Clairton's Lamont Wade among contenders to serve as return man for Penn State

Coach James Franklin’s program is still waiting to learn a time and television designation for this year’s opener at Indiana on Oct. 24, but there is still plenty to talk about.

The topic we’re diving into this week is the return game, especially now that KJ Hamler is a Denver Bronco.

A number of names are in the mix, and each will earn a chance to prove why he should be the guy once the pads go on later this week.

Penn State’s spring depth chart, which was released with an asterisk noting that lack of competition for open jobs because spring practice was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, listed Jahan Dotson and Marquis Wilson as the first two up at punt returner, but another name has entered the mix: Clairton graduate Lamont Wade.

“Lamont Wade came in my office (and said), ‘Hey coach, you gotta watch my high school tape, man. Give me the rock, and watch what happens,’ ” special teams coordinator Joe Lorig said, “and I did watch his film and immediately put him back there because he is special with the ball in his hands.”

Wade never has returned a kick or punt at the college level, but he was successful in high school, so the news comes as no surprise.

Switching gears to kick returns, the original two-deep listed Journey Brown and Devyn Ford as the main options, and the now-departed Micah Parsons was listed as the first-team “off” kick returner. That job now likely slides to Caziah Holmes, though Dotson could potentially work his way into that role, as well. So could Wade, Wilson, or a few other options.

“I think we’ve got a bunch of guys that are capable,” Lorig said.

“Jahan’s the guy that’s got the game experience. So going into it, I have the most confidence in him. But it’s something that we work on every day, we chart it every day. And I think we have a number of guys that are gonna continue to be dynamic playmakers back there.”