Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545675
A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 4 9 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 / / / / / / / AMARION JACKSON Fr. | 6-2 | 192 • Totaled more than 3,300 yards and scored 40 touchdowns on 188 receptions in his career at Millard South High in Omaha, Neb. • Led the Patriots to back-to-back state championships in 2024 and '25. • Originally recruited as a safety but was moved to wide receiver in spring practice and made a strong first impression on the coaching staff. KEITH JONES JR. R-So. | 6-4 | 197 • Spent the first two seasons of his college career at Grambling State. • Led the Tigers last season with 32 recep- tions for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns. • Attended Edna Karr High in New Orleans and did not receive a recruiting ranking as a member of the 2024 class. ZAY ROBINSON R-Fr. | 5-11 | 186 • Caught 1 pass for no yards while playing in three games during a redshirt year at Iowa State last fall. • Was a three-star recruit coming out of Val- ley High in West Des Moines, Iowa, where he totaled 84 receptions for 1,070 yards and 16 touchdowns during his career. • Had 48 catches for 661 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. CHASE SOWELL R-Sr. | 6-3 | 203 • Getting set to play for his fourth college team, having suited up for Colorado (2022), East Carolina (2023-24) and Iowa State (2025). • Has logged 115 catches for 1,823 yards and 6 touchdowns in his career, includ- ing 32 catches for 500 yards and 2 scores while playing for the Cyclones last fall. • Was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and also was an honorable mention all-conference selection. BEN WHITVER Fr. | 6-2 | 195 • Flipped from James Madison to Penn State on Dec. 27 and became a late addi- tion to Penn State's 2026 recruiting class. • Was a three-star recruit at Powhatan (Va.) High, where he caught 58 passes for 961 yards and 9 touchdowns as a senior. • Owns the Virginia high school record for most career receiving yards (3,501) and ranks third all-time with 209 catches. • Caught 35 touchdown passes in his high school career. PRESEASON ANALYSIS ★★★★★ National Title; ★★★★ Top 10; ★★★ Top 25; ★★ Too Unproven; ★ Major Concern STARTERS ★★★ Matt Campbell convinced his top two wide receivers at Iowa State — Brett Eskildsen and Chase Sowell — to join him in State College. They combined to make 62 catches for 1,026 yards and 7 touchdowns last fall, with both winning honorable mention All-Big 12 recogni- tion. Sophomore Koby Howard looks to be the favorite to step into the slot role after showing promise as a freshman. He's one of only three returnees in Penn State's 2026 receiver corps. EXPERIENCE ★★ Sowell may have been the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year last season, but that honor belies his experience. Before transferring to Iowa State, where he played in 12 games and made six starts, he started 19 games in two seasons at East Carolina. Now a redshirt senior, he has amassed 1,582 game reps in his career, while Eskildsen, a junior, has 512. Aside from those two, the Lions are very young. Eight of PSU's 10 scholarship wideouts will have either freshman or sophomore eligi- bility this fall. DEPTH ★★★ Of the 15 players who caught at least 1 pass for Penn State last season, only six were wide receivers. Quarterback Drew Allar had more receptions (1) than Josiah Brown, Peter Gonzalez, Anthony Ivey, Kaden Saunders, Jeff Exinor Jr., Matt Outten and Lyrick Samuel com- bined. And of the half-dozen wideouts who did catch passes, three were in single digits, with Howard, Liam Clifford and Tyseer Den- mark combining to make 12 receptions. This year's wideout corps is full of unknowns given the number of transfers, but it feels safe to predict that it will be deeper than last year's unit. OVERALL GRADE ★★★ After years of subpar production from this position group, it was probably time for a clean break. That's pretty much what hap- pened this year. There's a new position coach, a new offensive coordinator and seven new players. In terms of personnel, the Nittany Lions will be very different than they were in 2025. Is the PSU wideout corps new and im- proved? You'd like to think so, considering that last year, the position group relied on two players— Trebor Peña and Devonte Ross — for 70 percent of its receptions and 69 per- cent of its yards. In most respects, Penn State needed an overhaul, and that's exactly what it's gotten. The one caveat is that only one receiver on the 2026 roster — Howard — has ever seen action in a Big Ten game. Eskildsen, Sowell and PSU's three other transfer wideouts are stepping up to college football's toughest con- ference. It won't be easy, but if they can make a smooth transition, the Lions figure to be in good shape here. BY THE NUMBERS 2 Penn State wide receivers who have been se- lected in the past five NFL Drafts (out of 35 total PSU players chosen). Jahan Dotson went in the first round of the 2022 draft to the Washington Com- manders, while Parker Washington went in the sixth round the following year to the Jacksonville Jaguars. 7 Career catches by returning Penn State wide receivers. There are only three scholarship re- turnees in the wideout corps, and only one of them — sophomore Koby Howard — has seen action in a collegiate game to date. As a true freshman last year, Howard caught 7 passes for 133 yards. 17.53 Brett Eskildsen's average yards per catch as a sophomore at Iowa State last year. He ranked second in the Big 12 and 24th nationally. During his tenure at Connecticut, receivers coach Kashif Moore developed Skyler Bell into a consensus All-American and a fourth-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER