A new dawn is upon us, folks.

Penn State football’s offense, although effective, had one dire weak spot: Wide receiver production.

It was no secret the Nittany Lions relied on their dynamic running back duo of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to push the ball downfield last season. When that failed, quarterback Drew Allar had an easy outlet pass to one of the greatest tight end talents of Penn State’s storied program in Tyler Warren.

Warren led the team with 104 receptions, 1,233 receiving yards, and eight receiving touchdowns. The next best in the receiving category was Trey Wallace with 46 receptions, 720 yards, and four touchdowns and Omari Evans with 21 receptions, 415 yards and five touchdowns.

This gap in pass-catching production was put on full display in the Orange Bowl when Penn State played Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Drew Allar completed nine out of 10 passes to tight ends and failed to complete a pass to a wide receiver. Penn State would go on to lose the game in heartbreaking fashion, leaving a gut-wrenching feeling of disappointment on the biggest stage of the season.

Now, with Warren being selected No. 14 overall to the Indianapolis Colts in the 2025 NFL Draft and Wallace and Evans joining Ole Miss and Washington respectively, James Franklin was in dire need to find some pass catchers for his Heisman-hopeful quarterback to balance his offense.

“I think the biggest thing is, we need more playmaking at the wide receiver position for us to where we want to go, in critical moments, in critical games,” Franklin said Saturday at Penn State’s media day.

In a Penn State offense that is stacked with returning talent, Franklin needed to hit the transfer portal for some receiver talent, and delivered.

First came Kyron Hudson, who transferred in mid-December out of the University of Southern California. In his redshirt junior season, Hudson had 462 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the Trojans. He had four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown against Penn State on October 12 in Los Angeles. During spring ball, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki laid out exactly what Hudson brings to the table.

“He’s such a big and physical receiver… In this league that’s so necessary,” Kotelnicki said. “With the aggressive secondaries that we play, he’s done a fantastic job of being that physical person, and again, super impressed with his football acumen.”

About a week later, Devonte Ross transferred into the program from Troy. The rising senior had 76 catches, 1,043 yards, and 11 touchdowns during the 2024 season. In his latest press conference, Franklin mentioned Ross’ stat line against Iowa last season where he went for an impressive five receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a 77-yard punt return score in the matchup.

“I think you guys know how much respect I have for Iowa, that program, defensively, special teams-wise, and to be able to watch [Ross] make plays against an Iowa defense, and an Iowa team in general on special teams, gave us a lot of confidence about bringing that young man in,” Franklin said.

Lastly, sixth-year wide receiver Trebor Peña joined the squad out of Syracuse before the Blue-White Spring Game in April. The talented slot player dominated last season with 84 receptions, 941 yards, and nine touchdowns. He earned second-team All-ACC honors before transferring.

What do all of three new receivers have in common? Maturity. Franklin discussed the importance of having a group with years of experience, a characteristic that runs through each of the three players, all of whom only have one year of eligibility left.

“I compare college football in some ways now to college basketball when the one-and-done started, and could have a veteran older team make a run, because, as we know, experience and talent matters,” Franklin said. [The incoming receivers] have been great…This kind of, hopefully, closes the gap for a year to allow [younger receivers] to continue to grow and mature and step up. But we have more depth right now at wide receiver than we have had.”