Penn State WR Kaden Saunders takes next step in Blue-White Game

Throughout Penn State football’s spring practices, James Franklin has left no room for misinterpretation. The receivers’ room, as a whole, would need to be better for the Nittany Lions to achieve the heights of their goals next season.

On the top end, Franklin said that KeAndre Lambert-Smith needed to be a true No. 1, not just at Penn State but also within the Big Ten. And, though Harrison Wallace had joined KLS in separating from the rest of the pack, the Nittany Lions still needed a consistent third. Moving the goalposts slightly on Saturday to include the four, five, and six spots as similarly important, the motivational push has blared like a siren throughout the room this spring.

“We need more wideouts to compete at a high level. And I’m not talking about even from outside,” Franklin said. “We need six guys that we feel like we could win the Big Ten with, and I think we have six guys on our current roster that could do it. But they got to step up.”

Penn State receivers take steps

For at least the Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium, Penn State’s young receivers offered flashes of Franklin’s sentiment.

While Lambert-Smith and Wallace spent much of the afternoon sidelined, neither appearing in the final box score, Omari Evans emerged as the game’s offensive standout. His five receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown backed the notion that the true sophomore has made a move toward joining the program’s top tier of receivers.

Maybe just as important to Penn State’s prospects, though, was the afternoon for redshirt freshman Kaden Saunders. A 5-foot-10, 172-pound former four-star, Saunders reeled in four receptions for 57 yards, including a 23-yard catch in the fourth quarter.

The next step in a process that has slowed the lofty initial expectations that accompanied his arrival last year, Saunders has narrowed his focus this spring. Along with his battle to build up size and durability in the weight room, he said his most recent months have been spent concentrating on understanding the game better.

“I was focusing on knowing the playbook like the back of my hand so I’m able to play as fast as I possibly can,” Saunders said. “My blocking on the perimeter is something that I can get better at, as well as all the receivers. 

“I feel like I made a lot of progress, especially with the playbook. I’m pretty confident that I know everything now, so I’m able to play fast, play smart.”

What’s next

According to Lambert-Smith, that effort has been undeniable. 

Investing in himself with extra time devoted to the craft, the Lions’ fourth-year receiver said Saunders’ dedication will become evident on the field this season.

“Kaden is one of the guys that, I like to think I get a lot of extra work in, but you see Kaden right in there with me on the tennis ball machines while I’m on JUGS, or, we’re switching, we’re doing it together. So Kaden’s work ethic, I feel like it is where it needs to be,” Lambert-Smith said. “He is gonna do the extra work that we need to do and I feel like he’s gonna help it this year and will be a big player for us this year.”

Penn State is counting on it. 

Described by quarterback Beau Pribula in the same vein as Evans, that of a “playmaker with speed,” Saunders and the rest of the receivers’ room are determined to continue along the path set for itself this spring. Tuning out external pressures and focusing instead on the work, the ensuing months have a clear blueprint to follow.

“Coach Hagans always tells us, we sit at a round table, so there’s no head of the table. Nobody’s better than anybody else in his eyes. So he wants all of us to eat together, in a sense,” Saunders said. “All of us are competing with each other every single day, trying to make each other better. We take it one day at a time.”