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Sophomore WR Dotson has made measurable progress in past year
STATE COLLEGE — Jahan Dotson watches film of his freshman-year practices at Penn State and occasionally cringes. He recently told coach James Franklin that he finds the film “embarrassing.”
And yet, the Nazareth High graduate turned himself into a starter, becoming one of the team’s most reliably productive receivers and prompting comparisons to Jerry Rice from his coach. This summer, Dotson is running routes better than ever and catching 100 passes every day after practice to retain his soft hands.
Though Penn State hasn’t yet named a starting quarterback for the Aug. 31 opener against Idaho, that starter will have a sure target in Dotson.
“He’s just so confident, he’s just so smooth and he’s got unbelievably natural ball skills,” Franklin said Tuesday after practice in State College. “He still obviously can use time in the weight room to get more explosive and bigger, but now I think he’s strong enough and explosive enough to be an every-down receiver.”
As a sophomore, Dotson quickly has joined KJ Hamler as the veterans of Penn State’s receivers room intent on looking past the inconsistencies of 2018. Among new receivers coach Gerad Parker’s offseason installations was a daily ritual of 100 catches. That continued into training camp.
Dotson catches balls twohanded, one-handed, from short range and from long distance to maintain his feeling for every pass. His hands usually are sore but, as Dotson said, “We do this for a living.”
“Coach Parker really preaches owning the ball,” he said. “‘The ball, the ball, the ball. The ball is everything, the ball is the game, so we have to protect the ball like it’s your child.”
But catching the ball hasn’t been a problem for Dotson. His eyes wander instead to last year’s practices, when he was learning to play college football.
In watching film of his freshman season, Dotson saw himself running rounded, imprecise routes that needed sharpening. And he saw a receiver who needed to be more physical, notably in hand-fighting at the line of scrimmage, to break more assertively off defenders.
Parker has called those elements the “last 10 percent” of Dotson’s game.
“And if he learns how to close the last 10 percent of his game, I really think everybody here is going to be really, really, really impressed with who he can become as a player,” Parker said.
Dotson has gained nearly 20 pounds since he arriving at Penn
State, adding strength in the process. He also has spent post-practice moments during camp watching joint scrimmages between NFL teams to study how professional receivers practice. He’s particularly drawn to Los Angeles Chargers receiver Keenan Allen.
“He has elite quickness, I think he has elite ball skills and he’s definitely one of my favorite players,” safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Tim Banks said of Dotson. “He doesn’t say a lot; he just goes about his business. We can be physical with him, and he gets right back up and goes back to the huddle.
“I’m really expecting him to have a tremendous year. You could see it now. He’s making our safety room better and even our corners better.”
Dotson has another position on his radar. He was a backup punt returner last year to DeAndre Thompkins and KJ Hamler, fielding one punt.
Dotson now works with Hamler at the position and hopes to contribute there this season. He considers punt return a place where he can fully exploit his field vision.
“I feel like I see the field better than a lot of people,” Dotson said. “I can see a lot of things coming at me. It feels like everything is coming at me at a slower pace.”
On Tuesday, Dotson was asked what motivates him. He didn’t hesitate.
Dotson’s parents, Al and Robin, left their East Orange, N.J., home for Nazareth more than a decade ago primarily for their sons, Jahan and Al. They still commute, nearly three hours daily, back and forth to New Jersey for work.
One summer, Dotson’s mother drove him on an exhausting football road trip. In seven days they went from Clemson to Alabama to Ohio State to Michigan to Michigan State.
“I don’t think that car lasted very long,” Dotson said. “I feel like my biggest motivation definitely has to be my parents.
“They sacrificed everything for me growing up.”