Penn State’s all-time leading receiver named in top 50 of last 50 years by ESPN

Penn State’s all-time leading receiver was among ESPN’s list of the top 50 wide receivers of the past 50 seasons.

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This upcoming season will see Jahan Dotson primed and ready to rocket up the all-time leading receiver list at Penn State. But climbing up all the way to the top spot on the list appears to be firmly out of reach. The leader in the all-time Penn State record book is Bobby Engram, the school’s only 3,000-career yard receiver in program history.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently put together his list of the top 50 college football wide receivers over the past 50 years. Perhaps not too surprisingly, Engram makes an appearance on the list. Engram was ranked No. 13 on the list, which is a very impressive ranking given some of the other names on the list.

Connelly noted Engram put together an impressive career despite playing in an offense that featured Ki-Jana Carter at running back in 1993 and 1994. Here’s what Connelly had to say about Engram;

There weren’t that many touches to go around for the Penn State receiving corps in 1994, not with RB Ki-Jana Carter rushing for 1,539 yards. But Engram made the most of his chances, needing only 52 catches to gain 1,029 yards that year as PSU fielded its most perfect offense in school history. Then he topped himself with 1,084 yards the next season.

Engram was ranked just ahead of LSU’s recent star receiver Ja’Marr Chase and just behind former Florida State receiver Peter Warrick. Marshall’s Randy Moss topped the list, followed by Pittsburgh’s Larry Fitzgerald and Alabama’s DeVonta Smith (who just won the Heisman Trophy last season).

As for Dotson, Penn State’s current leading wide receiver enters the 2021 season ranked 17th on Penn State’s all-time leading receivers list with 1,575 yards. A mere 1,000-yard season would put Dotson just ahead of Allen Robinson at No. 4 on the list. Dotson would need a school-record 1,451 receiving yards to catch Engram, which would make him the school’s second 3,000-yard receiver.

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