Once it was clear that Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming wasn’t going to be a reliable option in Penn State’s passing offense, Omari Evans ascended to WR2 in Andy Kotelnicki’s offense and had a big year as a deep threat. Evans caught just 21 passes but finished the season with 415 yards (19.8 yards per reception) and five touchdowns. However, Evans and all of Penn State’s wide receivers were shut out in the season-ending loss to Notre Dame, which sent Evans and WR1 Harrison Wallace III to the transfer portal.
James Franklin has decided to overhaul his wide receiver room, bringing in Kyron Hudson from USC and Devonte Ross from Troy, moves made well before the Orange Bowl debacle against Notre Dame and protection against the Wallace and Evans departures. While Evans looked outmatched by the best teams in the country, he has drawn interest from schools in all four power conferences as his four visits are scheduled.
NEWS: Penn State transfer WR Omari Evans will visit the following schools, he tells @on3sports
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 16, 2025
•Tennessee
•Washington
•Texas Tech
•Syracuse
Evans totaled 21 Receptions for 415 Yards & 5 TDs this season https://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/2Bs9MDGUfe
Omari Evans scheduled to visit Tennessee, Washington, Texas Tech, and Syracuse
Evans is a true deep threat. He averaged nearly 20 yards per reception in 2024 and his involvement in the Penn State offense is a huge reason that Kotelnicki was able to improve the team’s explosive pass rate from 7.3% in 2023 to 10.5% in 2024. He may have been a bit miscast as a full-time WR2 in the offense but could provide any of his potential suitors with field-stretching speed.
Tennessee is potentially in the most desperate need of that ability. Head coach Josh Heupel’s veer-and-shoot offense hunts deep shots and in 2024, first-year starting QB Nico Iamaleava wasn’t able to connect on many of them. The former five-star only completed 32% of his throws over 20 yards downfield and though those 16 completions went for 630 yards and eight touchdowns, that’s not a high enough completion percentage for Heupel’s offense to dominate as it did in 2022 with Hendon Hooker at QB. Evans caught eight of his 15 deep targets in 2024 (53.3%) for 310 yards and five touchdowns.
Even with his unique skillset, it’s a bit of a surprise to see Evans draw SEC interest. So, it will be interesting to monitor his portal recruitment and see what the rest of the country thinks of a player that Penn State let walk out the door at a position of need.