Welcome to All 105, a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. The series’ first article of this offseason profiles fourth-year receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Before Penn State: Lambert-Smith came to Penn State as a four-star recruit from Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia. As a senior, he helped his team to a 16-0 record and its first state championship in 80 years. He made the All-American Bowl as a senior and had 1,000 yards receiving during his sophomore and junior seasons. 247Sports rated him as Virginia’s second-best prospect from the class of 2020, and Lambert-Smith committed to Penn State in October 2019.
Lambert-Smith is the nephew of former Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor, who was a two-time All-Pro and won a Super Bowl in eight seasons with the team.
2020: Lambert-Smith Played in all nine of Penn State’s games, starting five of them and finishing the season with 15 catches for 138 yards.
2021: Lambert-Smith became an every-week starter for Penn State, starting all 13 games as the team’s No. 3 wide receiver behind Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington.
Last year: KLS was quiet for most of the season, but came alive in the regular-season finale against Michigan State and the Rose Bowl against Utah.
He caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown against Sparty, also throwing a 4–yard touchdown to Theo Johnson. The Rose Bowl was even better. Lambert-Smith only caught three passes, but one of them was the longest touchdown reception in Rose Bowl history, an 88-yarder to open the fourth quarter of Penn State’s win over Utah. Lambert-Smith ended the Rose Bowl with 124 yards and that touchdown on three catches. He ended the season with 24 catches for 389 yards (16.2 yards per catch) and four touchdowns. 212 of those yards came in the season’s last two games, which means KLS might have started a breakout that will continue into the 2023 season.
WHERE HE STANDS: Through the end of spring camp, there’s no reason that Lambert-Smith shouldn’t be Penn State’s No. 1 receiver this year. This will be his fourth season with the program and third in coordinator Mike Yurcich’s system. As far as Penn State’s other receivers go, Florida State transfer Malik McClain is unproven through two seasons, Kent State transfer Dante Cephas is more experienced than Lambert-Smith in college football but has never played at a Power Five School. Omari Evans, Kaden Saunders and Anthony Ivey are all still young, going into just their second years. Even if Lambert-Smith isn’t Penn State’s top guy, he’ll be a regular starter for the third straight year, and there’s nothing stopping him from putting up the best numbers of his college career.
A quote from Lambert-Smith: “I have known what I can do, ya’ll just finding out.” Lambert-Smith told reports after the Rose Bowl.
A quote about Lambert-Smith: “He’s been really good so far this spring,” James Franklin told reporters after a Tuesday practice . “We need him to be the guy, a true number one.”
