When Penn State needed a wideout to break out and replace KJ Hamler after the 2019 season, Jahan Dotson stepped up and produced two elite years.

After Dotson left the Nittany Lions to enter the 2022 NFL Draft, PSU leaned on the 1-2 punch of Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley.

New year, new question: Who will replace Washington and Tinsley?

The sharp money is on the tandem of KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Harrison Wallace III. James Franklin consistently has mentioned those two as the receivers who have stood out this spring.

Lambert-Smith, now in his fourth season, averaged 16.2 yards per catch and caught four touchdown passes as the Lions’ third option at wideout last year. He burned Utah for 124 receiving yards in the Rose Bowl, 88 coming on one catch-and-run score.

There is a bit more uncertainty surrounding the 6-foot-1, 193-pound Wallace’s impact in the fall, but Franklin always has been a fan of the receiver’s athleticism. The Alabama prep star, now in his third year, caught 19 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown in 2022.

Wallace said he believes he has made strides as a leader and pass-catching threat.

“I feel like this year I had to take a bigger step into a leadership role because we’ve got a lot of young guys in our room, and a lot of the old guys left,” Wallace said. “So I feel like me, Liam (Clifford), ‘Dre (Lambert-Smith), Malick Meiga, we all had to step up and be those leaders for the room.”

Wallace said he benefited from watching Tinsley, a transfer from Western Kentucky, on the practice field and in games last season.

“From ‘Mitch’ (Tinsley), how he just came to work every day. He had a mindset that nobody was going to outwork him that day,” Wallace said. “He was going to give it his all, and I feel like that really rubbed off on me, watching him practice. I was like, ‘He’s really practicing like a pro, and I want to practice like him.’ I kind of picked up on small things like that.”

How else has Wallace changed this offseason?

“Just coming in, getting catches outside of practice time, going against the best defense every day, the best corners,” Wallace said. “It just really helps me … to be a better player, conditioning, all of that.”

Franklin and new position coach Marques Hagans still are looking for a third receiver to separate from the rest of the pack. PSU has several intriguing options pushing for first-team reps, and Kent State transfer Dante Cephas is set to begin working out in State College this summer.

Wallace knows he has room to improve in at least one phase of the game.

“Being more physical at blocking around the perimeter,” Wallace said. “Just so we can get the ball to our running backs in space, and they know that the receivers will be there to make the block and get (them) to the end zone.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)