Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/277774
a chance to take a long look at Thompkins this spring. They'll also be happy to wel- come back Geno Lewis, who =nished fourth on the team with 18 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns as a red- shirt freshman. THE BAD Do we even have to say it? Less than 24 hours aAer O'Brien leA for the NFL, Robinson announced that he was following suit. In two seasons under O'Brien, Robinson caught 174 passes for 2,445 yards and twice was named the Big Ten's Receiver of the Year. He told PennLive.com recently that he was "not really sure" whether he would have re- turned to Penn State had the coaching sta? not leA. He's now a part of what some analysts have described as the deep- est wide receiver draA class in years, so he may have trouble convincing a team to take him in the =rst round. But as far as Penn State is concerned, he's going to be a very hard man to replace. SPRING STORYLINE Robinson was re- sponsible for nearly 42 percent of Hack- enberg's completions and just over 48 percent of his receiving yards last season. It's hard to imagine the Lions getting that much productivity out of any one receiver, but Lewis came on strong at the end of last season, catching seven passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the team's last three games. Throughout the winter, he and the other receivers and defensive backs got together frequently inside Hol- uba Hall, with Hackenberg slinging passes. They worked on timing as they familiarized themselves with the basic concepts of the new playbook. Those concepts will get >eshed out in the spring, and Lewis will have a chance to assert himself as one of the team's key players. Robinson's depar- ture, he said, "gives me the opportunity to step up and be a leader going into the next year. You have to be patient and wait for your time, but this year could de=nitely be my time. That's what I'm planning on, and I'm going to work hard like I do every day to be the best I can be." TIGHT END KEY PERSONNEL Adam Breneman (So.), Kyle Carter (R-Jr.), Jesse James (R-Jr.), Brent Wilkerson (R-So.) LOSSES Matt Lehman THE GOOD Nearly everyone is returning, including Wilkerson, who missed last sea- son with a back injury. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder is healthy again, making one of the Nittany Lions' deepest positions even deeper. THE BAD There had been some talk last fall that Lehman might receive a sixth I R E P O R T