It’s hard to ignore the similarities between former Penn State receiver Jahan Dotson and current Nittany Lion wideout Mitchell Tinsley. For one. Tinsley is wearing No. 5 — an homage to his favorite college player, former USC great Reggie Bush — but also the same number his predecessor helped make popular in many a Penn State household.
Off the field, the senior transfer from Western Kentucky matches Dotson’s quiet demeanor, speaking softly but confidently to reporters as he takes part in his first Penn State football media day on Saturday. Tinsley doesn’t have Dotson’s million-dollar smile, or at least he hasn’t shown it just yet, but the rest is eerily similar.
On the field, Tinsley gets the same sort of scouting report as Dotson once did, too. He’s reliable, confident, does the little things well and is capable of making big plays.
“I think he’s got a chance to have a really, really productive year,” Penn State coach James Franklin said on Saturday. “Kind of all the things we’ve talked about is kind of how he is as a player. He’s dependable. He’s got really good ball skills and toughness and maturity. So I think he’s one of those guys that you’re going to know what you’re getting pretty much week in, week out from him.”
Sound familiar?
So the comparisons are natural, and while Penn State might lean on Tinsley and company to replace Dotson’s production, they don’t need Mitchell Tinsley to be Jahan Dotson. They need him to be Mitchell Tinsley.
And the key to that is a small piece of advice Dotson had for the newest Nittany Lion wideout.
“He said to have fun,” Tinsley said.
The good news for Tinsley is that a long career of college football has prepared him for this moment. Tinsley might be new to Penn State but he’s not new to the game. Last year the now senior hauled in 87 catches for 1,402 yards and still wasn’t even the Hilltoppers’ leading receiver. The even better news? Tinsley pulled down seven catches for 127 yards against Michigan State and four catches for 68 yards against Indiana in 2021.
The Big Ten will still be a new test, but he’s already passed his first two exams.
“I just have to believe in myself,” Tinsley added. “I just want to do my job and do it to the best my ability. And I know this is football; it’s not anything different than what I played before. And I played against Big Ten opponents and I played against some tough players on those team. So I’m just focused on doing my job and executing at a high level. […] Honestly, I feel like I do pretty much everything well, there’s things that I can get better at. But as of right now, I felt like I do everything at a high level.”
Of course, Tinsley won’t have to do it all alone. The likes of Parker Washington and KaAndre Lambert-Smith give the Nittany Lions a formidable three-man starting unit heading into the 2022 season. The challenge now is simply creating chemistry and timing with quarterback Sean Clifford. Because if there’s one thing that’s hard to replace, it’s the knowledge of where someone will be and exactly what they can do, something Clifford and Dotson developed as they set a program record for touchdown connections between quarterback and receiver.
So if Clifford sees a No. 5 streaking down the sidelines, he’ll have to remember which one he’s looking at. Fortunately for Penn State and that chemistry, both Clifford and Tinsley have been working on growing their bond away from the field as roommates.
“It definitely started the relationship and really, he did a great job,” Tinsley said of moving in with Clifford after the quarterback invited him to join his housing unit. “I was vetting a whole bunch of different schools [in the transfer portal]. He did a great job of reaching out every few days, you know, to see where my head was at and that type of thing. So I kind of just started from the beginning.”
As for living together? Tinsley has cats, something Clifford is getting used to.
“I don’t let them roam around the house that much,” Tinsley said with a laugh.
But if Tinsley can make everyone squint and say “Is that Jahan Dotson?” Clifford might let the cats roam free all week long.
And when you’re done squinting you’ll realize it isn’t Jahan Dotson. It’s Mitchell Tinsley.
