Ranking all 18 WR corps in BiG

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

PSU rushed for 297 yards on the ducks last year when Oregon had the Steelers #1 pick DE on their DL. And their 6th year QB. And their record setting WR. They lost a great deal from their lineup and not even Mega-$$ can make replacing that production seamless.

Meanwhile the PSU running game is back in tact. I like our chances .....

Iowa lost a 300 lb+ DT to the Steelers in the draft as well. PSU will likely try and run over them as well.

Interesting point on who they lost, not just numbers. Some losses are bigger than others, especially 300+lb DTs that go to the Steelers. Here's Iowa's returning starters. Numbers alone, they look to be better off than most teams in terms of returning talent. I don't know enough about every team to give the granularity of which returners and which losses are going to help/hurt the most.

[5] Jacob Gill (WR), Reece Vander Zee (WR), Beau Stephens (LG), Logan Jones (C), Gennings Dunker (RT)

[5] Aaron Graves (DL), Ethan Hurkett (DL), TJ Hall (CB), Deshaun Lee (CB), Xavier Nwankpa (S)

 

[GregInPitt]

Interesting point on who they lost, not just numbers. Some losses are bigger than others, especially 300+lb DTs that go to the Steelers. Here's Iowa's returning starters. Numbers alone, they look to be better off than most teams in terms of returning talent. I don't know enough about every team to give the granularity of which returners and which losses are going to help/hurt the most.

[5] Jacob Gill (WR), Reece Vander Zee (WR), Beau Stephens (LG), Logan Jones (C), Gennings Dunker (RT)

[5] Aaron Graves (DL), Ethan Hurkett (DL), TJ Hall (CB), Deshaun Lee (CB), Xavier Nwankpa (S)

Are those the losses or the returning players for Iowa?

The DL Iowa lost to the Steeler is Yahya Black, 23 years old, 6' 5", 336 lbs. Losing a big Senior DL athletic enough to get drafted has to hurt Iowa's run defense.

The Steelers selected Iowa defensive end Yahya Black in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the 164th overall pick.
"Really excited about Yahya," said defensive line coach Karl Dunbar. "Watched a lot of his tape. Big, physical young man. I like the things he brings to the table in the fifth round, so you've got to love that."
Black is the second defensive lineman the Steelers selected in the draft, taking Derrick Harmon in the first round, as they are working to be more 'dominant' up front according to Dunbar.
"We need to be more dominant up front," said Dunbar. "I think the way you get dominant up front is to get youth. I think he is going to be a great addition to the group.
"It's about competition, and that's why we're sitting in this room. It's competition. So, if you want to eat, go take your food. So that's what it's all about."
Black started all 13 games in 2024, making 27 career starts, while recording 34 tackles, 18 of them solo stops this past season. He had seven tackles for a loss, one sack, two passes defensed, two quarterback pressures and one blocked field goal.
"At the end of the day I am going to play wherever they need me," said Black. "They've got a great group, so wherever I fit in and learn."
In 2023 he started all 14 games, recording 51 tackles, 22 of them solo stops. He added five tackles for a loss and three and a half sacks. He also had five passes defensed, two quarterback pressures and one forced fumble.

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

Are those the losses or the returning players for Iowa?

The DL Iowa lost to the Steeler is Yahya Black, 23 years old, 6' 5", 336 lbs. Losing a big Senior DL athletic enough to get drafted has to hurt Iowa's run defense.

The Steelers selected Iowa defensive end Yahya Black in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the 164th overall pick.
"Really excited about Yahya," said defensive line coach Karl Dunbar. "Watched a lot of his tape. Big, physical young man. I like the things he brings to the table in the fifth round, so you've got to love that."
Black is the second defensive lineman the Steelers selected in the draft, taking Derrick Harmon in the first round, as they are working to be more 'dominant' up front according to Dunbar.
"We need to be more dominant up front," said Dunbar. "I think the way you get dominant up front is to get youth. I think he is going to be a great addition to the group.
"It's about competition, and that's why we're sitting in this room. It's competition. So, if you want to eat, go take your food. So that's what it's all about."
Black started all 13 games in 2024, making 27 career starts, while recording 34 tackles, 18 of them solo stops this past season. He had seven tackles for a loss, one sack, two passes defensed, two quarterback pressures and one blocked field goal.
"At the end of the day I am going to play wherever they need me," said Black. "They've got a great group, so wherever I fit in and learn."
In 2023 he started all 14 games, recording 51 tackles, 22 of them solo stops. He added five tackles for a loss and three and a half sacks. He also had five passes defensed, two quarterback pressures and one forced fumble.

