evans So. 6-0 185 80 Cristian Driver R.-Fr. 5-11 188 12 Anthony Ivey R.-Fr. 5-11 180 8 Tyler Johnson R-Fr. 6-0 187 7 Kaden Saunders R.-Fr 5-10 180 21 Carmelo Taylor Fr. 5-11 162 BY THE NUMBERS 6 Touchdown catches last year by Penn State receivers who are returning in 2023. A year ago, KeAndre Lambert-Smith led the way with 4, while Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans each reached the end zone once. 82.7 Receiving yards per game by Dante Cephas last year at Kent State, a fig- ure that led the Mid-American Conference. Cephas' average was bolstered by a 13-catch, 246-yard perfor- mance against Ohio in October, the second-highest single-game receiving total by an FBS player in 2022. 1,048 Career receiving yards for Lam- bert-Smith. The Norfolk, Va., native is one of 37 players in Penn State history to reach the 1,000-yard plateau. PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern STARTERS ★★ Technically, Penn State returns three receivers with starting experience. Junior KeAndre Lambert-Smith, redshirt sopho- more Harrison "Tre" Wallace III and sophomore Omari Evans have all been on the field for the team's first offensive snap multiple times in their respective careers. However, Lambert-Smith and Wallace are on track to be full- time starters for the first time, and Evans hopes to join them if he can fend off Kent State transfer Dante Cephas, among others. It would not be surprising to see this group develop into a top-25 receiving corps and maybe even a top-10 unit by sea- son's end. Heading into preseason camp, however, it is scarily unproven. EXPERIENCE ★★ Cephas, a redshirt senior, cleared the 500-snap mark in 2022 for the Golden Flashes. None of his new teammates did for the Nittany Lions. In fact, the only returnees who cleared the 300-snap mark were Lambert-Smith (402) and Wallace (375). Florida State transfer Malik McClain did hit 301 as a sopho- more with the Seminoles last fall. This group's collective experience keeps it from falling into the "major concern" category, but the Lions will need to rely on a number of players who have seen limited game action to date. While it's not ideal, PSU is hardly the only program facing that predicament this year. DEPTH ★★ Does Penn State have a legitimate two-deep at receiver? The Lions will enter preseason camp with a top four consisting of Lambert-Smith, Wallace, Evans and Cephas. Beyond that quar- tet, the picture is murky. McClain has talent but needs to take advantage of it more often than he did at Florida State, where he caught 33 passes in two seasons. Redshirt sophomore Liam Clifford is expected to take another step forward, and redshirt freshman Kaden Saunders aims to crack the rotation in his second year in the program. Junior Malick Meiga had seemed to be on the rise in 2021 but was targeted only 5 times last year, finishing with 3 catches for 19 yards. If he can reverse course, the Lions will be in much better shape at this position group. As it stands, depth at wide receiver is one of PSU's biggest concerns entering preseason camp. OVERALL GRADE ★★ Head coach James Franklin has said throughout the offsea- son that Penn State's receiving corps needs to find some an- swers by September. First-year position coach Marques Hagans has a big job ahead of him. The Nittany Lions need to establish a reliable first-team unit, while also filling in the blanks in their rotation behind the starters. If anything could derail what otherwise looks to be a high-flying offense, it's a disappointing performance by the receivers. We don't expect that, but given the relative dearth of dem- onstrated productivity, we can't rule it out, either. Omari Evans is expected to have a bigger role as a sophomore after being targeted just 10 times during his debut season at Penn State. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE