Penn State Football: 2017 position grades vs Rutgers
Receivers / Tight Ends
Another week down and the Penn State football receiving crop showed off again. They’ve played consistently throughout 2017 and that shows with performances from Juwan Johnson, DaeSean Hamliton and Mike Gesicki.
Johnson didn’t have some crazy catch or a long touchdown. He just put in a quality afternoon of work with five catches for 78 yards. Johnson has quietly become the team’s best possession receiver. A lot of times people knock the word possession because it doesn’t involve a lot of gamebreakinig plays. For me, he’s a clutch because he can pick up key first downs and fight for extra yardage.
Beyond him, DaeSean Hamilton caught a career high seventh touchdown on a frozen rope from McSorley. Hamilton’s become the explosive guy of the bunch and ended with three catches for 40 yards and a TD. With his three catches, he became the first Penn State football wide out to reach 200 career catches.
Gesicki has rebounded from some injury woes midseason to take over the top receiving spot. He caught four passes for 45 yards and a walk in touchdown tying last year’s season total with five. These three players have separated themselves from the back and shown why they’ll matter down the stretch.