Dante Cephas named to Biletnikoff Award watch list

Penn State’s Bobby Engram won the first Biletnikoff Award. Dante Cephas is on the watch list hoping to join him in 2023.

One of Penn State’s newest additions on offense is already on the radar for the top honor at his position in the 2023 college football season. Penn State wide receiver [autotag]Dante Cephas[/autotag] has been named to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award.

Cephas transferred to Penn State from Kent State in this offseason, and he is expected to step right into a leading role on the offense.

Cephas had 48 receptions for 744 yards and three touchdowns in nine games last season for Kent State. The previous season, in 2021, Cephas had 82 catches for 1,240 yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games played.

Cephas comes to Penn State looking to help fill a bit of a hole in the passing game after losing two starting wide receivers to the NFL (Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley). Cephas will join new teammate KeAndre Lambert-Smith as the top receiving targets for Penn State’s new starting quarterback, which is expected to be sophomore Drew Allar.

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The Biletnikoff Award was first presented in 1994 when Penn State’s Bobby Engram was honored as the nation’s top wide receiver. He remains the only Biletnikoff Award in Penn State history.

The last Big Ten wide receiver to win the Biletnikoff Award was Braylon Edwards of Michigan in 2004. Last year’s recipient of the Biletnikoff Award was Jalin Hyatt of Tennessee.

Any player who catches a pass is eligible for the Biletnikoff Award regardless of position, but no player outside of the wide receiver position has won the award in the history of the award.

Semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award will be announced in November and three finalists will be voted on by a selection committee and announced in late November. The winner of this year’s Biletnikoff Award will be announced during The Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 7.

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