Five reasons to believe Lions' wide receiver situation will improve

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Penn State's wide receiver situation will be better this year. Right?

No doubt about it.

So yeah, because obviously it couldn't be any worse than last season.

Beyond that, though, there are reasons to believe things will improve substantially. To the point where, maybe, the wideouts can become a strength, instead of a glaring, embarrassing weakness.

“I think they’re progressing really, really well right now," new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said of the receivers. "I’m very pleased with that group. They wear that chip on the shoulder.”

A chip? Of course they have a chip on their shoulders. When you've been blasted by pretty much everyone, any competitive athlete would have such a chip.

“They have committed themselves to improving daily, and it’s very evident," Kotelnicki said. "We’ve challenged them physically and mentally more than they have been. And they’re responding super well.”

OK, first of all, it does need to be asked: How would Kotelnicki know just how much the receivers have been challenged in the past? You know, him saying that sounds good and all, but he wasn't here last year, so he doesn't fully know everything the players did or did not go through.

Regardless, if we're trying to stay positive here and believe what the new OC is trying to get across, the main thing to keep in mind is that the receivers are experiencing a different system and different daily expectations.

“I just see a lot of fight," James Franklin said. "I think our offense is challenging our defense. I think they're really emotionally invested and having fun with it at practice."

Kotelnicki believes the wide receivers will "surprise some people" this year. If that happens, we could see Penn State's offense take a gigantic step forward and become highly explosive.

There are no guarantees. But there are reasons to believe that sort of thing could happen.

Here are five such reasons:

1. The Julian Fleming effect

Will Fleming emerge as legit No. 1 Big Ten wide receiver, which Penn State didn't have last year? The jury is still out on that.

But at the very least, Fleming brings two very valuable things to the wideout group.

First, he's got a ton of experience, having already played four years at Ohio State. He was never great there, but he was surrounded by great wide receivers, and surely he's picked up on what it takes to perform at a high level.

Second, all of that experience Fleming has gained will surely help him become a mentor and leader by example for the plethora of veteran and young wideouts returning in the program.

Fleming may or may not catch 60-plus passes, but having him on the field as a threat should only help everyone else around him be more effective.

2. Harrison Wallace III

If only he could have remained healthy last year.

Not that Wallace was going to be a superstar or anything, but he at least appeared to be good enough that he could command a lot of attention from defenses, which might have opened things up on offense a little more.

Wallace caught seven passes for 72 yards in the opener against West Virginia, then had only 12 catches for 156 yards the entire rest of the season. He appeared in only five games because of injury, and he finished strong with four catches for 67 yards and his lone TD of the season in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss.

Wallace is a talented receiver. He's probably not a No. 1, but he was expected to be a No. 2 last year. Without him, Penn State didn't really have a No. 2. And since KeAndre Lambert Smith wasn't really a true No. 1, the Lions found themselves in a hole heap of trouble.

If he can stay on the field, you gotta figure Wallace could be good for 30-40 catches, at least, and maybe a lot more.

3. KLS knows what to expect

No, Lambert-Smith was not a legit Big Ten No. 1 wideout last year. But he still caught 53 passes for 673 yards and four TDs.

It will be interesting to see who will be the No, 1 target this year -- Fleming, Wallace or KLS.

But if we're only talking about the wide receiver group getting better as a whole, there's no question that all of the experience KLS got last year can only help him better understand what it will take to ratchet things up a notch.

4. Which young wideout will step up?

The Lions have brought in some good talent in recent years, so it will be interesting to see which youngster takes a big step to complement Fleming, KLS and Wallace.

Will it be Kaden Saunders? Omari Evans? Maybe even Liam Clifford?

The bottom line is, adding Fleming and having Wallace healthy puts less pressure on everybody else. So, if all three of those guys can perform at a solid level, then the Lions should only need one more guy to really step forward in this No. 4 role.

The guess here is Saunders, who caught six passes for 56 yards and one TD last year.

5. Allar can only get better

This isn't about the receivers, so much, as it is about Drew Allar and the expectations for him to take a big step forward from his up-and-down 2023 season.

Let's face it, Allar didn't always see the field very well when he had open guys, he didn't always deliver the ball on target, and he wasn't always given a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field.

We cannot look back on 2023 and just criticize the receivers without also pointing a finger at the things Allar didn't do well. So, if we're talking about ways the receivers will be better in 2024, it stands to reason that Allar's progress and development should help that process in a big way.