Penn State football attacked the transfer portal for wide receivers this winter, picking up key pieces to boost the program’s at-times sputtering passing game from a season ago. Now just five days away from seeing how those roster moves could pay off, James Franklin revealed Monday that one of his key newcomers was battling injury issues throughout the summer.
In his first game week press conference of the 2025 season, Franklin divulged that Devonte Ross is expected to play on Saturday after being sidelined through portions of fall camp.
“So he had some bumps and bruises this summer that we were dealing with, that impacted how involved he could be late in the summer and then also early in training camp,” Franklin said. “But he’s ready to go.
“You know, we’ll probably rotate him a little bit more just because he hasn’t had the full training camp and hasn’t had the full summer, but he’s ready to go and has looked really good the last week or so. So, we’re expecting good things out of him. I think him and Liam Clifford will rotate and play significant reps.”
Last fall at Troy, Ross caught 76 passes for 1,043 yards and 11 touchdowns. Turning heads with his quickness during spring ball, the senior receiver is expected to add a much-needed element to the Nittany Lions’ passing attack.
Penn State optimistic about current rotation at receiver
After becoming practically invisible during last winter’s postseason run, Penn State will look to a retooled receiver room to help fulfill its title hopes in 2025.
Heading into Saturday’s season-opener, the Nittany Lions feel confident in the steady six-man rotation expected to hit the field against Nevada.
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“So the combination of [Kyron] Hudson and [Koby] Howard. Howard is another guy that we look at that we think is going to play [this year]. Haven’t truly green-lighted him yet because we want more out of him on special teams,” Franklin said. “[Trebor] Peña and [Tyseer] Denmark and [Devonte] Ross and [Liam] Clifford, that’s the six guys right now that I would say are part of that conversation.
“There are some other guys you can make arguments for by the day, but that’s probably the two-deep going into week one for us. And I feel good about it. Ross and Clifford will play a lot. I could see Peña and Hudson; we’ll determine that this week, whether it’s a rotation or a tap system. We’ll decide that as the week goes on.”
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