1/18/2023 football Edit

Penn State hits the portal again, adding FSU transfer Malik McClain

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

Penn State may have added Dante Cephas to their wide receiver room this past Sunday night but the Nittany Lions were not done adding to the room.

On Wednesday, James Franklin and his program landed Florida State transfer Malik McClain to their program. The Alabama native announced his decision via his Instagram account.

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The 6-foot-4, 200-pound wide receiver was a four-star recruit and Rivals250 prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle out of IMG Academy in Bradenton (FL). Before signing with Florida State, McClain held offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and UCF.

During his two seasons in Tallahassee, McClain played in 25 games recording 33 receptions for 396 yards and five touchdowns. In 2022, he had a solid but not great season with 17 receptions for 206 yards and a trio of touchdowns. To no fault of his own, the sophomore wide receiver struggled to see consistent time on the field or targets for the Seminoles, being stuck behind the likes of Johnny Wilson and Mycah Pittman. While the stats may not be overwhelming, McClain was generally considered a tough loss for the Seminoles.

McClain was graded out well by Pro Football Focus in 2022 with an overall offensive grade of 65.2 including a passing grade of 64.3.

McClain with the Nittany Lions will be able to compete for the program's No.3 wide receiver spot. With Dante Cephas and KeAndre Lambert-Smith likely locked in as the No.1 and No.2 wide receivers, McClain will battle Harrison Wallace III, Kaden Saunders, Omari Evans, and Liam Clifford to be the Lions' third starter.

What does McClain bring to the Nittany Lions?

McClain will bring some much-needed size to Penn State's wide receiver room. His Florida State profile listed him at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds. That will be the tallest of any Penn State starter or main rotational wide receiver by several inches.

The only other Nittany Lion with similar height is junior Malick Meiga, who also stands at 6-foot-4 and 200-pounds. Meiga who provides a similar skillset to McClain has recorded six receptions for 97 yards and one touchdown over his career with the Nittany Lions.

On top of his great size, McClain also brings high-quality speed to the program thanks to a good burst and long stride. He's dangerous in space showing quality elusiveness as well, making him a threat to score in any one-on-one situation with the ball in his hands.

Arguably his best attributes are his strong hands and catch radius, the rising junior rarely drops the ball with just three career drops over 63 targets, just 4.7% of the time. Anything thrown in his general direction has a great chance of being caught.

Below you can view several of his highlights from his time with Florida State.

McClain is also an outstanding run blocker as you can see in the video below. This season for the Seminoles, McClain recorded a run-blocking grade of 70.5 on PFF over 152 run-blocking snaps.