Penn State moves on Group of Five standout with transfer portal offer
Penn State football has offered another receiver in the transfer portal. The Lions are now in the running for former Troy receiver Keyonteze Johnson, who put his name into the mechanism college players can use to find a new home on Wednesday.
Johnson tagged Lions offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich in a social media post announcing the opportunity to suit up for the Lions on Thursday. He was the highest-rated Group of Five receiver by Pro Football Focus during the 2022 regular season after catching 56 passes for 863 yards and four touchdowns. A former three-star from Pinson, Ala., he is the adopted brother of Bo Nix, the current Oregon quarterback who used to play at Auburn.
Over three seasons with the Trojans, Johnson has 141 receptions for 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns. He has three seasons to play two at the next school of his choice. He was a third-team All-Sun Belt selection in 2021 and made the honorable mention list this past season.
Penn State is his first reported offer as of 11 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Penn State is casting a wide net at receiver
Penn State has and continues to make clear that it wants receivers to join it before the 2023 season begins. The Lions have hosted former Kent State receiver Dante Cephas, who remains uncommitted, and have sent out at least 10 offers at the position since December began.
Lions assistant coach Taylor Stubblefield explained the program’s approach to try and add talent to his room on Wednesday.
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“We plan on taking two,” Stubblefield said. “We took essentially five freshmen receivers last year. You have Parker [Washington] going to the Draft. You have Mitch [Tinsley] that we’re losing. So, we got a lot of young guys. We signed one in this class intentionally. We could have had multiple guys committed that are commited to some other schools right now, we could have had them committed in the summer, [but] we just didn’t think that they were right for us.
“So we feel like our best way to satisfy what our need is, which is probably a little bit of some older guys, is possibly going to the transfer portal and seeing who could help us win.”
An NCAA dead period is currently underway. High school recruits and transfer portal entrants alike cannot currently visit college campuses. However, transfers who plan to enroll at their next stop for the spring semester are allowed to take trips Jan. 4-8. The Lions will surely try to host Johnson, and likely others, during that window as they continue seeking more talent ahead of the 2023 season.
