The next step of the Penn State football receiving room overhaul is underway.
The first of the Nittany Lions‘ 15 spring practices are this week. They’ll culminate in the anything-but-normal Blue-White Game in renovating Beaver Stadium in late April.
These will be the first, best chances yet for the Lions’ two highly-anticipated transfer receivers to impress.
Meet Kyron Hudson and Devonte Ross. Coach James Franklin talked about them in detail on Tuesday, during his annual spring practice kickoff press conference.
Hudson is 6-foot-1 and 212 pounds came from USC.
Ross is 5-foot-10, 170 pounds and came from Troy, in the Sun Belt Conference.
Both are seniors who figure to compete for starting roles as outside receivers. They will become immediate leaders in a room that must replace most of what inconsistent, if not lackluster, production it did get there last year. The leading returning wideout, redshirt senior Liam Clifford, made just 18 catches in 2024.
Penn State will now roll with Clifford and so many unproven parts, like Tyseer Denmark (redshirted last year as a freshman), junior Kaden Saunders (missed most of last year to injury) and rookies like Matthew Outen.
That’s where Hudson and Ross come in − each with one year of eligibility at PSU.
Hudson, a bigger-bodied wideout, was steadily productive at USC with 72 receptions and 807 yards in four seasons.
“He’s a guy who comes from a great high school program, played at a big-time college program, had success at this level already,” Franklin said. “Whoever you talk to from his high school, whoever you talk to from his previous institution and from our current team, everybody just loves the guy.
“Tremendous work ethic, obviously made some big-time plays. Everybody saw the catch he made against LSU, the one-hand catch. So, he’s done it at this level before.”
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Ross, meanwhile, is smaller and flashier with superior quickness. He made 76 of his 129 career receptions last year at Troy.
“With Ross, a very different scenario,” Franklin said. “Different body type, different school he came from. But I will tell you one of the things that really jumped out at us” was his performance against the Iowa Hawekeyes last fall.
In that valiant defeat, Ross scored on long receiving touchdowns of 75 and 63 yards. He also returned a punt 77 yards for a score.
“For him to do it against that type of opponent, on that stage, gave you a lot of confidence that could translate to us,” Franklin said. “That game carried a lot of weight with us.”
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: How receivers Kyron Hudson, Devonte Ross can help Penn State football
