Tag: Mitchell Tinsley

Penn State adds four-star receiver Ejani Shakir to Class of 2023

Penn State adds commitment from four-star wid receiver form New Jersey to Class of 2023

Penn State’s Class of 2023 got a little bit better on Wednesday night. [autotag]Ejani Shakir[/autotag], a four-star wide receiver from New Jersey, announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions to give Penn State’s current recruiting class an offensive weapon.

Penn State had been emerging as the favorite to secure Shakir’s commitment with West Virginia believed to be the top competition in the final stages of his recruiting process. The 6′-0″ 175-pound wide receiver is rated as a four-star prospect according to 247Sports, although the 247Sports composite ranking results in a three-star rating.

Shakir is the 12th member of Penn State’s current recruiting class for 2023 and he is the first wide receiver in the class. Penn State added [autotag]Kaden Saunders[/autotag], [autotag]Anthony Ivey[/autotag], [autotag]Omari Evans[/autotag], and [autotag]Tyler Johnson[/autotag] at the position in the Class of 2022. Penn State also welcomed Western Kentucky transfer [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag] to the program this spring to help fill the void left by first-round draft pick [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] in the 2022 NFL draft. [autotag]Parker Washington[/autotag] and [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] are each back for the 2022 season as well.

Shakir has said he felt Penn State would be his decision for. few months, but it was best to fully evaluate his options before coming to any final decision.

“To be honest with you, I felt like I knew I was going to go there since I went up there (a while ago),” Shakir said to Lions247. “A lot of schools didn’t really reach up to their potential. I knew I was going to go there for a couple of months.”

New Jersey is an important recruiting state for Penn State, as it typically is for a number of Big Ten programs. Shakir is the first New Jersey recruit in Penn State’s Class of 2023 at this point. Shakir is the No. 7 recruit overall in the state of New Jersey according to the 247Sports composite rankings (No. 3 just according to 247Sports).

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What number is Jahan Dotson wearing with the Washington Commanders?

This is the uniform number Jahan Dotson will be wearing for the Washington Commanders.

One of the first questions fans of a player will ask when they join a new team is what number will they be wearing. Fans of Penn State and the NFL’s Washington Commanders now have an answer for what number [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] will be wearing in his rookie season. Dotson is going with No. 1.

Washington officially revealed jersey numbers for their newest additions from the 2022 NFL Draft, including their first-round pick wide receiver from Penn State. In a short post on the team’s Twitter account on Sunday, Washington confirmed Dotson will be wearing the No. 1.

If you were wondering, the No. 5 Dotson wore at Penn State is not available on the Washington roster. That jersey number belongs to punter Tress Way. Meanwhile, in Happy Valley, Dotson’s old No. 5 is now being worn by transfer addition [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag], from Western Kentucky.

The team also gave a little preview of Dotson’s new road jersey with the stitching having just been completed.

The photos of Dotson’s road jersey also show off some of the new design elements going into the new uniforms for Washington as the franchise begins a new season under a new name. After abandoning the name Redskins, Washington played as the Washington Football Team in 2021. This year will be the first the franchise has played as the Commanders, which technically makes Dotson the first pick in Commanders history.

 

@bykevinmcguire Been a busy few days covering the NFL draft for Nittany Lions Wire and USA TODAY Sports. Here’s a quick recap of Penn State’s draft class. #nfldraft #pennstate #pennstatefootball #weare #packers #packersnation #panthers #chicagobears #atlantafalcons #49ers #49ersfaithful ♬ Youtube No Copyright Rap Music | It’s My Time – Dark Chocolate

Washington drafted Dotson with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Dotson is the highest draft pick at wide receiver out of Penn State since 1984 and the highest-drafted wide receiver ever coached by Penn State head coach James Franklin.

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Blue-White Game Report Card: Grading Penn State’s spring football game

The grades are in for Penn State’s performance in the Blue-White Game.

Penn State’s spring game wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard, even in a modified scoring system. And fans wanting to see drastic improvement from the program that has gone .500 over the past two seasons may be left wondering if Penn State is set up for another mediocre season in Happy Valley after watching the Blue-White Game. But Penn State’s final spring practice of the year had some positive developments and some reminders that help is on the way over the summer.

And now the grades are in for Penn State’s performance during the Blue-White Game. Here’s how each position group was graded for the spring game in Beaver Stadium on Saturday.

Quarterback: C

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports

A recurring theme when it comes to the offensive grades following Penn State’s game is probably chalked up to a simple “Eh, it could have been better.” That was the basic takeaway from the performance of the quarterbacks overall, but any expectation of any passer just lighting up the spring game may have been unreasonable.

