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?