The Penn State wide receiver situation is well-trod territory entering the 2021 season.

Senior Jahan Dotson and sophomore Parker Washington appear entrenched atop the depth chart. Sophomore KeAndre Lambert-Smith appears to be the top candidate to move into the No. 3 spot, especially after he was singled out by wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield for his mental development earlier this week.

But there still are plenty of other bodies in the room. The other wide receivers on the roster have a wide variety of experience, from fifth-year seniors to true freshmen. Stubblefield made it clear everyone will have the chance to compete and work his way up the depth chart to become a target for quarterback Sean Clifford.

It just remains to see how that will shake out.

During his Wednesday evening news conference on Zoom, Stubblefield covered plenty of ground on the wide receivers on the roster besides Dotson, Washington and Lambert-Smith. Here’s a look at what Stubblefield had to say about each, going from the most experienced to the least experienced.

On redshirt senior Cam Sullivan-Brown: “Sometimes it feels like CSB is older than I am. He’s been here for a long time. I have a tremendous amount of respect for CSB. He’s been through a lot, man. What he does is he provides some consistency, probably that you guys don’t see or it doesn’t necessarily show up in the stat line, but he’s a consistent player. He’s a player that when he’s out there and he’s working, he’ll work hard, he’ll do what he’s supposed to do.”

Sullivan-Brown had just one catch for 14 yards in eight games last season, and overall, he has 13 catches for 119 yards in 25 games (one start).

Stubblefield said he’s challenging Sullivan-Brown to be a more vocal leader and to use his experience to bolster his leadership on the roster. Stubblefield also said he expects the Maryland native to show up in some big spots this season, whether that’s a key third-down conversion or a touchdown.

“I like CSB,” Stubblefield said. “I really do like him, and I’m excited to see what he’s going to do as well.”

On redshirt junior Daniel George: “The thing with DG is just always about the little things. He is extremely talented. He’s a big-bodied dude who’s fast. He’s physical. He’s one of the strongest dudes on the team. And you know what, we’ve challenged him just to take care of the little things in all aspects of his game.”

The 6-foot-2, 206-pound George scored early in his Penn State career when he caught a 95-yard touchdown against Kent State early in the 2018 season, but it wasn’t much of a sign of things to come. George caught seven passes for 73 yards in nine games last season to bump his career totals to 18 catches for 285 yards and one touchdown.

The Maryland native’s body type presents a bit of a different target than Dotson, Washington or Lambert-Smith, but George has been unable to have those physical tools translate into results on the field for the Nittany Lions.

“He’s done some really good things at the start of camp, more so than he did last year, so that’s a positive thing,” Stubblefield said.

On redshirt freshman Jaden Dottin: “He’s somebody that is talented. We got to get him out there and playing and getting some reps, and I know that his confidence will go up quite a bit, too, when he’s going against our DBs and making plays in one-on-ones because he has the ability to do those things. It’s just making sure that he has the confidence and the know-how and a little bit of the motor.”

Dottin was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2020, and he got a taste of college football at the end of the season when he appeared in the season finale against Illinois. Dottin is listed at 6-foot-2, 186 pounds, which puts him on the lankier side, so it’ll be interesting to see how he uses that frame against college corners.

But based on Stubblefield’s words, the goal with Dottin appears to be building him up confidence-wise with the hope that when he gets on the field, he believes he can accomplish what he needs to.

On redshirt freshman Malick Meiga: “Malick, especially someone who comes from Canada who did not play American football really until last year, he’s made huge strides in his game, in just his knowledge of the game because you can only imagine the rule changes that he has to have or he’s had to learn when coming to play American football.”

Meiga is one of the more physically intriguing players on the Penn State roster with a 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame, and he stands out when he’s going through position drills. Whether that translates into game action is worth tracking. Meiga was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2020, and he certainly was more of a developmental project than any of the other wide receivers in his class.

On freshman Liam Clifford: “He’s a very focused young man who works his tail off. … Liam, he got here a little bit, I don’t want to say late, but you’ve got to learn a foreign language. So being able to — the faster you can pick up the offense, the sooner you know what to do, and then once you know what to do, then we can work on how you do it. And so we’re still in that process.”

Clifford, the younger brother of starting quarterback Sean Clifford, arrived on campus this summer as a three-star recruit from Cincinnati. There are plenty of bodies at the position, but it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise if he was able to pick his way through what is in front of him to find a role within the offense or at least special teams.

On freshman Harrison Wallace III: “Harrison is a player who is extremely athletic. You can tell by his highlight film and what he did on the basketball court, so it’s just about really trying to finetune his skill development as a wide receiver, so we’re really trying to work on that, along with a lot of plays, a lot of plays that you got to learn.”

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Wallace has obvious physical gifts. But it sounds like he might be pretty raw when it comes to the college game, and he seems like a solid redshirt candidate.

Wallace and Clifford were supposed to be joined in the wide receiver class by four-star Lonnie White Jr., but White signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates after he was drafted in July.

The other wide receivers on the roster are redshirt seniors Winston Eubanks, Justin Weller and Benjamin Wilson, senior Norval Black and redshirt junior Henry Fessler.

Stubblefield has plenty to sift through when it comes to his position ahead of the season opener at Wisconsin in two weeks. But he knows what he wants to see out of the wide receivers he’ll put onto the field.

“All freshmen, all incoming players, they will have a chance to make an impact,” Stubblefield said. “All my recruits know that, the current players in the room know that. Every day, every year, you’ve got to bring it. And so four-star, five-star, second-year, first-year, fourth-year. You’ve got to bring it. You’ve got to bring it.”

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