Penn State Football: Position Grades at Pitt

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

The wide receivers and tight ends were most certainly the worst unit in this game. Brandon Polk and Mac Hippenhammer made some nice plays in garbage time, but when the game was actually close, the only receiver that played well was redshirt freshman KJ Hamler.

This is now the second week in a row that Hamler has played phenomenal.

He ran in a 32-yard touchdown on a jet sweep in the first quarter, and caught a 14-yard touchdown to end the first half in arguably one of the biggest plays of the game. Before Hamler did it Saturday, a Penn State player hasn’t had a rushing and receiving touchdown in a game since Derrick Williams in 2008 (according  to @GoPSUKris).

KJ Hamler has shown through two weeks that he’ll be a huge part of this offense this season due to his versatility, speed, and athleticism.

This hurdle was Saquon Barkley-like, and came during a kickoff return.

Moving onto the other starting wide receivers, DeAndre Thompkins was horrendous in the receiving game, as he dropped at least three passes. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Thompkins loses his starting job midseason. While he didn’t catch a ball against Pitt, he did return a punt for a touchdown.

Juwan Johnson is also starting to a cause a bit of concern, as this was the second straight week he dropped a pass. Johnson has all the physical tools to be a dominant wide receiver, he just needs to work on catching the football. He finished with two receptions for 23 yards.

The tight ends, Danny Dalton, Jonathan Holland, and Pat Freiermuth all contributed, but they combined to catch five passes for 47 yards.

Grade: C+