Returning starters

 

[Lazy Dave]

I don't know how good the portal ratings are but a lot of people on the Rivals board complained about KLS. Then he transferred to Auburn and had almost 1k receiving yards. He was just drafted by the Chargers in the 5th round.

Wallace had over 700 yds receiving for PSU last year. He just came up short in big moments. Forget On3's ratings. He was rated the #17 WR in the portal by 247 (4*, .92). They ranked Pena 26th (4*, .91). They ranked Ross 30th (4*, .90) and Hudson 47th (3*, .88).

I don't know if our WRs will struggle again or if they'll have a huge year. I just think the past problems are more complicated than KLS or Wallace. I think Allar and play calling are all part of the equation.

KLS played on a lousy Auburn team that was behind every game and had to throw. He got drafted in the 5th round. That's great, but that's kind of the issue with the WR room: we didn't have a 1st/2nd round talent in it since Dotson turned pro.

I don't have an issue with Wallace per say, but the reality is he couldn't get open vs OSU nor Notre Dame. Find the film where he was open and Allar ignored him. There is plenty of him being shoved off his route and turning a huge TD into a game-deflating INT.

While there are no guarantees that the 3 new WRs will be a definitive improvement, they cannot possibly do worse than 0 for 0 in the freaking semi finals.

On top of that, who was the great stud that was in the portal? 2 of the top 5 were ACC WRs with similar or lesser stats than Pena. 2 were Hudson's USCs teammates with near identical stats. The other is a Kentucky player that's more return man than WR who has never fully become a good WR.

Basically, there was no game changer out there. These players mostly got rated based on 40 yard dash times and then production.

There are issues with Allar and play calling that need improvement, but Allar didn't have trouble finding Warren did he?

 

[ryoder1]

KLS played on a lousy Auburn team that was behind every game and had to throw. He got drafted in the 5th round. That's great, but that's kind of the issue with the WR room: we didn't have a 1st/2nd round talent in it since Dotson turned pro.

I don't have an issue with Wallace per say, but the reality is he couldn't get open vs OSU nor Notre Dame. Find the film where he was open and Allar ignored him. There is plenty of him being shoved off his route and turning a huge TD into a game-deflating INT.

While there are no guarantees that the 3 new WRs will be a definitive improvement, they cannot possibly do worse than 0 for 0 in the freaking semi finals.

On top of that, who was the great stud that was in the portal? 2 of the top 5 were ACC WRs with similar or lesser stats than Pena. 2 were Hudson's USCs teammates with near identical stats. The other is a Kentucky player that's more return man than WR who has never fully become a good WR.

Basically, there was no game changer out there. These players mostly got rated based on 40 yard dash times and then production.

There are issues with Allar and play calling that need improvement, but Allar didn't have trouble finding Warren did he?

The fact that Warren was so dominant did impact how often the WRs were targeted. It probably is a combo effect of Warren being the clear #1 and the WRs then becoming less interested because they were rarely the first read. With that said we had a talent issue at WR. Look how pathetic they were versus OSU and ND. They couldn't get open. When a WR can't get open it affects the confidence of the QB. By the end Allar had little faith in our WRs. Allar said on the play vs ND where he threw the horrible pick he was trying to throw it away. That makes sense, why in the world on that play would our primary option be Evans? It was our biggest offensive play of the year. I would hope Kotelnicki was smart enough to have Warren as the first option but he was not open.

Allar does not escape all the blame here. He has to be better in these big games. I think he will perform well vs Oregon. A White Out raucous crowd behind you and a defense with many first time starters. Yes they have talent but new starters in a WO is tough.

I am a bit concerned about Iowa but we have a significant talent advantage and many vets at key positions. We should go in there and take care of business. No excuses.

OSU? I am predicting a loss. Why? Well for starters we have not won there since forever and always seem to come up short in the clutch vs them, home or away, sans '16. That OSU game is all about Allar. If he raises his game to an elite level then we have a very good chance. If not, forget it. Seems like we said the same thing for our game vs them last year.

 

[bdroc]

The fact that Warren was so dominant did impact how often the WRs were targeted. It probably is a combo effect of Warren being the clear #1 and the WRs then becoming less interested because they were rarely the first read. With that said we had a talent issue at WR. Look how pathetic they were versus OSU and ND. They couldn't get open. When a WR can't get open it affects the confidence of the QB. By the end Allar had little faith in our WRs. Allar said on the play vs ND where he threw the horrible pick he was trying to throw it away. That makes sense, why in the world on that play would our primary option be Evans? It was our biggest offensive play of the year. I would hope Kotelnicki was smart enough to have Warren as the first option but he was not open.

