Penn State football’s young wide receivers have taken a back seat to start the 2025 season.

With the introduction of transfer wideouts Kyron Hudson, Trebor Peña, and Devonte Ross, returning player Tyseer Denmark and freshman Koby Howard have to balance their development and their desire to get on the field.

It became clear in week one that Drew Allar and the Penn State offense are going to rely heavily on the transfer wide receiver trio for production in 2025. Through two weeks, the three have combined for 24 receptions, 297 yards, and two touchdowns.

But where does that leave Penn State’s younger receivers as the non-conference slate comes to a close?

Denmark, a redshirt freshman, appeared in four games in 2024 and has two receptions for 17 yards in 2025.

“He’s got really confident, strong hands, and he’s preparing and going about it the right way with the right energy,” Franklin said after practice on Wednesday. “I think we have a lot of confidence when we need to put him in the game, and when he gets his opportunity, I think he’s going to be ready.”

Franklin also said that while Denmark isn’t receiving the playing time he wanted to this year, the young wideout is still focused on improving himself and not getting caught up in the order of the depth chart.

“He’s controlling the things he can control. The big part of it is attitude, because a lot of these guys, if they’re not getting the time and reps that they feel like they’ve earned, and you can make that argument, then they sometimes get frustrated,” Franklin said. “They get in the tank, and then they got bad body language and everything else. Then they get in the game, and that’s what shows up.”

Howard, on the other hand, has felt frustrated with his limited role on the team so far. The Pensacola, Florida, native made his college debut against Nevada, but only operated in a special teams capacity.

Franklin said the coaching staff wants to stay conservative with Howard so that he doesn’t burn his redshirt. Howard committed to Penn State in August 2024, four months before the Nittany Lions landed Hudson and Ross in the transfer portal. The freshman might have thought that he’d have a bigger role in the offense at this point, but Penn State’s transfer portal acquisitions thwarted that sentiment rather quickly.

“We just want to make sure once we decide to play him, that, like right now, he wants to play, play, play, play, play,” Franklin said. “But at the end of the year, a lot of times these guys get to the end of the year and are like ‘If I knew I was only going to play this much, I wouldn’t have.'”

With such a deep group and not a lot of space to share the field as the Nittany Lions head into Big Ten play, Franklin wants to keep a calm and composed unit while also maximizing each player’s potential.

“He has to watch himself because where Tyseer’s [Denmark] in year two and a little bit more mature, Koby’s [Howard] a little frustrated by it as a younger player, which is understandable,” Franklin said. “But there’s some other areas, like we talked about, special teams, where he can help himself.”

With Hudson, Peña, and Ross all being seniors and above, they have a lot riding on the 2025 season at Penn State. Franklin and wide receivers coach Marques Hagans are focused on ensuring the health and future of the group with the development of younger players like Denmark and Howard despite early frustrations and inexperience.