Tag: Jahan Dotson

WATCH: Jahan Dotson’s wide open TD breaks a scoreless tie with Badgers

WATCH: Jahan Dotson breaks the scoreless tie with a wide open touchdown!

After a scoreless first half between Penn State and Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions came out with a brilliant offensive series on their first trip to the field in Madison. It took a while, but Jahan Dotson’s first big catch of the season was a big one that broke the scoreless tie between the two Big Ten programs.

Sean Clifford had a rough first half but he unloaded to a wide-open Dotson for a 49-yard touchdown. There was never a doubt.

Clifford had attempted a deep pass down the middle of the field in the first half to Dotson, but the pass was overthrown a few yards ahead of a streaking Dotson. But when you have a quarterback with a big arm and one of the Big Ten’s best wide receivers, it’s wise to give it another shot later on.

Penn State’s defense continues to take care of business on their end of things, but if the offense can build off this inspiring drive, the pressure could come off the defense a little bit.

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Jahan Dotson sounds like he is ready to start the season with a bang

It sure sounds as though Jahan Dotson is ready to get this season started with a bang against Wisconsin

The waiting is finally over for Penn State football. It is now officially game week for the Nittany Lions as they prepare to open the 2021 season on the road against the Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday in Madison. Penn State will do so with high expectations of themselves but also know they need to prove to the world just how good they can still be. Having wide receiver Jahan Dotson on the team certainly helps, and Dotson is ready to get to work for the Nittany Lions this fall.

Dotson was one of the players who took time to speak to Penn State reporters on Tuesday on a variety of subjects ranging from what he has seen in his quarterback, Sean Clifford, to his 40-yard dash time, and more.

Here’s a sampling of what Dotson had to say to the media on Tuesday.

Dotson on Sean Clifford…

Dotson on how the team is moving on from a disappointing 2020 season…

Dotson responding to a question about his 40-time…

Dotson on how he as looked in training camp and what other receivers have stood out in camp…

Dotson on his reaction to seeing Penn State opens the season with a conference game

After hearing what Jahan Dotson said, it is clear he is motivated to take things to the next level. This comes as no surprise as Dotson said this offseason he wanted to leave Penn State as one of the legendary players in program history. If he lives up to his own goals, then Penn State should be in for a fun season.

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5 days until Penn State football 2021 season opener

Penn State football is just FIVE DAYS AWAY!

Happy Monday! It’s Penn State football week! Writing these gets more and more exciting every time!

We are officially five days away from Penn State football!

Today is dedicated to one of Penn State’s current top players in Jahan Dotson. Dotson enters his final year as a Nittany Lion and he hopes to make the biggest leap of all.

He was a four-star player out of Nazareth, Pennsylvania who committed to State College in the class of 2017. He was a well-known talent across the NCAA, having other offers from Alabama, Clemson and Georgia before committing to Penn State.

Dotson has made solid progression throughout his time at Penn State. Last season, he had just under 900 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He could be in for an impressive 1,000 yard season to end his Penn State collegiate career.

Dotson is an easy sleeper pick for the 2022 wide receiver class, as he comes with elite speed and is a big-bodied weapon. His route tree is exceptional, but we very well could see some solid progression with that this season.

After the departure of KJ Hamler, Dotson was the next man in line to step up. There is a reason why draft analysts have such high praise for him. Penn State has a good amount of draft prospects for the 2022 class, and Dotson is one of those players that leads the pack of Nittany Lions this season.

5 more days! We are at the home stretch! College football is back and it feels so good to say that!

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ESPN names Jahan Dotson in top 100 players for 2021, overlooks Jaquan Brisker

What Penn State player is in ESPN’s Top 100 players in college football list, who got snubbed by ESPN’s voters?

With college football on the cusp of a new season, ESPN has released its list of the top 100 players in the country for the 2021 college football season. Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler tops the list with the No. 1 spot in this year’s top 100 players ranking from ESPN, but how many Penn State players managed to make the list?

One.

Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson just barely made the cut of ESPN’s top 100 players for the 2021 college football season. Dotson, who led the Big Ten in receiving yards and touchdowns last season, comes in at No. 95 in ESPN’s ranking. The top 100 players list is littered with players from around the Big Ten, including a number of opposing players Penn State will face this season, but Dotson was the only player worthy of making ESPN’s list according to ESPN’s panel of 20 voters.

Dotson absolutely deserves to be considered among the top 100 players in college football this season. After some highlights during an otherwise dismal Penn State season in 2020, Dotson should once again be ready to make some big plays in what could be a vastly improved Penn State offense.

The most notable absence from this list would have to be Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker. Brisker may even be Penn State’s best player, suggesting he is being overlooked by ESPN’s voters because of the position he plays. Only three players at the safety position were voted among the top 100 players by ESPN’s voters.

The other safeties to make ESPN’s top 100 list include Notre Dame‘s Kyle Hamilton (No. 7), Northwestern’s Brandon Joseph (No. 62), Auburn‘s Smoke Monday (No. 77).

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Top 21 players for the Nittany Lions entering 2021

Penn State football returns soon. Who are the key players to watch for the Nittany Lions in 2021?

Penn State enters the 2021 college football season with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Following a rare losing season played during a pandemic, James Franklin and the Nittany Lions are eager to prove they are better than their 2020 record would indicate. With a challenging schedule right out of the gate, Penn State will have plenty of opportunities to prove itself to the masses this fall.

And they will do so with enough talent on the roster to make some things happen. With experience at quarterback, one of the top wide receivers in the Big Ten, and one of the nation’s top defensive secondaries to rely on, there are a lot of good ingredients for a successful season in Happy Valley. Every position has a chance to play a key role in the fortunes of Penn State this season too.

Here is a look at 21 key players Penn State has on the roster in 2021, listed in no particular order.

2021 Penn State depth chart projection: Wide receiver

After Jahan Dotson, what does Penn State have to offer at the wide receiver position in 2021? Projecting the depth chart…

It won’t take long to predict who the starting wide receivers will be in 2021 for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State’s top three wide receivers from a year ago are back and figure to lock down the starting roles at the various receiver positions once again in 2021.

Among those leading receivers returning is Jahan Dotson. Dotson was the Big Ten’s leading receiver in 2020 with 884 receiving yards in nine games. Dotson also tied for the Big Ten lead in touchdown receptions (eight) with Purdue’s David Bell. Dotson is still sitting behind a handful of very talented wide receivers around the Big Ten on the national radar, perhaps because he benefitted from his Big Ten-leading stats by playing in more games than most other receivers around the conference. But Dotson is no player you want to overlook.

The 2020 season also saw the rise of Parker Washington as the team’s second-leading receiver. Washington is expected to be the second receiving option once again this fall, with KeAndre Lambert-Smith the most likely candidate to be the third starting receiver on the field for the Nittany Lions.

Finding playmakers has been a goal for the Penn State staff this offseason. Marquis Wilson has been given the opportunity to make some plays on offense, a luxury Penn State has the option of playing with considering the depth in the defensive secondary.

Here’s what the depth chart at wide receiver may look like for the Penn State offense this fall.

The Big Ten’s top five wide receivers heading into 2021

Are Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave the best the Big Ten has to offer?

The college football season will be kicking off in less than a month and we have been progressing through our top five positional rankings. We have already completed the quarterbacks and the running backs. Today we are diving into the best the Big Ten can offer at wide receiver.

As expected, this list will feature multiple Ohio State Buckeyes at the top of the list. The Big Ten has a number of top-tier wide receivers and multiple should hear their name called early in the 2022 NFL draft. Below is our breakdown of the top five.

Will the list be the same after the season? Only time will tell and there are usually some surprises. Still, here’s where things stand prior to the season.

What Big Ten coaches anonymously said about Penn State in 2021

Find out what Big Ten coaches had to anonymously say about Penn State football in 2021

With Big Ten media days in the rearview mirror and fall camps opening up around the conference, all sights are now set on the start of the 2021 college football season. The Big Ten will officially get things started at the end of the month with Nebraska and Illinois kicking off their seasons against each other. Penn State will start the following week on the road against Wisconsin, and the Nittany Lions are hoping to return to what they believe their form is after a down 2020 season.