Allar does not escape all the blame here. He has to be better in these big games. I think he will perform well vs Oregon. A White Out raucous crowd behind you and a defense with many first time starters. Yes they have talent but new starters in a WO is tough.

I am a bit concerned about Iowa but we have a significant talent advantage and many vets at key positions. We should go in there and take care of business. No excuses.

OSU? I am predicting a loss. Why? Well for starters we have not won there since forever and always seem to come up short in the clutch vs them, home or away, sans '16. That OSU game is all about Allar. If he raises his game to an elite level then we have a very good chance. If not, forget it. Seems like we said the same thing for our game vs them last year.

I agree that PSU's WRs struggled to get separation but I also think part of the problem was lack of chemistry with Allar. A lot of successful passing attacks involve quick passes where the receiver only has a half step on the defender. The QB has to be decisive because the window closes if you're half a second late. The pass has to lead the receiver and the receiver has to be able to catch the ball in traffic.

 

[ryoder1]

I agree that PSU's WRs struggled to get separation but I also think part of the problem was lack of chemistry with Allar. A lot of successful passing attacks involve quick passes where the receiver only has a half step on the defender. The QB has to be decisive because the window closes if you're half a second late. The pass has to lead the receiver and the receiver has to be able to catch the ball in traffic.

Allar clearly had no chemistry with the WRs. As I said, I think they became disinterested and lost focus once Warren emerged as the clear stud #1 option. I'm glad we cleaned house at that position. We don't need prima donnas who are all me me me when we are trying to make a title run. We won't have Warren but we are still loaded at TE and hopefully we see a big upgrade at WR with a clear legit Big Ten #1 stepping up.

By the way, speaking of TEs, has anyone asked Franklin how Rappleyea has recovered from his injury? He could be a big contributor this season.

 

[bdroc]

Allar clearly had no chemistry with the WRs. As I said, I think they became disinterested and lost focus once Warren emerged as the clear stud #1 option.

I think Wallace was interested until the OSU game. The TD pass he had stripped for an INT seemed to be a negative turning point. Evans showed promise with his ability to get deep but he was inconsistent catching the ball.

None of us know what we have with Hudson, Ross, and Pena. Neither does Urban Meyer

MSN

 

[Lazy Dave]

Allar clearly had no chemistry with the WRs. As I said, I think they became disinterested and lost focus once Warren emerged as the clear stud #1 option. I'm glad we cleaned house at that position. We don't need prima donnas who are all me me me when we are trying to make a title run.

I think Allar and Wallace did fine. The problem was Wallace couldn't get open vs tight man coverage. The OSU and ND exemplified this. Now he's off to Ole Miss where his WR room leading stats at PSU would have placed him 4th on the '24 Rebels team.

Depending on QB play, Wallace, like KLS, will likely have better stats in the pass happy Kiffin offense and many here will decry "we lost another!" while reality says that Wallace could have returned to us, had an even better '25 without a Warren here hogging catches yet still not been good enough as a WR1 to get open vs OSU when we need it.

I'm fine with Evans leaving much more than Wallace although I have to wonder if his threat of going deep perhaps opened up Warren for some of his receptions? Granted he was limited to the go route, but he has improved every year since he got here. Makes one wonder if the staff didn't nudge him out. Then again, a payday might be more important to some of these kids than a ring.

Do we think either improved their ring chances?

 

[GregInPitt]

I think Wallace was interested until the OSU game. The TD pass he had stripped for an INT seemed to be a negative turning point. Evans showed promise with his ability to get deep but he was inconsistent catching the ball.

None of us know what we have with Hudson, Ross, and Pena. Neither does Urban Meyer

MSN

I don't buy this "not interested" stuff. If that had shown up on film the coaches would have made changes to the lineup. We would have seen more of Denmark and Clifford.

Evans had some nice catched in his limited PSU career. I remember a deep ball somewhere inside the 20 to the left of the field going left to right where the defender was all over him, definitely interference and he came up with the catch. In one of the post season games he went high up and pulled down a hard pass along the left sideline going right to left. He didn't seem to get many targets. I remember Gesicki had tons of drops and Franklin kept getting him targets. Obviously that worked out, but all young receivers need touches to get their confidence and Evans didn't get them. Wallace got lots of targets and made some plays but had his share of dud plays. It's been a while since PSU really had a stud WR that came in as a freshman or even a redshirt freshman and just made plays. Maybe Denmark or Howard will surprise us. Or even Gonzalez. But I've been saying that at this time of year for a while now.............

 

[ryoder1]

I don't buy this "not interested" stuff. If that had shown up on film the coaches would have made changes to the lineup. We would have seen more of Denmark and Clifford.

