It looks like Penn State will be without its leading receiver Saturday.
Parker Washington wasn’t seen practicing this past Wednesday during media’s weekly viewing window.
He also wasn’t seen coming off the team’s bus at Rutgers— as Ben Jones of StateCollege.Com pointed out— which is a good indication that he didn’t travel with the team and, thus, won’t play.
Parker Washington was not among the Penn State players to exit the buses and walk across the field towards the Nittany Lions’ locker room area just now.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) November 19, 2022
Washington leads the team in receptions (46), yards (611) and yards per catch (13.3). He also has two touchdowns. Washington’s best game of the year— and the best game any Penn State receiver has had to this point in 2022– took place against Ohio State Oct. 29. Washington caught 11 balls for 179 yards and a score in Penn State’s 44-31 loss to the Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium.
Three days after that Ohio State game, coach James Franklin asserted that Washington is viewed as the team’s No. 1 receiver.
“I don’t think there was any question of that based on what he had done last year and the year before,” Franklin told reporters at his weekly Tuesday press conference Nov. 1. “He was coming into the season and he was the most established wideout we had at Penn State on our roster. Mitch (Tinsley) had done some good things in his career but not yet at Penn State.”
Based on how Penn State has operated this season, if Washington is out, Tinsley (39 catches, 452 yards, 4 TD) would be Penn State’s go-to guy.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith would move to the No. 2 slot, and Trey Wallace would have the third starting position.
Washington has been a fixture in Penn State’s offense since beginning his college football career in 2020, and currently sits 12th on the school’s all-time receiving list.
