James Franklin provides update on wide receiver depth after spring practice

Penn State has had no shortage of good receivers in recent years, with the likes of Jahan Dotson, Chris Godwin and Allen Robinson filtering through Happy Valley. Speaking at the tail end of spring practice nearly a month ago, head coach James Franklin seemed pretty assured that the current crop of Nittany Lion wideouts will pan out.

Mostly, he and his staff are trying to suss out who the third wide receiver will be among a starting trio. Currently, KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Kent State transfer Dante Cephas are in line to take starting reps alongside a third wideout.

“So I think we came out of spring saying, ‘OK, we feel good that we’ve got two and a question mark on the third,'” Franklin said.

However, Penn State has a litany of options to try. Franklin named a number of players, albeit an incomplete list of the potential contenders: Omari Evans, Malick Meiga, Kaden Saunders, Florida State transfer Malik McClain, Anthony Ivey and Liam Clifford.

“So there’s some guys that are going to have an opportunity to go win a role and a significant role. They gotta go do it. They gotta go do it. We don’t make any promises around here. You get what you earn. If you can help us beat West Virginia, you’re going to be on the field,” Franklin said.

From the sound of it, he and his coaching staff are still open to any combination of those players making an impact for them this season.

“I thought Omari, the way he ended spring ball I think really helped. That really helped us feeling like we had three guys that had done it in Beaver Stadium. Obviously you’ve got Malick Meiga who’s played a ton of football here and we’re going to need him to continue to compete for one of those jobs. Malik McClain is a guy, there was a lot of buzz, especially from you guys, about him coming in. It’s going to be interesting. He looked great this morning, running and moving around. I’ve heard great things about him. I’ve noticed Kaden Saunders. He kind of jumped out to me. Anthony Ivey’s probably one of the more natural receivers that we have. There’s a bunch of guys that I could mention,” Franklin said. “… Liam’s a guy that I don’t think gets talked about. He’s got a chance because he’s got the intelligence and understanding of the offense. He can play multiple positions.”