Evans had some nice catched in his limited PSU career. I remember a deep ball somewhere inside the 20 to the left of the field going left to right where the defender was all over him, definitely interference and he came up with the catch. In one of the post season games he went high up and pulled down a hard pass along the left sideline going right to left. He didn't seem to get many targets. I remember Gesicki had tons of drops and Franklin kept getting him targets. Obviously that worked out, but all young receivers need touches to get their confidence and Evans didn't get them. Wallace got lots of targets and made some plays but had his share of dud plays. It's been a while since PSU really had a stud WR that came in as a freshman or even a redshirt freshman and just made plays. Maybe Denmark or Howard will surprise us. Or even Gonzalez. But I've been saying that at this time of year for a while now.............

You may be right that Wallace was interested and engaged the whole season, none of us know. I think he kinda checked out but stayed engaged enough to hold his starting job which shows how lousy that room was. It doesn't matter as the results are what matters and as other posters have said he was incapable of getting separation when we needed it in our biggest games. That was not going to change this season. Move on and who cares how he does at Ole Miss.

As for Evans he could get deep vs the middle of the pack teams but could do nothing versus good competition with elite defenses (OSU and ND).

Why would we want these guys back? I am fairly certain barring a total disaster that the new WRs will be as good as them. I sure as heck would expect that given how pathetic Wallace and Evans were The question is if we have a significant upgrade but I highly doubt we will be worse than in '24 at WR.

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

I don't buy this "not interested" stuff. If that had shown up on film the coaches would have made changes to the lineup. We would have seen more of Denmark and Clifford.

Evans had some nice catched in his limited PSU career. I remember a deep ball somewhere inside the 20 to the left of the field going left to right where the defender was all over him, definitely interference and he came up with the catch. In one of the post season games he went high up and pulled down a hard pass along the left sideline going right to left. He didn't seem to get many targets. I remember Gesicki had tons of drops and Franklin kept getting him targets. Obviously that worked out, but all young receivers need touches to get their confidence and Evans didn't get them. Wallace got lots of targets and made some plays but had his share of dud plays. It's been a while since PSU really had a stud WR that came in as a freshman or even a redshirt freshman and just made plays. Maybe Denmark or Howard will surprise us. Or even Gonzalez. But I've been saying that at this time of year for a while now.............

I'm liking Samuel as well. He's maybe too lanky for the staff's liking to throw out there year 1 but he seems to make plays in practice film, and he's got nice length. Randy Moss was that build as well (not saying he's Moss) so maybe you let the kid show what he can do.

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

You may be right that Wallace was interested and engaged the whole season, none of us know. I think he kinda checked out but stayed engaged enough to hold his starting job which shows how lousy that room was. It doesn't matter as the results are what matters and as other posters have said he was incapable of getting separation when we needed it in our biggest games. That was not going to change this season. Move on and who cares how he does at Ole Miss.

As for Evans he could get deep vs the middle of the pack teams but could do nothing versus good competition with elite defenses (OSU and ND).

Why would we want these guys back? I am fairly certain barring a total disaster that the new WRs will be as good as them. I sure as heck would expect that given how pathetic Wallace and Evans were The question is if we have a significant upgrade but I highly doubt we will be worse than in '24 at WR.

It may be somewhere in between. Maybe Wallace wasn't checked out, but he wasn't grinding to get better each week. From that interception that should have been a TD against Ohio St, some may question his mental toughness. If you want it, you take it. Each week, you work harder. It may be also some leftover from the WR room issues that Lambert-Smith brought to the room. If it's not me at the center, I'm not fully locked in sort of thing.

Either way, maybe that wholesale change in the room finally flushes any remnants of that attitude. Bring in some guys who are hungry and let the young guys who haven't been tainted compete. The position group needed a fresh start as much as I thought Wallace's skills were salvageable as a 2 or 3 WR.

 

[Sheriff Coffee]

I don't buy this "not interested" stuff. If that had shown up on film the coaches would have made changes to the lineup. We would have seen more of Denmark and Clifford.

Evans had some nice catched in his limited PSU career. I remember a deep ball somewhere inside the 20 to the left of the field going left to right where the defender was all over him, definitely interference and he came up with the catch. In one of the post season games he went high up and pulled down a hard pass along the left sideline going right to left. He didn't seem to get many targets. I remember Gesicki had tons of drops and Franklin kept getting him targets. Obviously that worked out, but all young receivers need touches to get their confidence and Evans didn't get them. Wallace got lots of targets and made some plays but had his share of dud plays. It's been a while since PSU really had a stud WR that came in as a freshman or even a redshirt freshman and just made plays. Maybe Denmark or Howard will surprise us. Or even Gonzalez. But I've been saying that at this time of year for a while now.............

