The Penn State receivers are under a lot of scrutiny for the second season in a row but could a true freshman make a splash to help change that?
Coach James Franklin knows a lot of people are excited about Tyseer Denmark.
Denmark, a 5-foot-10, 187-pounder from Philadelphia, flipped to Penn State from Oregon as a four-star recruit.
Over the summer, Franklin mentioned him as a player to watch. But like most true freshman, Denmark hasn’t seen a ton of playing time during his first season. He’s appeared in just one game— a 56-0 demolition of Kent State Sept. 21– playing 17 snaps per Pro Football Focus.
Against Ohio State, Penn State’s receivers accounted for 49 of QB Drew Allar’s 146 passing yards. How much Denmark would help is hard to tell but he’s on Franklin’s radar.
“As you guys know, there was a lot of excitement about him and I think there still is,” Franklin told reporters after practice Wednesday.
THE REDSHIRT SITUATION
Photo courtesy of Penn State football commit Tyseer Denmark’s Twitter account.
A factor that Franklin and company have to say is redshirting. By NCAA rules, a player can only appear in four games without burning their redshirt. Penn State has four games left, so Denmark would burn his redshirt by playing in all of them.
“I think we’ve gotten to a point during the season that we want to make sure, unless there’s health reasons that at this point of the season that we’re being strategic about redshirting and those types of things so that we don’t burn a year this late,” Franklin said. “So we just have to be strategic and smart about it but he’s a guy I think I do think you’ll see this year at some point.”
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James Franklin and Julian Fleming during pregame warmups.
Franklin talked up Denmark when asked about the freshman receivers— which also feature Peter Gonzalez and Josiah Brown— during fall camp.
“Tyseer has really flashed and done some really nice things,” Franklin said. “This is very, very different (from high school). So, there’s still an adjustment period going on. There’s a pretty significant buzz in the program about him.”
“Tyseer is probably the guy that right now is the closest to helping us,” Franklin said.
So what specifically stuck out to Franklin about Denmark?
“It’s not one thing,” he said. “It’s route running, it’s being competitive, it’s his confidence with his hands and catching the ball, it’s his ability to retain information. He’s just doing enough good things that you think you’ll have a chance, but it’s not like it’s one specific thing that’s standing out.”
Penn State takes on Washington this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 on Peacock.
