Breaking: Transfer WR Dante Cephas commits to Penn State Football
Penn State Football is on the lookout for transfer wide receivers after Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley declared for the NFL Draft
Penn State Football received some much-needed good news on Sunday with Dante Cephas announcing his commitment to the Nittany Lions.
Since he entered the transfer portal in December, Cephas was one of the hottest names at the receiver position. He was the fifth highest ranked receiver in the 247 Sports’ portal rankings and was the highest rated uncommitted wide out.
BE HERE NOW🌎 pic.twitter.com/bk2wObLzBl
— Dante Cephas (@FouLceph) January 16, 2023
Cephas felt like a must-get transfer for the Nittany Lions with the top two wide receivers from the 2022 season, Parker Washington and Mitchell Tinsley, moving on the NFL.
Last year, Cephas caught 82 passes for 1,240 yards and nine touchdowns. He dealt with injuries and a quarterback change in 2022, which resulted in his numbers dipping a bit. The 6-foot-1 wide out still caught 48 passes for 744 yards and three touchdowns in nine games this year.
Not only was it important for Penn State Football to add Cephas for the sake of depth at the receiver position and replacing the production being loss, but the Nittany Lions needed experience.
Drew Allar, who will be a true sophomore in 2023, is expected to take over at quarterback for the Nittany Lions next season. It’s vital that Penn State surrounds him with talent, but also experience. A young quarterback is going to make mistakes, having veteran pass catchers there to correct some of those mistakes is important.
It’s unlikely that Cephas joins the Nittany Lions this semester, multiple reports, including ones from Tyler Calvaruso of Lions247, suggested that Cephas will return to Kent State for the spring semester and graduate. It will be easier for him to pass through admissions at Penn State if he is a grad transfer.
Penn State Football may not be done collecting wide receivers from the transfer portal. The staff is going to try to put as much talent as possible around Allar. If other targets are out there, the staff will go after them.