Two points. It is really impossible for the average fan to really define a solid opinion because there is so much we don't know. Clifford is more of. a possession receiver who doesn't possess great athleticism. We haven't seen enough of Denmark. And we don't know the kid's attitudes and practice habits, let alone if they are nursing an injury to a thumb or ankle. Even more difficult, we don't know if a WR is susceptible to the press, man-to-man, physical coverage, can process the playbook, knows the zones, understands the route options based on coverage/blitzes, or is just a ****. College offenses are complex as hell. And to be really good, the QB has to trust the WR. The QB needs to release the ball before the WR makes his cut, knowing if he is going to be sharp or round it off based on how a defender is positioned. Add in Coach K's creazy offense and formations and it is a crazy complex thing. I should also add that coaches make promises to kids to keep them. I can see the staff playing transfer players when they don't pan out because coaches have an obligation to do so lest they never see a transfer player again.

My second point is that I attended the Ole Miss bowl game. This was a tough game against a good opponent, and with PSU defensive injuries, it was going to be an offensive shootout. There was a lot of miscommunication with the QB and WR being on totally different pages. I don't know who was at fault but he TEs didn't have that problem. Worse, the WRs simply quit fighting around halftime. The body language was attotious and nnobody wanted to be around them on the sideline. After the game, they walked off one by one with almost no team interaction at all. Other groupings hugged and talked knowing it was their last game of the season, and perhaps, PSU career. There was a huge attitude problem and I knew then 2024 was going to be a bad year for our WRs.

 

[ryoder1]

It may be somewhere in between. Maybe Wallace wasn't checked out, but he wasn't grinding to get better each week. From that interception that should have been a TD against Ohio St, some may question his mental toughness. If you want it, you take it. Each week, you work harder. It may be also some leftover from the WR room issues that Lambert-Smith brought to the room. If it's not me at the center, I'm not fully locked in sort of thing.

Either way, maybe that wholesale change in the room finally flushes any remnants of that attitude. Bring in some guys who are hungry and let the young guys who haven't been tainted compete. The position group needed a fresh start as much as I thought Wallace's skills were salvageable as a 2 or 3 WR.

We are clearly better off without them. If there was a leftover of a bad attitude from 2023 to 2024 then that is on the WR coach. That guy is already on thin ice.....bad apples with lousy attitudes, poor production, lack of any clutch plays. We better have a good WR room this year with no bs attitude head cases or that guy needs to be shown the door then kicked in the a## through it.

 

[LudicrousSpeedGO!]

We are clearly better off without them. If there was a leftover of a bad attitude from 2023 to 2024 then that is on the WR coach. That guy is already on thin ice.....bad apples with lousy attitudes, poor production, lack of any clutch plays. We better have a good WR room this year with no bs attitude head cases or that guy needs to be shown the door then kicked in the a## through it.

I'd imagine this is a make or break year for him. Either he gets it done or he packs his bags.

 

[RickinDayton]

You may be right that Wallace was interested and engaged the whole season, none of us know. I think he kinda checked out but stayed engaged enough to hold his starting job which shows how lousy that room was. It doesn't matter as the results are what matters and as other posters have said he was incapable of getting separation when we needed it in our biggest games. That was not going to change this season. Move on and who cares how he does at Ole Miss.

As for Evans he could get deep vs the middle of the pack teams but could do nothing versus good competition with elite defenses (OSU and ND).

Why would we want these guys back? I am fairly certain barring a total disaster that the new WRs will be as good as them. I sure as heck would expect that given how pathetic Wallace and Evans were The question is if we have a significant upgrade but I highly doubt we will be worse than in '24 at WR.

I will have an opportunity to see Wallace play for Ole Miss this season. One of our grandaughters will be a Freshman at Ole Miss this year and we have tickets for their game against Tulane. Ole Miss will have a new QB starter this year and Tulane just had that BYU QB Retzlaff transfer in after leaving BYU under the shadow of an accusation of sexual assault (charges dropped).

 

[ryoder1]

I will have an opportunity to see Wallace play for Ole Miss this season. One of our grandaughters will be a Freshman at Ole Miss this year and we have tickets for their game against Tulane. Ole Miss will have a new QB starter this year and Tulane just had that BYU QB Retzlaff transfer in after leaving BYU under the shadow of an accusation of sexual assault (charges dropped).

That will be fun to watch a game there. From what I hear the tailgating on the grove? is a sight to behold.

 

[RickinDayton]

That will be fun to watch a game there. From what I hear the tailgating on the grove? is a sight to behold.

Looking forward to it.