Blue White Illustrated

| Youthful receivers showing their potential S ince they signed with Penn State in 2015, it seems as though Irvin Charles and Juwan Johnson have been connected at the hip. When one name's mentioned, often the other is, too. Both wideouts are listed at 6-foot-4, both are former four- star recruits and both have inspired high levels of anticipation coming off of a red- shirt year in 2015. It might be easy to pair them together as car- bon copies of one an- other on the football field, but on closer ex- amination this spring, as their roles have in- creased within the Nittany Lion of- fense, the individualism of Charles and Johnson is beginning to surface. "They're definitely similar receivers, but they're not exactly the same," teammate Chris Godwin said. "They both have things that they do that make them special." Those differences, Godwin added, have to do with what Charles does af- ter the catch and what Johnson does before it. "Irvin, he's a little bit more fluid as far as when he gets the ball in his hands, more of a nat- ural ball carrier," Godwin said. "Juwan is able to create a little more separation from the line of scrimmage and he's able to go up and make plays over small defensive backs. Both guys have great physical attributes, and they're growing each and every day. They're getting better and learning with the more experience they get." Johnson made his Penn State debut in the Blue-White Game, finishing with one catch for 13 yards. He had a chance to make a big play on a deep pass from Tommy Stevens in the first quarter, but couldn't hold onto the ball on the sideline. Charles didn't play in the game. It helps, of course, that on the other side of the ball, the rookies get to pol- ish their technique and prepare for the Big Ten grind against returning starters, including cornerbacks John Reid and Grant Haley. When playing against people who boast the height of Charles and John- son, the 5-foot-9 Haley said he makes sure to take the same approach that he would use against any other receiver. Just because guys like Charles and Johnson have a significant height ad- vantage, if Haley were to play too high, he said, he could find himself unbalanced. So while the freshmen have learned from Haley and his experience as a two-year starter, Haley is also utiliz- ing their skill set to further hone his craft. "They're strong and physical re- ceivers and they have longer arms and they can get their hands under you," Haley said. "When you go against them, you just have to surprise them sometimes with quick jams and just get them off their feet. For me, I feel like as a quicker guy, I can match their feet better. Really, it's just playing within ourselves, not worrying about height and strength or anything like that." JUWAN JOHNSON his strong performance this spring into an expanded role in the offense. As a soph- omore, he sensed that he was developing a reputation as a situational player whose job was simply to catch long passes. He would prefer to be known as the kind of receiver who can excel in any down-and- distance situation, and his success with the long balls could end up proving ben- eficial in that regard. "He's gotten a lot of deep balls this spring, and it's opened up his underneath game with hitches and comebacks and outs and stuff like that," McSorley said. "Just being able to threaten the defensive backs' cushion and eat up that cushion real quick and be that deep threat, that opens up the rest of his game for him. He did a good job with that." To avoid becoming typecast, Blacknall is trying simply to be ready for everything that could potentially come his way this season. "My mindset is, if you're prepared, you shouldn't face any surprises," he said. "We all work hard, we all push each other. Not only that, but this is year three for some of the receivers in my class and then people who got experience from last year, it's just one of those things where you just constantly keep learning and when new things come up that you haven't seen or a hurdle that does come up, most of the time you're ready to get through them. And if you're not ready to get through them, there's somebody else who is willing to help you get through it." Aware of the opportunity in front of him, Blacknall appears ready to get through it. ■ Steve Manuel

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