Sunday Column: Here’s The Catch – Optimism Abounds for PSU’s Fresh Faces at WR…as Long as Franklin Lands the Right Man to Coach Them
If you made it through any of Penn State’s 13 games this season without the words “Drew Allar” escaping your lips or even running through your brain, you are likely part of a small minority of Nittany Lion fans who, despite what they might have thought about Sean Clifford, were and remain excited to see what the young stud QB can do when given full-time control of the offense.
With Clifford out of the picture and Allar the presumed favorite to answer that question, a couple of related queries spring to mind as the dust settles following the close of the first portal window:
Who the hell is he going to throw to? And who is going to coach them?
That Penn State has to answer that second question at all is a surprise to many, but Taylor Stubblefield was relieved of his wide receiver coaching duties last week after three seasons with the program. How much credit or blame the former Purdue star deserved for the recruiting and production at the position, especially given the general mess the rest of the offense was for large portions of the last few autumns, is tricky and highly debatable. The bottom line is that James Franklin, as he has done with multiple assistant coaching positions in the past, felt he needed a spark/upgrade at the spot, and has a chance to make a positive impact on both the receiving corps and the larger Penn State recruiting machine.
The first question received a few more answers not long after the change was announced. But before we go further, it might be instructive to quickly review Penn State’s turnover at the position, which has been significant even by today’s transfer portal turnstile standards.
In the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 recruiting cycles, the Nittany Lions added 15 scholarship wideouts, including two in the transfer portal. Today, just eight of those players remain on the roster. They’ll be joined by 2023 transfers Dante Cephas (Kent State) and Malik McClain (Florida State) and incoming freshman Carmelo Taylor.
Cephas, who caught 130 passes for nearly 2,000 yards and 12 touchdowns over the last two seasons, should be ready to step in right away and could very well wind up as the alpha dog of the group, while McClain (16 catches in 2021 and 17 this past fall) and Taylor will likely slide into a mix that includes returnees KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Tre Wallace, Omari Evans, Malick Meiga and several younger reserves.
On the one hand, it’s the perfect time for a reset; a new quarterback taking over will need time to build chemistry with his receivers whether they’ve been on campus for four years or four weeks, and while there’s typically a good deal of overlap when it comes to receiving technique at the highest level of college ball, a mostly inexperienced corps is more likely to adapt to the new coach’s style and fundamentals than to simply go with what they know, as more established veterans might.
On the other, it’s a LOT of moving parts in one offseason for a passing attack that, with Clifford, fizzled just as often as it flourished (No. 14’s outstanding finale in the Rose Bowl notwithstanding). The only two receivers who showed any consistency for Penn State in 2022 were Mitchell Tinsley and Parker Washington, who are no longer with the program. Lambert-Smith has shown promise, and Wallace, too, seems capable of handling an expanded role, but they’ll need to prove it.
The good news for Allar, the revamped receiving corps, and their leader to be named later, is that the Nittany Lions will return Olu Fashanu and most of an offensive line that took some needed and marked steps forward in 2022, plus a trusted pair of tight ends in Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren. And if you haven’t seen a Penn State football game in a year, the Nittany Lions have a pair of pretty friggin’ awesome young running backs. They also have offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, who showed the ability to develop some creative passing schemes this fall, even if Clifford and the receivers weren’t always able to properly execute them.
Franklin, who will add a new receivers coach for the fourth time since Josh Gattis left for Alabama in 2018, doesn’t just need a coach who can quickly field a productive group in time for the start of this season, though. He needs a coach who can help recruit a more dynamic sort of playmaker than the Nittany Lions have had since Jahan Dotson left, and/or develop players who don’t immediately fit that description, and do that on a consistent basis with multiple receivers each year.
If Allar is the golden-armed QB every Penn State fan has hoped he would be, he’ll be able to move the football with wide receivers of any ability. But if he’s going to lead Penn State to the sort of success it hasn’t yet tasted under Franklin, he’ll need the type of targets who can bring to the hashes and beyond what Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have brought to the backfield. Getting a difference-maker to lead and stabilize the receiver room would be a good start.
