James Franklin‘s Penn State finally reached the playoffs last year after a strong 13-3 regular season, with the added benefit of the expanded 12-team playoff. Even their first round against SMU and the quarter-finals against Boise State went smoothly. But then came a massive roadblock at Hard Rock Stadium against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl semi-finals. Talk about the game? It undoubtedly was a thriller, but Penn State Nation crumbled in agony when Mitch Jeter made that 41-yard field goal with just seven seconds on the clock. But why the throwback?
Well, the game proved crucial not because Penn State performed poorly but because their receivers didn’t manage to catch a single pass in the whole game. The only bright spot? It was Tyler Warren who recorded 6 receptions and led the team with 75 receiving yards. Moreover, on looking closely, Penn State’s receivers underperformed throughout the season, as not one receiver had a 1,000+ yard season. But wait, hasn’t Franklin addressed his receiver issues with the incoming transfers?
Well, yes, the transfers that James Franklin has roped in are some of the most talented players in college football. You have Devonte Ross, who is just coming after a 1,000-yard season with the Troy Trojans. Then there is Kyron Hudson, another talented receiver who is coming after accumulating 655 yards with the Trojans, and has a proven pedigree in the Big 10. Moreover, who can forget about the recent Syracuse acquisition of Trebor Pena, right? The guy was the leading light of Fran Brown as he notched up 941 receiving yards last season. However, even after all of this, the concerns remain.
Joel Klatt, in his recent video, talked about how the tight end spot could be a problem for Penn State after the departure of Tyler Warren to the Indianapolis Colts. “The question becomes, can they replace Tyler Warren? That will remain to be seen. They will have to get that production from outside. Well, what we haven’t seen from Penn State is them rise up and win the game, that I would call a ‘match-up game’. When they’re looking across and the talent is equated, and they may even be a bit of an underdog. Can they win that game? Because up until this point, they haven’t.”
Well, the debacles of Penn State and James Franklin in big games, especially against teams like Ohio State, Oregon, or Notre Dame, aren’t a secret. We saw them last season losing their regular-season Ohio State matchup and later faltering against Oregon in their Big Ten championship game by 45-37. So, with the departure of Tyler Warren, who produced 1,233 receiving yards last season, the question becomes: who will match Tyler Warren’s production? Luke Reynolds is a player who comes to mind, but with his inexperience, it would be a stretch to say that he will match Warren’s heroics.
James Franklin’s 2 secret RB weapons revealed
Well, despite Joe Klatt’s proclamation about Tyler Warren, all may not be gloom for James Franklin. For starters, the head coach has their two lethal RBs returning in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Both of these QBs combined to run more than 2,200 rushing yards and will be the most important players for Penn State going into the 2025 season.
Analyst Greg McElroy placed both the RBs in his top 5 RBs list for 2025. “At number four, I have Nick Singleton of Penn State. At number three, I have Katron Allen of Penn State, now that’s flipped for most people. Most people have Singleton ahead of Allen. I actually like it the other way around“. The former Alabama quarterback was particularly impressed with Singleton’s explosiveness.
All in all, even without the presence of Tyler Warren, there may be some hopes for Natty with the two stalwarts taking up the rushing duties. However, even with that, the tight end spot couldn’t be ignored, and maybe we could see Luke Reynold provide some relief if not all, in that room with the rest of the production coming from the team’s receivers.
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