We were never likely to see a whole lot out of [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag], the sixth-year senior who really has little more to prove at this point. We know pretty much exactly what Clifford is, and if given time to process the field, he can make plays. But he had some overthrown passes at times. He did, however, throw the game’s only touchdown of the game.

The backup competition behind Clifford is the real storyline here, and the future of [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] is what fans are eager to witness. But a rough spring debut for the true freshman shows there is still work to be done in the big picture. If based solely on one afternoon, [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag] proved he should be the team’s primary backup option heading into the season, although Allar should improve quickly.

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Next: Grading the running backs

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Inside the Box Score: The key stats from Penn State’s Blue-White Game

Inside the box score with some key stats from Penn State’s Blue-White Game.

Penn State’s Blue-White Game showed the Nittany Lions are still a bit of a work in progress in some key areas, but there were still some players and developments worth being optimistic about moving into the summer. And the final box score from a spring scrimmage like Penn State’s can oftentimes be misleading or unnecessarily overanalyzed. Nonetheless, it is a starting point for evaluating just where the Nittany Lions are heading once the 2022 season begins.

So, with the caution of not wanting to get too carried away with the official stats shared by Penn State from the Blue-White Game on Saturday afternoon, let’s dive headfirst into the key stats from the final spring practice of the season before Penn State moves to the next stage of its offseason.

And why not start with the quarterback position?

Quarterbacks

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
  • [autotag]Christian Veilleux[/autotag]: 5-of-14, 75 yards
  • [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag]: 6-of-14, 61 yards, 2 interceptions, 1 sack
  • [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag]: 4-of-7, 41 yards, 1 touchdown
  • [autotag]Beau Pribula[/autotag]: 2-of-3, 7 yards, 2 sacks

Sean Clifford had some decent production in his time on the field, including the game’s only touchdown pass (to transfer addition Mitchell Tinsley. Clifford also had the best performance from passers in seven-on-seven drills, for whatever that is worth.

Christian Veilleux had the most complete performance among those vying for backup consideration to Clifford. This could have been expected given he already has some in-game experience from last season.

Don’t get too down when reviewing the stat line for five-star quarterback Drew Allar, because he was not given much help at times by his receivers dropping passes or having a ball bounce off their hands. But he did have a number of throws that seemed to be just a tad behind his intended targets. And Beau Pribula also had some freshman moments, which was to be expected.

NEXT: Who were the top running backs in the Blue-White Game?

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5 takeaways from Penn State’s Blue-White spring game

5 takeaways form Penn State’s Blue-White Gme

Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] admitted the 2022 Blue-White Game may not have been the best way to entertain fans and answer questions for the media, but he seemed to be pleased with the development of his team as the spring practices came to a close. Saturday’s Blue-White Game allowed plenty of players on the roster to get some opportunities to shine and, more importantly, just get some playing time in a scrimmage format.

With a roster with some key freshmen just joining the program, the expectations are high. But for a team coming off a pair of mediocre seasons, Penn State’s Blue-White Game may have felt a tad underwhelming for some fans watching.

But there are some takeaways you can have from what was largely a glorified scrimmage with a modified scoring system. Here are five that stood out to me.

WATCH: Mitchell Tinsley opens Penn State spring game scoring with TD

WATCH: Penn State’s newest wide receiver on the roster opens the Blue-White Game scoring with a touchdown

Penn State’s offense has done a good job of getting some new faces on the roster involved early on in the Blue-White s[spring game. After opening the afternoon’s scrimmage with a handoff to five-star running back [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] for a two-point conversion, the first full offensive series was capped by the newest wide receiver opening the scoring.

[autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] completed a pass to the left side to [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag], a transfer from Western Kentucky, and Tinsley took advantage of some solid blocking in front of him to run his way to the end zone for the first official score of the afternoon.

Tinsley joined Penn State from the transfer portal after being a solid player at Western Kentucky. Tinsley is wearing the No. 5 that was previously worn by [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag], who is hoping to be a first-round draft pick in next week’s NFL draft. It may be too much to ask Tinsley to replace everything Dotson managed to bring to the offense, but there is a good chance Tinsley will have a terrific impact on the offense in the fall.

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Penn State adds former Maryland DE Demeioun Robinson to fill need

Penn State just added a defensive end out of the transfer portal from a division rival

Penn State cast a line into the transfer waters and landed itself a much-needed defensive end from within the Big Ten East. [autotag]Demeioun Robinson[/autotag] officially announced his commitment to joining the Penn State program with a graphic shared on his Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon.

Robinson, now formerly of Maryland, will be among the likely candidates to attempt to fill the shoes left behind Penn State’s last big defensive end transfer addition, [autotag]Arnold Ebiketie[/autotag]. Like Ebiketie before him, Robinson already comes to Penn State having shown some promise as an important piece in the defensive gameplan moving forward, although Ebikeiete was a more seasoned addition through the transfer portal.

