Blue White Illustrated

T hose who play against him can vouch. When the NFL Network took a poll of the league's athletes this past off- season aimed at ranking the top 100 current players, eight wide receivers were spread across the first 50 spots. There were the expected names: An- tonio Brown, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, DeAndre Hopkins, Brandon Marshall and Larry Fitzgerald. Then, coming in at No. 31 overall, there he was: one of Penn State's own, Allen Robinson. In only his third season in the pros, the Nittany Lions' all-time leading pass catcher has parlayed those back- to-back 1,000-yard seasons at PSU into a reputation as one of the NFL's most feared receivers. Robinson was chosen by the Jack- sonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2014 Draft (No. 61 overall) after leaving a year early from Penn State. He finished his college career with 2,479 yards and 17 touchdowns. The bulk of his statistical produc- tion at PSU came during his sopho- more and junior seasons. Now in year three of his NFL career, as the top passing option on Jacksonville's depth chart, Robinson is set to surpass those college totals. After a rookie season in which he kind of taking him under his wing. But it's great. It's great to see young guys like that developing off the field, developing on the field and having some fun and having some success." Thompkins has repeatedly displayed an affinity for making those big plays. Against Kent State and Pitt, he averaged 32.5 yards per reception. One of the keys to his fast start, as Franklin noted, has been his physical transformation. He's listed at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds on the team's most recent roster, and he has been able to put that extra muscle to good use. "From when I first got here to now, my game is more physical," Thompkins said. "So I'm not having problems getting off the line and having guys 15, 20 pounds heavier than me just jacking me up. I think the biggest difference is just the size difference and the physicality of the po- sition." Thompkins added that he's more inter- ested in helping the team succeed than racking up individual statistics. "I'm not really into stats," he said. "My mindset is just to go out every day and make every catch, and do everything I can to help my team win." ■ Robinson developing into star Former PSU All-American on the rise with Jaguars P E N N STAT E R S I N T H E P R O S passes in each game plan based on what the opponents' defenses do or based on your game plan to attack that defense that week. There's still a lot left that a lot of people haven't seen, a lot of different concepts. … I think what people are starting to see are small pieces of how dynamic this of- fense can be in the pass game, how dy- namic this offense can be period, especially in the run game. As the weeks go on and we start facing differ- ent defenses, we'll see more and more of those roles increase. ON JUWAN JOHNSON Juwan John- son is doing a fabulous job. He's doing a great job, he's being selfless and doing a lot of things, him and Irvin Charles. He's getting opportunities in the game. The tough thing with Juwan is that obviously he's behind a pro guy like Chris Godwin. If Juwan keeps developing at the rate that he's going, he's going to be a phenomenal player. We have a lot of confidence in him. His role is going to continue to increase on offense, but it's hard when you have seven guys to try to make sure everybody is getting the same opportunity. If Juwan's in, then who's out? There will always be the question of how to get the right players on the field and how to get them the right amount of time. We're working through that right now, but Juwan has been a phe- nomenal player for us as a young guy and he has a very, very bright future if he keeps developing, keeps learning from Chris. ON CHRIS GODWIN Chris is a phe- nomenal kid to coach. It doesn't get better than No. 12, just a great kid. He has a wonderful skill set. He's a pro football player, that is who he is. He has really great speed, great ball skills, he has great body control. He is a guy who can stop on a dime, a guy who can make great adjustments and step up. I think he has a lot of physical ability that makes him the player that he is. He is also very, very savvy. He's a smart football player, he's mature. You'll never see Chris rattled, you'll never see him too hype or too low. That's the thing: He stays who he is no matter what the situation is and he's very humble. He shows up every day and he wants to work on things. He'll constantly come to me and say, "Hey Coach, what do I need to work on" or "How should I run this route and what should I do?" He's always trying to get more and more information to get himself better, and that's what leads to success. I can't be more thrilled for Chris, and I think people respect him across the country for who he is. He is a reli- able player. He is a guy who, when the ball is in the air to him, you feel very confident that he's going to make the play.

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