Analyzing what Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming brings to Penn State's wide receiver room

As a former top prospect who is now experienced, WR Julian Fleming would be a great addition for any program out of the transfer portal. He’s incredibly valuable to Penn State, though, because of what else he will add to their receiving corps beyond talent.

BlueWhiteIllustrated’s Sean Fitz spoke about the addition of Fleming during an interview on ‘Andy Staples On3’ on Friday. Adding a former Buckeye receiver is great to begin with considering the caliber that they are. Still, it’s what he’ll bring from an intangible standpoint that could be the more important aspect of his transfer.

“He gives you something where that Ohio State receiver room is the best in the country for a reason. It’s not just because they have the best athletes. They do have the best athletes – that doesn’t hurt. But the approach and the mentality is something that was sorely lacking from this room last year,” said Fitz.

“I think just that mentality, that leadership role,” Fitz said.

Fleming made 38 appearances, including 22 starts with 20 in the last two seasons, for Ohio State over his four years in Columbus. In those games, he has caught 79 passes for 963 yards and seven scores. Most of that production was from 2022 when he posted 34 catches for 533 yards and six scores.

This came after Fleming was a consensus five-star prospect coming out of Catawissa, Pennsylvania in 2020. He was the No. 3 overall recruit according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, behind only DL Bryan Bresee and QB Bryce Young. He was the No. 1 WR in the class and the top player out of his home state.

The addition of Fleming was necessary based on how the receiver room has been trending for the team according to Fitz. Some of them didn’t pan out as they’d fully hoped and, as such, needed to find more answers at the position.

“They expected KeAndre Lambert-Smith to be the guy and, for a large portion of the year, he was. Then I think he caught three balls in the last month of the season and was barely on the field a lot during that stretch run. That was tough,” said Fitz. “Trey Wallace is a guy that they think is incredibly talented. Trey Wallace can’t stay on the field, can’t stay healthy.”

“You have several questions,” Fitz said. “You have talent in that room but you have several questions about that mentality.”

At this point, Fleming, as a senior, knows who he is as a veteran player. That’s why, while some of his value will be seen in his statistics, Fitz thinks it can be even more than that based on what else that he’s going to bring to the spot and those around him.

“Accepting what you are and what you are not is such a big part of college football. It’s so tough for these guys. Julian was, I think, the number one player in the country by ESPN. Like, he was bonafide. I think everybody had him as a consensus five-star,” Fitz said. “Accepting what you are and accepting what you aren’t will get you far in college football, will get you far in life. I think he has done that. I think he realizes what he can be for this team, even if it means he’s not catching 60 balls.”