Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703041
P R E V I E W OUTLOOK This is undoubtedly the deepest position group on Penn State's offense, if not the entire team. In Hamilton and Godwin, the Lions have two capable juniors who have won All- Big Ten honors previously and appear fully capable of doing so again. Hamil- ton has added 20 pounds of muscle in anticipation of his move inside to the slot wide receiver position. He's listed at 211 pounds, and despite some initial apprehension, he said he's excited about the move. Godwin has great hands and a penchant for outdueling defensive backs in jump-ball situa- tions, talents that helped him amass a team-best 69 catches for 1,101 yards and five touchdowns last season. And that's only the beginning. Be- hind Hamilton and Godwin are a num- ber of up-and-comers who could be headed for big things in 2016. As noted above, there are those who believe Blacknall is poised for a breakout sea- son after averaging a remarkable 31 yards per catch in a limited role last year. Polk and Thompkins bring speed, specializing in jet sweeps. And the unit's two redshirt freshmen, Charles and Johnson, offer both speed and size. They might look like tight ends, but re- ceivers coach Josh Gattis sees them as big, rangy wideouts who will be able to stretch the field. "For all the people who thought that Irvin Charles and Juwan Johnson would grow into tight ends, just wait until this season," Gat- tis said. "When they see them, those people will be taking back those words." The Nittany Lions return only one scholarship tight end with any experi- ence. That player is Gesicki, a 6-foot- 6, 252-pound junior who is looking for a bounce-back season after dropping a few passes last year. He looked good in the Blue-White Game, finishing with three catches for 30 yards, including a nice 22-yard grab for the Blue. Bowers, Dalton and Holland will all have fresh- man eligibility this fall, but despite the Lions' inexperience at this position group, they will no doubt be looking for more productivity than they got in 2015. A year ago, Christian Hacken- berg had as many touchdown recep- tions (one) as Gesicki, Carter and Wilkerson combined. Redshirt junior walk-on Tom Pancoast, who had a TD catch in the spring game, could be a factor here. – M.H. SLOT WIDE RECEIVER NO NAME YR HT WT 5 DaeSean Hamilton Jr. 6-1 211 10 Brandon Polk So. 5-9 172 19 Gregg Garrity Sr. 5-10 165 WIDE RECEIVER 13 Saeed Blacknall Jr. 6-3 212 11 Irvin Charles R-Fr. 6-4 219 WIDE RECEIVER 12 Chris Godwin Jr. 6-1 205 3 D. Thompkins R-So. 5-11 185 84 Juwan Johnson R-Fr. 6-4 218 TIGHT END 88 Mike Gesicki Jr. 6-6 252 89 Tom Pancoast R-Jr. 6-3 231 83 Nick Bowers R-Fr. 6-4 264 18 Jonathan Holland R-Fr. 6-4 245 80 Danny Dalton Fr. 6-4 247 PHIL'S TAKE In my opinion, Penn State will enter the 2016 season with the deepest and best overall group of wide receivers in the Big Ten. Chris Godwin was fifth in the conference last year with 69 receptions for 1,101 yards, while DaeSean Hamilton has 127 receptions for 1,479 yards over the past two seasons. The Nittany Lions are seven-deep at the position, with Godwin, Hamilton, Saeed Blacknall, Brandon Polk, DeAndre Thompkins and redshirt freshmen Juwan Johnson and Irvin Charles returning. Johnson and Charles, both of whom stand 6-4 and have 4.5-second 40-yard speed, bring an ex- tra dimension to the passing game. This is as deep a wideout group as I've seen in the 30-plus years I've covered Penn State football. By contrast, the tight end group is nearly devoid of experi- ence. Junior Mike Gesicki is the only scholarship tight end who isn't a true or redshirt freshman. It is important for Gesicki, one of the top tight ends in the country when he enrolled in 2014, to reach his potential this fall. One piece of good news here is that all four of the scholarship players at this spot seem to have the kind of athletic ability that will be required in Joe Moorhead's offensive scheme. DaeSEAN HAMILTON Steve Manuel OR OR OR OR