Penn State still looking to add another wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting class

Following last season’s offensive slog and the departure of KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Dante Cephas through the transfer portal, there has been growing concern about James Franklin and wide receiver coach Marques Hagan’s ability to add and develop talent at the position. Julian Fleming came to Happy Valley through the transfer portal this offseason, but without significant additions in the 2025 recruiting class, the talent in that room could quickly dry up. 

Jeff Exinor Jr. an oversized four-star WR/TE hybrid from Maryland, has been the headline pass-catcher in the 2025 class and Penn State avoided disaster by landing Florida four-star Koby Howard after missing out on players like Lex Cyrus, Matthew Outten, and Quincy Porter. However, Franklin and Hagans still need to bring in another piece for the passing game and it’s clear where they have their sights set. 

On Wednesday, Florida four-star Naeshaun Montgomery included Penn State as one of his six finalists along with Alabama, Florida, Florida State, LSU, and Oregon. 

The 6-foot-1 165-pound high school senior has been projected to sign with Florida by the experts at 247Sports, but some of his latest social media activity indicates that he could be changing his mind and following Howard, another Floridian wideout, up north to Happy Valley. 

Penn State’s 2025 recruiting class recently took a hit when running back Kiandrea Barker de-committed, leaving Franklin and his staff with 23 players, only two running backs, and the 15th-best class in the country. 

With Exinor and Howard, Penn State’s receiver group is respectable, and if the reports out of fall camp are true, the Nittany Lions could have a budding star in true freshman Tyseer Denmark. Those recent developments have relieved a lot of the pressure that has been mounting on Franklin and Hagans, so now Montgomery’s commitment would be like the cherry on top. 

As the regular season approaches, 2025 recruiting certainly isn’t the coaching staff’s No. 1 priority but they’ll certainly be watching on August 25 at 5:00 p.m. ET when Montgomery is scheduled to make his announcement.