Omari Evans, Cristian Driver friendship pays football dividends

Among Penn State’s 11 midsemester enrollees in the Class of 2022, Omari Evans and Cristian Driver made fast friends. Evans, a receiver from Killeen, Texas, and Driver, starting his career as a defensive back out of Flower Mound, Texas, found a connection from which to work.

And, whether established via their Texas roots or manifesting as a natural pairing for a receiver working with a defensive back, the friendship transcended the practice field and meeting rooms.

“That’s my guy,” Evans said earlier this month. “(We) always put in a lot of work because we’re really close. I think it’s because we’re both from Texas. I don’t know. We just clicked as soon as we met each other.”

First season for Omari Evans and Cristian Driver

Now into the start of their second full year in the program, that connection has a chance to grow further for Evans and Driver. 

While Evans is coming off of a debut in which he played in all 13 of Penn State’s games, Driver has converted from cornerback into the receivers room.

Giving defensive back a shot last spring, summer, and fall, Driver ultimately went to head coach James Franklin, corners coach Terry Smith, and then-assistant Taylor Stubblefield to request a change back to offense where he felt more comfortable.

“We recruited him with the idea that he could play offense and defense. We felt like during the recruiting process, the best spot for him was defensive back. Our plan was specifically safety, and we wanted to kind of train him like we did Zakee. Start him at corner and then transition him to safety,” Franklin said in November. “And he’s really done some good things. But, as the year’s gone on, he feels more comfortable at wide receiver.”

A process that began for Driver near the midpoint of last season, seeing reps both on defense and receiver in practices, he has since been able to work full time as a receiver in the new year. There to aid in that process, Driver pointed to Evans as a primary facilitator to help with the transition, just as they’d done for each other previously.

“He’s been great,” Driver said. “Whenever I first came in, we’ve always been working together, benefiting each other. I definitely gave him a lot of tips at receiver. And then just being able to go against him at corner was definitely great for me this year. It just gets me more comfortable in different positions.”

Next steps

Now, both are looking forward to the opportunities ahead in a receivers room in need of new contributors this season.

For Evans, he described his move from playing quarterback in high school to receiver as one that wasn’t overly difficult. Citing his speed, clocked at “4.3-something” in the 40, using his athleticism wasn’t the issue as much as the challenges presented by learning the playbook, he said. But, the experience of playing quarterback previously blunted those hurdles as he said he already knew coverages. 

Driver, meanwhile, pointed to the necessity of patience in his first season at Penn State. Admittedly struggling with his reduced role, playing in four games while becoming an instrumental piece of the program’s Developmental Squad defense, Driver utilized the influence of his dad, five-time Pro Bowl receiver Donald Driver, to settle himself and focus on areas to improve upon. 

“I feel like there’s always something that you can improve on in your routes, in your techniques, different steps, reading the defense. All those are different things that you can improve on,” Driver said. “I don’t think I ever do anything too perfect. I’ve never been there yet. I’m definitely always getting critiqued by him on different little things, but all the little things matter.”