Marques Hagans kept to himself in the somber postgame locker room that followed Penn State’s loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. He answered questions that came his way, but could only explain so much. What was there to say for a wide receivers coach whose unit failed to register a single catch in one of the program’s most opportunistic contests?
There have been no conversations about that performance specifically in the month since. But developments in subtraction and addition have spoken loudly. Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans, the team’s two leading wide receivers this past season, have transferred out. In their place are two newcomers and a supporting cast of mostly inexperienced pieces.
James Franklin has a special opportunity in front of him. He’s hired one of the nation’s top defensive coordinators, Jim Knowles, from Ohio State. And his Nittany Lions are set to return a handful of key starters, such as quarterback Drew Allar, ahead of a season that should bring national title aspirations. But the question remains: Are his wide receivers built for success?
“We’ll have a better idea once we get through workouts. We’ll have a better idea through spring ball,” Franklin said on Wednesday. “We’ll have a better idea after talking to the strength coaches, and we kind of really get into it with testing and then we’ll have to make some decisions once the spring transfer portal opens, and also who’s available.”
Franklin has enjoyed an offseason filled with roster retention and a splash coordinator hire following the departure of Tom Allen. But he struck out on many of the top wide receiver transfers in the winter window, and could look again for reinforcements in the spring, if he feels Troy’s Devonte Ross and USC’s Kyron Hudson aren’t enough to take his offense over the top.
And it could be possible that those two, who Penn State signed in January, are exactly what the program has been searching for since Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley left the program following the 2022 season. That is, a pair of reliable, consistent and, at times, game-changing wide receivers, who will answer the team’s offensive question marks of the past two years.
“I mean, a guy like Kyron, he’s a bigger body wide receiver, 6-foot-1. I mean, he’s gonna make a play on the ball for you. You saw, like the clip in the LSU game, he’s gonna make a play on the ball, contested catches,” backup quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer said. “And then Devonte, I mean, his speed and quickness reminds me a lot of guys in the NFL, like Tyreek Hill.”
Hudson is coming off a season in which he took a major step forward, hauling in 462 receiving yards, three touchdowns and a catch that put him atop the SportsCenter Top 10 leaderboard. Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki told Hudson on his visit to campus that he envisions him as the “queen piece” of his offense, capable of lining up in any spot.
The 5-foot-10, 171-pound Ross is another intriguing addition. He eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards and earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors with the Trojans this past year. But the step up in Big Ten competition is nothing to gloss over, and his viability in such a defense-dominant league will remain mostly unclear to players and coaches until spring practice begins.
With Wallace and Evans gone, Penn State possesses just three scholarship wide receivers who recorded catches last season — Liam Clifford, Tyseer Denmark and Anthony Ivey. And of that trio, Denmark, who earned high praise from coaches and teammates but was limited behind the starters and positioned to maintain his freshman redshirt, is likely the most provoking.
“I see a great opportunity looking forward, just because I know how hard I’m gonna work. Like, it ain’t gonna be easy. You gotta work for it,” Denmark said. “So I know how hard I’m gonna work for the opportunities I’ll potentially and eventually get.”
Denmark showed subtle flashes in the three games he appeared in as a true freshman. He showcased his twitch on a 16-yard punt return at Purdue and found the end zone in the closing seconds against Maryland in the Nittany Lions’ regular season finale. Denmark’s progression throughout the offseason is something Franklin will certainly watch closely in evaluating his wide receiver corps.
“Tyseer, his work, I think, is unmatched, and he’s not afraid to tell someone what they could do better,” Grunkemeyer said. “He holds himself to the highest standard. When other people see you holding yourself to a higher standard, they want to follow that. And I think that’s been really good for the wide receivers, having a guy like that, just to see how he works, is impressive.”
Franklin will also have a close eye on the three freshmen who early enrolled in January — Koby Howard, Matt Outten and Lyrick Samuel. Another, Jeff Exinor Jr., will join the program at a later date. But for now, these are the options Franklin and Hagans have to work with ahead of a season with mounting pressure and expectations.
And the spotlight is again on Penn State’s wide receivers, likely more than any other position.
“I felt like we got better this year. Obviously, when the season ends the way it did, that probably paints the perspective,” Franklin said. “I think overall, we got better this year. I think that’s the first thing that we have to evaluate.
“Then I think when you talk about kind of moving forward, we were able to bring in a couple guys that graduated early from high school, which is helpful. And those guys have been impressive so far at a position where freshmen can play, and then we obviously went to the transfer portal and got some guys as well who’ve also been impressive.”