Expectations may be high in Happy Valley, and for some legitimately good reasons, but sometimes it is good to gauge the viewpoints of your program from outside the inner circle. Athlon Sports asked Big Ten coaches to speak anonymously about their fellow Big Ten programs recently.

So what did they have to say about the Nittany Lions?

Penn State’s Jahan Dotson named to Biletnikoff Award watch list

Another day, another award watch list for Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson.

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Another day, another watch list for Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson. While Dotson was representing Penn State at Big Ten media day in Indianapolis, he was named to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation.

Dotson was the Big Ten’s leading receiver in receiving yardage with 884 yards in nine games during the 2020 season. He also led the Big Ten with eight touchdowns. It is worth noting Dotson also played in more games than most receivers around the Big Ten, but he was third in the conference in average receiving yards per game (98.2) and he was among the Big Ten’s leaders in average yards per reception (17.0).

The Biletnikoff Award is awarded to college football’s top receiver, which is defined as any player who catches a pass and is not restricted to just wide receivers. This is a relatively new expansion of the criteria for the award. Of course, no player playing a position other than wide receiver has been able to take home the Biletnikoff Award yet.

Last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner was DeVonta Smith of Alabama, who also won the Heisman Trophy and went on to be a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Dotson will look to bring the Biletnikoff Award back to Happy Valley for the first time since the award was originally presented to former Nittany Lion Bobby Engram in 1994.

You can check out the entire Biletnikoff Award watch list here. Players can be added to the watch list as the season progresses.

Dotson was previously named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award for the nation’s top college football player.

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5 questions for Penn State at Big Ten media day

5 questions Penn State will be asked during Big Ten media day

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The summer convergence of Big Ten media, coaches, and players will take place this week in Chicago. As they arrive in the Windy City from Happy Valley, Penn State head coach James Franklin and his player representatives will have some tough questions to answer after last season.

Penn State limped out of the gates of the modified 2020 season to a historically bad 0-5 record before turning a corner and ending the season on a four-game winning streak. The Nittany Lions missed an opportunity to even their record and avoid a losing season by deciding as a team not to participate in a postseason bowl game at the end of a trying year. But perhaps the biggest question for Penn State to answer in 2021 was whether or not you can chalk up the 2020 season to being a product of unique circumstances or if it is a sign of a program on the decline.

So what are we to actually make of 2020?

Head coach James Franklin will be very likely to be asked some questions riding along the lines of wondering how Penn State bounces back in 2021 after last year’s setbacks. You can fully expect Franklin to push forward and leave 2020 behind him, but it is an important question to raise for anyone trying to figure out who Penn State is in 2021.

Prior to last season, Penn State had won 11 games three out of the previous four seasons with three appearances in a New Years Six bowl game and winning two of them. This is why the 2020 results were so surprising for many. Injuries and player availability throughout the week were issues as well, as Penn State at times may have been riding a thinner roster than realized at times due to COVID protocols.

So when Franklin is asked about last season and what to expect this season, expect the standard response that Penn State has a lot going right in the program and they are ready to prove something after last season.

Will Penn State still add a transfer quarterback?

As things stand right now, Penn State’s offense is Sean Clifford or bust, or so it would seem. One of the main talking points during the spring football practice season was what Penn State will do to add depth and exp[erience at the quarterback position. Pulling a target from the transfer portal seemed obvious, and Penn State did make a push to add to its roster at the position before ultimately losing out on TJ Finley from LSU. Spring has now come and gone and the summer is half over and Penn State still has not found a suitable passer in the transfer portal to pad the depth chart.

When will Penn State grab a QB out of the transfer portal?

So, is this still part of the game plan, or is Penn State now going to move forward running the risk of not having experience behind Clifford? The ceiling may be pretty high for options like Taquan Roberson and Christian Veilleux, but Franklin made it seem pretty clear he’d much prefer to have a more experienced option available should he need it this fall.

NEXT: What is the confidence level of the defensive line?

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