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ESPN identifies potential Achilles’ heel for Penn State’s 2025 season
By Paul Harvey
Published:
ESPN is ready for the 2025 college football season, one rife with all sorts of expectations for Penn State.
Under James Franklin, the Nittany Lions have been close but traditionally underwhelming in big games. That began to change last year with a trip to the College Football Playoff as the program advanced all the way to the national semifinals before losing to Notre Dame.
Now, Penn State enters the season among the top national contenders in the country, coming in at +800 in the national championship odds at bet365. That number is tied for the 4th-lowest odds in the country, putting pressure on Franklin to get his team back to another deep Playoff run.
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With some key offensive firepower returning in the form of Drew Allar and the backfield duo of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, where is the potential issue for Penn State’s roster? According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the wide receiver position has the potential to be an Achilles’ heel for the program.
Here’s what Rittenberg had to say about the position:
The Nittany Lions addressed the wide receiver spot in the portal with Syracuse’s Trebor Pena and others, but until they actually elevate their production, questions will linger. Penn State has had only one wide receiver rank among the top 10 in the Big Ten in receiving in the past three seasons (Tyler Warren played tight end). Both Warren and top receiver Harrison Wallace III are gone, and Penn State needs its portal haul — Pena, a second-team All-ACC wideout in 2024, as well as Devonte Ross (Troy) and Kyron Hudson (USC) — to give quarterback Drew Allar enough capable targets this fall. Although Allar’s big-game struggles are also concerning, he hasn’t had a great group of receivers at his disposal during his Penn State career.
It is true that the tight end position has been especially significant under Franklin. However, that puts an even larger focus back on the WR group after Warren leaves the program following a 2024 performance with over 1,451 yards from scrimmage with 13 total touchdowns.
Behind Warren, the top 2 receivers of Wallace and Omari Evans both exited the program via the portal, so the newcomers will need to show some chemistry and flashes — quickly — to ease concerns. If not, it could be a long year for the offense.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.