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 hasnโt seen a ton of playing time during his first season. Heโs appeared in just one gameโ a 56-0 demolition of Kent State Sept. 21โ playing 17 snaps per Pro Football Focus.ย
Against Ohio State, Penn Stateโs receivers accounted for 49 of QB Drew Allarโs 146 passing yards. How much Denmark would help is hard to tell but heโs on Franklinโs radar.
โAs you guys know, there was a lot of excitement about him and I think there still is,โ 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.
โI think weโve gotten to a point during the season that we want to make sure, unless thereโs health reasons that at this point of the season that weโre being strategic about redshirting and those types of things so that we donโt burn a year this late,โ Franklin said. โSo we just have to be strategic and smart about it but heโs a guy I think I do think youโll see this year at some point.โ
โCLOSEST TO HELPING USโ
James Franklin and Julian Fleming during pregame warmups.
Franklin talked up Denmark when asked about the freshman receiversโ which also feature Peter Gonzalez and Josiah Brownโ during fall camp.
โTyseer has really flashed and done some really nice things,โ Franklin said. โThis is very, very different (from high school). So, thereโs still an adjustment period going on. Thereโs a pretty significant buzz in the program about him.โ
โTyseer is probably the guy that right now is the closest to helping us,โ Franklin said.
So what specifically stuck out to Franklin about Denmark?
โItโs not one thing,โ he said. โItโs route running, itโs being competitive, itโs his confidence with his hands and catching the ball, itโs his ability to retain information. Heโs just doing enough good things that you think youโll have a chance, but itโs not like itโs one specific thing thatโs standing out.โ
Penn State takes on Washington this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 on Peacock.
