Penn State Football Preseason Top 10: No. 1 Jahan Dotson

How He Got Here

Jahan Dotson had a bit of a bizarre recruitment. At one time, it looked like he was going to end up at Ohio State, Penn State, or Michigan, but after waiting too long, he wound up at UCLA with Jim Mora. The Bruins ended up making a coaching change — bringing in Mr. Chip Kelly — and that re-opened the door for Penn State and Dotson. In the end, Dotson decided to stay home, flipping to Penn State on Early National Signing Day.

Obviously given the title of this article, Penn State is very happy to have Dotson. He quickly established himself as a real player in Happy Valley, showing enough during his freshman season (13 receptions) to skip a redshirt year. Dotson was even more involved as a sophomore, hauling in 27 catches while playing a secondary role behind KJ Hamler and Pat Freiermuth.

Dotson’s true breakout season came in 2020 though, when he put up 52 receptions for 884 yards and 8 touchdowns in a nine-game season, while also adopting Ohio State cornerback Shaun Wade as his son.

Dotson was one of the few really bright spots in what was a dark, dark, dark, dark, DARK 2020 season.

(seriously so dark)

What To Expect In 2021

Greatness. Dotson has the chance to etch himself into the pantheon of greatest Penn State receivers of all time. If the 2020 season had been a normal 13-game season, Dotson would have finished with 75 receptions, 1,276 yards, and 11 touchdowns — just some ridiculous stats that very few Penn State receivers have reached. While DaeSean Hamilton’s receptions record of 214 is likely out of reach, Dotson is just 87 receptions shy of No. 2 Deon Butler’s 179. Now granted, Dotson would need a heck of a season to reach that, but it’s certainly possible with just how important Dotson will be for this offense.