The 10 biggest ‘what ifs’ for Penn State Football recruiting

4. What if Penn State Never Flipped Jahan Dotson in 2018?

Jahan Dotson just wrapped up an historic career at Penn State, but it almost never happened.

Dotson committed to UCLA in September of 2017, just three months before he was sent to sign his letter of intent. Despite being from Pennsylvania, Dotson seemed to slip away from Penn State and other Mid-Atlantic schools because of concerns over speed.

Penn State wisely righted those wrongs before it was too late and worked to flip the 4-star before he signed with UCLA. The flip came on Early Signing Day in December of 2017 when Dotson submitted his letter of intent to the Nittany Lions instead of UCLA.

Dotson joined Penn State’s elite 2018 class, the first top ten recruiting class for Franklin.

Despite being from Pennsylvania, and a 4-star, Dotson was overlooked in the class due to it including the No. 1 ranked wide receiver in the country in Justin Shorter, and another 4-star in Daniel George.

That quickly changed as Dotson was the first of this group to make a lasting impact with the team, emerging as a starter late in the 2018 season before becoming one of the best receivers in the country the past two years. Shorter ending up transferring to Florida and George struggled to stay in the lineup consistently and just entered the transfer portal.

Had Franklin and his staff not flipped Dotson, the offense would have been in serious trouble the past few years. Yes, Dotson’s two seasons as Penn State’s No.1 receiver netted an 11-11 record, but none of that was his fault.

Dotson ended his Penn State career with 183 catches for 2,757 yards and 25 touchdowns. He is currently preparing for the NFL Draft, where he will represent the Blue and White, and not Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins.