Penn State Football 2024 Forecast: Lingering Questions at Wide Receiver

The receiver position was Penn State's biggest concern entering 2023. That hasn't changed in 2024.

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Harrison Wallace III runs after the catch in the 2024 Blue-White Game. / Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State’s wide receivers faced significant scrutiny in 2023, and the numbers explain why. KeAndre Lambert-Smith, the group’s leading receiver who has since transferred to Auburn, amassed just 673 yards and finished the year on a brutal stretch in which he caught just one pass or fewer in each of the last four games.

The remaining receivers were unproven, missed playing time or largely disappointed. No. 2 wideout Harrison “Tre” Wallace III spent much of the year injured, Kent State transfer Dante Cephas (now at Kansas State) struggled and young names failed to break through. Only in his second season as Penn State’s receivers coach, Marques Hagans has his work cut out for him in 2024. Our Penn State football 2024 forecast continues with a look at perhaps Penn State’s biggest X-factor this season.

The Storyline

This offseason has been one of massive turnover for the Penn State receivers. A quick breakdown:

IN: Julian Fleming (Ohio State), Tyseer Denmark (freshman), Peter Gonzalez (freshman), Josiah Brown (freshman).

OUT: Lambert-Smith (Auburn), Cephas (Kansas State), Malick Meiga (Coastal Carolina), Malik McClain (Arizona State).

Four veterans left and just one veteran arrived in Fleming, the former No. 1 Pennsylvania prospect out of high school. While the Lions have high hopes for Fleming, there’s a lot of slack to be picked up around the group, and he certainly can’t do it alone. Penn State’s tight ends will be a security blanket for quarterback Drew Allar, but this receiving corps needs to generate big plays at a consistent rate.

Wallace figures to be the No. 1 receiver if he stays healthy, while Kaden Saunders and Omari Evans are younger returners who have shown flashes. Liam Clifford could be ready to take a step, too, but it seems clear Penn State will need a relative unknown to make some noise.

RELATED: Michael Mauti returns to Penn State in development role

The Alphas

Wallace is by far the best route-runner in the group. The 6-1, 200-pound receiver oozes pure potential and, at the Peach Bowl, several players referred to Wallace as the team’s No. 1 receiver during preseason camp. But multiple injuries held him to just seven games in 2023, when he caught 19 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown. Should Wallace stay on the field, he could make himself into a legitimate No. 1 option as Penn State searches for its first 1,000-yard receiver since Jahan Dotson in 2021.

Nittany Lion fans surely enjoyed Fleming’s return home. The Southern Columbia High graduate, who spent four seasons at Ohio State, dealt with a rash of injuries that prevented him from reaching his ceiling as a Buckeye. However, Fleming said in spring that he is the healthiest he has been in college. Even if the receiving numbers don’t jump as Penn State hopes, Fleming is one of the best blocking receivers in the Big Ten and a true veteran voice who has been through nearly everything in college football, including two College Football Playoff appearances.

The Player You Don’t Know Yet

Omari Evans burned his redshirt as a freshman in 2022, gaining 55 yards on five catches, and appeared to position himself as a core player in the receiving corps. But after earning loads of hype last spring, Evans caught just nine passes for 94 yards in 2023.

A major key for Evans? Two of his four catches, a 25-yarder and a 60-yarder, came after James Franklin fired Mike Yurcich as offensive coordinator. Franklin and first-year coordinator Andy Kotelnicki seem to be on the same page, wanting to design their scheme to players rather than design players to the scheme — a hot-button issue after Yurcich’s release. Evans is far from Penn State’s best all-around receiver, but is fast and can factor into the offense in an explosive way.

The Issues at the Position

To put it plainly, there are a lot of issues at receiver. Penn State hasn’t had a true No. 1 threat since Dotson. Recruiting, both high school and out of the transfer portal, has struggled, and development has been uneven. Overall depth has struggled to show up, too. Penn State needs players like Evans and Wallace to take sizable steps forward this season, but it probably needed to add another receiver from the portal.  

Part of the issue, though, is also poor overall offensive play, which could have skewed the optics of Penn State’s wide receivers. Yurcich and Franklin were out of sync, contributing to Allar’s struggle to find confidence in his first season. Penn State’s passing offense was a perfect storm of imperfection a year ago.

RELATED: Penn State receives a commitment from a 2025 tight end

Can Penn State Win the Big Ten With This Group?

Not yet. This is the only position group on Penn State’s roster seriously lacking on paper. The potential exists, but there is simply so much unknown about the position that it’s impossible to predict the Lions to take a significant step forward.

Penn State will need Wallace or Fleming to develop into a near-1,000-yard receiver; Saunders, Evans or Clifford to emerge for 30-plus catches; and likely one of the three freshmen (Gonzalez, Denmark or Brown) to emerge in some capacity before this group gains confidence from the Penn State faithful.

The Penn State Football 2024 Forecast Series

A secondary ready to take flight

How the defensive line will crunch again

At tight end, a game-changer returns

An important season for the running backs

Why we should be talking more about special teams

Reshaping Penn State's best offensive line since the 1990s

How offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki could deploy his quarterbacks

Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.