How many WR's.....

[PennStateFacts]

Can we expect to catch passes this year? Hamilton, Blacknall, Godwin, Lewis, Thompkins, Juwan Johnson?..is that too many? Thompkins and Johnson could be x-factors if they're ready, especially Thompkins on special teams. Could be the best set of skill players we've had in a very very long time

 

[bmw199]

A lot. All you mention plus Zanellato will have a few. TE's Carter Breneman Gisecki Wilkerson, RBs Lynch Barkley Allen Scott. That's a heck of a lot of different players with receptions.

 

[bjf1984]

Can we expect to catch passes this year? Hamilton, Blacknall, Godwin, Lewis, Thompkins, Juwan Johnson?..is that too many? Thompkins and Johnson could be x-factors if they're ready, especially Thompkins on special teams. Could be the best set of skill players we've had in a very very long time

One of the things that has never been discussed much wrt 2014:

PSU essentially had 2 wideouts to start the season: Lewis (SO) and Hamilton (FR)

Zenelatto hardly played at all. They started to work in the True Freshman, out of necessity....first Godwin and then Blacknail started to get some meaningful minutes....largely because that was all that was available.
We know Hamilton played much of the season with some nagging injuries - in fact, not only played, but rarely left the field.

That certainly limited what they could do in the passing game....due to the incredible lack of experience, due to the fact that any 3-4 WR sets would have to rely on True Freshmen, and the wear and tear over the course of the season on the "go to" guys.

You'd really like to have 5-6 wideouts that you can rotate into the various packages....both so that you CAN go 3-4-5 wideouts if called for, and to keep guys fresh.

I would expect Lewis/Hamilton/Godwin and Blacknail to all get a lot of reps. Whoever is making the most plays will get the most opportunities....which is a good situation.
I would also expect Tompkins to play significant minutes coming off of his redshirt (also seems to be the guy who might be most suited for the slot position in the 3-4 wideout sets.
And one of the true freshman (most likely Johnson or Irvin, one of the "bigger" receivers) will get a chance as they asimilate the offense.

MUCH better situation this year.....working talented guys into the rotation - rather than being forced into a "all hands on deck" approach with guys who probably are not really ready.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

Can we expect to catch passes this year? Hamilton, Blacknall, Godwin, Lewis, Thompkins, Juwan Johnson?..is that too many? Thompkins and Johnson could be x-factors if they're ready, especially Thompkins on special teams. Could be the best set of skill players we've had in a very very long time

You can never have too many people catching passes.... ! Is that too many ... My answer ... is a five star ph'ing NO!

 

[tboyer]

Can we expect to catch passes this year? Hamilton, Blacknall, Godwin, Lewis, Thompkins, Juwan Johnson?..is that too many? Thompkins and Johnson could be x-factors if they're ready, especially Thompkins on special teams. Could be the best set of skill players we've had in a very very long time

It's all good. Wideout is a position where you can use lots of people in different situations -- as long as they're all ready to play.

Plus, depth creates serious competition in practice, competition creates great players. If you're the only great receiver on a team, you run sloppy routes, you still play. That will not be true here. They get careless in practice, they won't get reps. It keeps everybody on their toes and that's good for everyone.

At least on paper Penn State has never had anything resembling this kind of athleticism at wideout. Even the greatest Paterno teams might have had two top-level wideouts. There could be more than that here. We'll see but they don't all have to live up to their high school reps -- if just half of them do, it will be a great group that can win a lot of games.

And don't forget Irvin Charles. Franklin keeps mentioning him, tells people not to lose sight of him, says he's the same caliber of athlete (and same dimensions) as Juwan Johnson. Maybe Charles will be the first true freshman to play, who knows.

Can you imagine what practices must be like with these wideouts and the kind of athletes Penn State has at safety and corner right now. There are some real battles going on which will make the receivers and the corners/safeties better football players. The potential is there for some really high level skills to be learned, some really high level coaching to happen.

The Penn State corners will be SO far ahead of PSU corners in the past having to try to defend these guys. And these recievers are not going to have an easy time getting open against the kind of athletes PSU has at corner now.

Very, very exciting.

 

[PSUSRD]

None of it matters, if we can't block.