For WR K.J. Hamler, Growth as Leader Critical Component to 2019 Success
K.J. Hamler has already demonstrated his talent.
One of the nation’s most dynamic athletes in his debut a season ago, finishing with a program-record 1,417 all-purpose yards as a freshman, Hamler emerged as one of the lone highlights among Penn State’s receivers.
This year, his intended impact is to bring his teammates along for the ride.
“Just be more of a leader toward them,” Hamler said of his goals this preseason. “We gotta be the best receiving group in the Big Ten, and most of all, the country. If we do that, if we accomplish that, then I'll be happy.”
Certainly, Hamler and the Nittany Lions’ receiving corps have ground to make up if they intend to accomplish just such a goal this season.
After helping to propel the program to the nation’s highest per-game scoring average through the first four games of the year, the Nittany Lions rapidly fell off both in points and production. By the time the dust had settled on Penn State’s 2018 campaign, the Nittany Lions were 76th nationally in passing offense at 218.1 yards per game, 79th in team passing efficiency with a 130.99 rating, and critically, third-down conversions dipped to 37.1 percent.
Given the offense’s outstanding production the season prior, finishing No. 23, No. 14, and No. 5 in the same categories, respectively, the Nittany Lions and their 24.1 points per game in the final nine games of the season - with four losses to go with it - represented an undeniable downward trend.
Still, Hamler hasn’t been swayed into a pessimistic outlook as the 2019 slate quickly approaches.
For a group of wide receivers that saw the graduation of De’Andre Thompkins, plus offseason transfers for Juwan Johnson and Brandon Polk, representing three of Penn State’s six starters through the course of the year, an infusion of talent heavily backloaded to the sophomore, redshirt freshman, and true freshman classes have inspired confidence.
“We got a lot of young guys who are ready to compete and ready to work. And we got people who still haven't flourished yet, who still need a shot,” said Hamler. “We just put some boys on scholarship, and they're holding up to their standards, so I'm very excited for our group.
“We got some young guys that just came in that are ready and are hungry, who want to play off the bat. They're working twice as me. They're with me all the time. At night, we go in, we're running routes, they're catching balls and stuff like that. They're coming in ready to play, so their mentality is different from a lot of young guys' mentality that I've seen so far.”
The introduction of new receivers coach Gerad Parker this offseason, one Hamler notes as his third position coach as he enters his third season in the program, has also helped.
Describing the change as putting the receivers in “a good spot now” thanks to Parker’s involvement in their lives on a personal level, on and off the field, Hamler is ultimately hoping that the changes, his leadership, and an offseason working to develop confidence within the group, will help lead to the production on the field and consistency lacking just one year ago.
“You have to have that 100 percent of the time. I know it's a hard thing to do, but a lot of great groups and the greats are the greats because they're consistent,” said Hamler. “If we drop a ball, we gotta catch 100 balls after practice. However many drops, it's 100 on top of that. We don't like dropped balls. So we try to work extra hard. And just to get us out and open. We just try to produce for the offense as much as we can.”
For a position group hungry to upend its trajectory from a season ago, the Nittany Lions will be counting on it.
