How Penn State WR Jahan Dotson plans to 'be legendary' in the 2021 football season

Jahan Dotson had his signature moment in 2020. The Penn State wide receiver reached his right hand back to snag a one-handed pass on a ball thrown behind him with Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade all over him. The ball stuck to his hand and the junior sprinted into the end zone for a touchdown.

“That catch, I’ve probably seen it over a thousand times, honestly,” Dotson said Monday afternoon. “I’m starting to think that was the only catch I made last year. It was a pretty cool catch, but I have a couple other cool ones. I try not to watch that one, I see it a lot, though.”

Now in his fourth year as a Nittany Lion, Dotson is poised to grow that portfolio of catches and make an ever bigger impact. He’s in a position to cement himself as a bona fide No. 1 wide receiver and potential early-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

He could have left after last season and tested his luck in this year’s draft, but the junior chose to return to Penn State after a FaceTime call with teammates Tariq Castro-Fields and Jaquan Brisker, and is ready to eliminate the bad taste left in his mouth after the team went 4-5 in 2020.

“We felt like last year we didn’t meet the (Penn State football) standard,” Dotson said. “We wanted to be those leaders on the team who set the standard for years to come after us. We know that Penn State football is used to winning and that’s what we gotta do. We gotta meet that standard. We felt like this was the perfect opportunity for us to showcase our talents and meet that standard.”

There’s plenty to improve on from a team perspective, especially after Penn State started 0-5 and played poorly enough offensively that James Franklin made a change at offensive coordinator after only one season with Kirk Ciarrocca in charge. Dotson, however, could not have played much better than he did.

The wide receiver finished the season with 884 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 52 receptions, with the team utilizing a two-quarterback system that went away from passing when former Nittany Lion Will Levis was at the controls. Dotson was nothing short of dominant in all nine games and was at his best in the team’s biggest game of the season.

He lit up Wade — then a projected first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft — and the Buckeyes for 144 yards and three touchdowns on eight receptions to carry the Penn State offense.

With all that success, it’s hard to fathom what the next step looks like for Dotson. Anything more would put him in rarefied air. Of course, that’s where he wants to be.

“Every day I go to meetings, I write on the top of my notebook, ‘Be Legendary,’” he said. “That’s one thing I want to preach this year is just being legendary and leaving my mark on Penn State football and college football as a whole. … (Being legendary) is someone that people will never forget, that will live in history literally forever. When you talk about the greatest that played in college football, I want my name to be mentioned in that. That’s my goal. Just to be legendary and just leave my mark.”

That’s a lofty goal for any player but it’s still possible for the wide receiver to find greater success than he did in 2020 and get close to those high marks.

He has plenty of areas to grow in and will have an even better connection with starting quarterback Sean Clifford now that he’s in his second year as the QB’s top target, but he has the talent and production to get where he wants to go.

In order for Dotson to reach those goals, however, the team will need to be better.

“You just got to make sure that your individual goals go hand-in-hand with team goals,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said Wednesday evening. “When that happens, you’ve got a chance to do some pretty special things. With team success comes individual recognition. Typically, the best players from the best teams get the most recognition. … I think at the end of last season he was playing as good as anybody, but now coming into this year he’s coming in with a buzz and there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation about it.”

Dotson will have every opportunity to reach his new goals in 2021. He’s about to be a part of an offense led by new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich that should be throwing all over the field and playing fast.

He’s still the best receiver in that offense and has the route-running ability to get open whenever he needs to do so. All that’s left is stepping up as a leader and making sure the entire offense is humming. Once that happens, it will open up the field even more for Dotson to be a game-breaking talent this season. So far this spring, Dotson has been doing just that.

“Jahan is quiet by nature,” Penn State wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield said Wednesday night. “He has that slow burning fire inside him. It might not be that big blaze that you might want when you’re looking for a dynamic leader, but Jahan does some things extremely well. (A leader) does not have to be somebody who has the loudest voice but it has to be somebody who has influence over others. What Jahan has been able to do … is he’s been able to take guys to the side and talk to them in their ear, maybe a little bit closer than somebody would do in a loud voice.

“… I’m excited to see his growth. I’m proud of him.”

Dotson knows it will take everything in him to reach the “legendary” status he envisions for himself. To his credit, he’s already putting in the time and effort to position himself to reach his ceiling, however high it may be. And he’s doing it by doing whatever it takes to get there.

“Some of the things that I’m preaching (are) doing extra,” Dotson said. “… Looking at the greats that were playing before me, making sure that I emulate their game in some way. Just anything. Literally anything, staying after practice late, coming early. Anything.”