Robinson was a four-star recruit of Maryland in the Class of 2021, and a recruiting target Penn State had their eyes on from early on as well. Robinson entered the transfer portal at the end of March, and Penn State quickly jumped into the mix with a visit in the past week. Clearly, that visit went well.

Robinson is the third addition to the Penn State roster this offseason. Penn State previously added wide receiver [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag] from Western Kentucky and offensive lineman [autotag]Hunter Nourzad[/autotag] from Cornell. Robinson will join Penn State in the summer, but he could quickly find himself in the mix to have a vital role on the defensive line.

Heda coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] has made note recently on how Penn State is aiming to have more success through the transfer portal. So far this offseason, things have gone pretty well for the Nittany Lions, and there could still be more to come.

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Former Penn State wide receiver Cam Sullivan-Brown enters transfer portal

After not appearing on the spring roster, another Penn State receiver is reportedly in the transfer portal.

After not appearing on the team’s roster for the spring, it had been speculated that wide receiver [autotag]Cam Sullivan-Brown[/autotag] had played his last game with the Nittany Lions. And that indeed appears to be the case as Sullivan-Brown has reportedly entered the transfer portal.

According to 247Sports, Sullivan-Brown entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. By entering the transfer portal, Sullivan-Brown is free to have contact with any program that may be interested in adding the veteran wide receiver to their roster. Sullivan-Brown will have one final year of eligibility to use, which was granted to every student-athlete as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic wrecking havoc on the sports calendar in 2020.

Sullivan-Brown was among the handful of players that were notably absent from Penn State’s spring roster. After playing five years for the Nittany Lions (Sullivan-Brown redshirted as a freshman), all tat was left to determine was whether or not he would continue playing football for another program or not.

Sullivan-Brown appeared in 38 games for Penn State, in which he recorded 17 catches for 163 yards. The super senior will be eligible right away to play in 2022 wherever he may end up.

Sullivan-Brown is the fourth wide receiver from Penn State to enter the transfer portal this offseason. [autotag]Norval Black[/autotag], [autotag]Justin Weller[/autotag], and [autotag]Daniel George[/autotag] all entered the transfer portal previously. As of now, none of the other three have confirmed a transfer detsination. Penn State has also added to its receiver position through the transfer portal with the addition of [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag] from Western Kentucky.

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LOOK: Jahan Dotson stops by Penn State’s first spring football practice

Jahan Dotson, a possible first-round NFL draft pick, stopped by Penn State’s first spring football practice of the year.

Penn State’s football program got back to work on Monday with the opening of spring football practices. Among the new participants on the roster is Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley, who has been given the uniform number previously worn by Jahan Dotson. Dotson, who is heading off to the NFL draft just so happened to be back in Happy Valley to soak in Penn State’s first practice.

Dotson was seen walking on the practice field as Penn State was opening spring football practices. He was not alone, of course, as a number of former Nittany Lions were hanging around the football facilities as they prepare for their professional football futures.

Dotson is expected to participate in Penn State’s pro day later this week. Penn State’s pro day is scheduled for Thursday, March 24. Dotson, who opted out of Penn State’s bowl game and did not participate in the Senior Bowl, put on a good showing in the NFL combine, although he was saving some drills for Penn State’s pro day setting.

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Penn State announces uniform numbers for new players

Penn State has confirmed the jersey numbers for 10 new players in the program as spring football practices open

Penn State officially kicks off the spring football practice season on Monday, and a handful of new faces will get their first taste of spring football in Happy Valley. A number of early transfers from Penn State’s highly-touted Class of 2022 and a key addition through the transfer portal are getting to work with returning members of the program as Penn State looks to set the tone for what they hope will be a better 2022 season.

And with the start of spring football practices comes an official update to the roster, including a batch of new jersey numbers for the newest members of the program.

Penn State officially announced a batch of new uniform numbers for its newest players on the roster, including Western Kentucky transfer wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley, and Class of 2022 running back Nick Singleton and quarterback Drew Allar.

Here are the jersey numbers for 10 new players to the Penn State roster in 2022.

  • 5 – Mitchell Tinsley, wide receiver
  • 7 – Kaden Saunders, wide receiver
  • 9 – Beau Pribula, quarterback
  • 10 – Nick Singleton, running back
  • 13 – Kaytron Allen, running back
  • 15 – Drew Allar, quarterback
  • 18 – Omari Evans, wide receiver
  • 28 – Zane Durant, defensive tackle
  • 55 – JB Nelson, offensive line
  • 88 – Jerry Cross, tight end

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