Has Penn State football recovered from transfer portal losses?
The new transfer portal hasn’t been too kind to the Penn State football program this offseason. Have they bounced back though?
The 2019 NCAA offseason has been eventful for the Penn State football program, for better or for worse. With the new transfer portal in full effect, nobody knew what to expect. Some teams benefitted from the idea considerably. Others, well, they took some losses in a sense. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, they fall under the category of being affected negatively.
There was a lot of leaving, and not a ton of receiving for the Lions when it came to the transfer portal this offseason. And while a good chunk of their departing players was typically viewed as depth prospects, they did fall victim to losing a couple of notable names.
And after a further review of all teams that had something to do with the transfer portal this year, Yahoo Sports put together the winners and the losers of the transfer portal. As you can expect, Penn State surely didn’t win. Although they weren’t the first team to get listed, you can bet Penn State was on there.
Along with West Virginia, Illinois, Virginia Tech and Louisville, Penn State found themselves in the mix with some unfavorable company. According to Yahoo Sports’ Sam Cooper, Penn State lost from a “sheer volume perspective.” Meaning, they didn’t lose a ton of distinguished names, but they could miss the depth later on down the line if injuries affect them.
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"“Beyond Stevens and Johnson, the majority of PSU’s departures were upperclassmen getting pushed on the depth chart by high-profile recruits from recent classes. But those losses could prove costly from a depth perspective if PSU deals with some injury issues.”"
Are the Lions still suffering?
As far as impact players go, Penn State will miss out on two guys. One happens to be a former four-star wide receiver, Juwan Johnson. And the other was Trace McSorley’s successor in quarterback, Tommy Stevens. Johnson didn’t seem to have hit his stride at Penn State.
Although he had a decent season in 2017 with 54 catches for 701 yards, his Junior year wasn’t nearly as impressive. Johnson decided to look for a fresh opportunity, and now he will get a chance to prove himself with the Oregon Ducks for his senior season.
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The Lions won’t suffer much without Johnson running routes for them, but the loss of Tommy Stevens could hurt them if his replacements don’t live up to the potential. Sean Clifford and Will Levis are set to battle for the starting quarterback position this summer. Expectations are running high as the hype surrounding Clifford builds up.
Regardless of who was at quarterback for the Lions this year though, the pressure was going to be on. After having McSorley under center for the past three seasons, the Lions were somewhat spoiled. He leaves Happy Valley with some big shoes to fill, and both, Stevens and Clifford are question marks at the end of the day.
Next. Sean Clifford listed as a breakout QB for 2019. dark
Losing Stevens wasn’t ideal, but now PSU gets a head start on developing Clifford and seeing if he’s the real deal. From a depth standpoint, Penn State struggles because of the transfer portal. But aside from the loss of Stevens, the Lions seem to be in pretty good shape for the 2019 season. They just need to pull it all together.