From an article by Pickel on BWI:
"It seems clear that Lambert-Smith and Harrison “Tre” Wallace will likely be the team’s top receivers this fall."
It sure doesn't seem clear to me that Wallace will be one of the 3 starting WR's in 2023. He had his share of drops and long periods of being MIA in games considering he got a good many opportunities on the field. Wallace is reportedly very athletic, but I haven't seen the true YAC ability from him, or from KLS either.
Also from the BWI article
"From an athletic standpoint, the 6-foot-1, 184-pound Virginia native has all the tools to be a top-level performer. That was on display during a record-setting 88-yard catch and run for a touchdown at the Rose Bowl."
What was really on display on that 88 yard catch? Really only that the Utah defense had a breakdown and failed to cover KLS, that KLS when wide open did manage to catch the ball, and that KLS was fast enough to get to the end zone given a 5-10 yard cushion to start the run after the catch. Not trying to be negative but the jury is still out on KLS being able to break a tackle at a key time in a game against top DB or put a move on to get away from a top DB, or to have the vision and decisiveness to make a great cut for a big play against a top defense. Or to make a good share of contested catches or for that matter 50-50 balls down the field that we haven't seen since Godwin wore Blue & White.
Franklin is only going to go so far to praise the new players after he layed out some welcome praise for McClain so I don't expect him to annoint McClain one of the top couple WR's after Spring practice. But from the highlights I saw of McClain's catches during his time at FSU I saw plays, strong catches, making moves on DB's to create YAC, and him using his size to make plays that I haven't seen from either KLS or Harrison. Or anyone else on the current PSU roster.
If Harrison and KLS take a step forward, and McClain as well as he works into the trust of the coaches, together with the reported talent and production of Cephus, it will be a great problem to have ending up with 4 WR's that are productive and take advantage of their opportunities in Yurcich's offense in 2023. But PSU really will need a sure handed productive WR to lead the group the way Washington did last season and given what we have seen so far in their PSU careers KLS and Harrison will need to take a big step for either of them to fill that role. I'm hoping to be at the B/W game to get a glimpse of the WR potential on the team, but it seems we won't really know what PSU has at WR until the first game against a quality opponent next Fall.
It’s surely possible that a player who redshirted last season such as Saunders could break into the top 4 or 5, or get a few snaps a game and break out somewhat, but it seems like the top of the WR depth chart is most likely KLS, Harrison, McClain, and Cephus.
"It seems clear that Lambert-Smith and Harrison “Tre” Wallace will likely be the team’s top receivers this fall."
It sure doesn't seem clear to me that Wallace will be one of the 3 starting WR's in 2023. He had his share of drops and long periods of being MIA in games considering he got a good many opportunities on the field. Wallace is reportedly very athletic, but I haven't seen the true YAC ability from him, or from KLS either.
Also from the BWI article
"From an athletic standpoint, the 6-foot-1, 184-pound Virginia native has all the tools to be a top-level performer. That was on display during a record-setting 88-yard catch and run for a touchdown at the Rose Bowl."
What was really on display on that 88 yard catch? Really only that the Utah defense had a breakdown and failed to cover KLS, that KLS when wide open did manage to catch the ball, and that KLS was fast enough to get to the end zone given a 5-10 yard cushion to start the run after the catch. Not trying to be negative but the jury is still out on KLS being able to break a tackle at a key time in a game against top DB or put a move on to get away from a top DB, or to have the vision and decisiveness to make a great cut for a big play against a top defense. Or to make a good share of contested catches or for that matter 50-50 balls down the field that we haven't seen since Godwin wore Blue & White.
Franklin is only going to go so far to praise the new players after he layed out some welcome praise for McClain so I don't expect him to annoint McClain one of the top couple WR's after Spring practice. But from the highlights I saw of McClain's catches during his time at FSU I saw plays, strong catches, making moves on DB's to create YAC, and him using his size to make plays that I haven't seen from either KLS or Harrison. Or anyone else on the current PSU roster.
If Harrison and KLS take a step forward, and McClain as well as he works into the trust of the coaches, together with the reported talent and production of Cephus, it will be a great problem to have ending up with 4 WR's that are productive and take advantage of their opportunities in Yurcich's offense in 2023. But PSU really will need a sure handed productive WR to lead the group the way Washington did last season and given what we have seen so far in their PSU careers KLS and Harrison will need to take a big step for either of them to fill that role. I'm hoping to be at the B/W game to get a glimpse of the WR potential on the team, but it seems we won't really know what PSU has at WR until the first game against a quality opponent next Fall.
It’s surely possible that a player who redshirted last season such as Saunders could break into the top 4 or 5, or get a few snaps a game and break out somewhat, but it seems like the top of the WR depth chart is most likely KLS, Harrison, McClain, and Cephus.
Last edited:
