Penn State receiver Carmelo Taylor is no longer with the Nittany Lions
A fourth member of the Penn State football wide receivers room is leaving following the spring semester. Redshirt freshman Carmelo Taylor is no longer a member of the Nittany Lions roster, sources told Blue-White Illustrated. A reason for his departure was not disclosed, but Taylor is not expected to pop up in the Transfer Portal.
Taylor, a Roanoke, Va., native, signed with head coach James Franklin’s program in the Class of 2023. He was a four-star recruit in the On3 Industry Rankings and a top 300 player nationally. Taylor came to State College knowing he would need to bulk up his 5-foot-11, 161-pound frame during what was always going to be a redshirt season. But, an allergy to red meat made that process difficult, he told Blue-White Illustrated during the Lions’ second-year player media day back in February.
“I mean, I’ve gained a few pounds here and there. It’s hard for me,” Taylor said, while noting that Penn State was working on ways to pack on the pounds with other foods. “I’m starting to eat more, I’m trying to maintain straight A’s and B’s in the classroom, spend more time in the weight room, and taking small steps like that to continue to get better. As I take those baby steps, they eventually turn into bigger steps and more days go into the cycle.”
Taylor finished spring practice with the Lions but won’t be around for preseason camp. It was not immediately clear where he might look to attend school next.
Assessing the Penn State receivers room in 2024
It’s been an offseason of change for the Penn State receivers room. Let’s break it down in list form:
Portal add:
Julian Fleming
Returning
Harrison “Trey” Wallace III, Liam Clifford, Kaden Saunders, Omari Evans, Anthony Ivey, Tyler Johnson, Mehki Flowers
Class of 2024 signees enrolling this summer
Josiah Brown, Peter Gonzalez, Tyseer Denmark
Departures
KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Malick Meiga, Malik McClain, Cristian Driver, Dante Cephas, Carmelo Taylor
The room coached by second-year assistant Marques Hagans has plenty of recruiting stars but minimal on-field production. That didn’t stop Franklin, though, from saying he feels good about the position group following the Blue-White game.
“I’ve had all the faith in the world in our wide receivers in terms of talent and ability,” Franklin said. “We got to take the next step and I saw them take a step this spring. We’re going to be taking another step this summer. The positive thing is you can really improve defensively and offensively in the passing game over the summer. It’s hard to do that in the run game. I think we’re going to be very specific on the things we’re working on and how we’re training and developing.
“We have the talent in the room. The reality is we got to take this next step and we got to do it on a consistent basis. And we got to make plays against all the people on our schedule. All those guys are in the locker room for a reason. We have belief in those guys. We believe they’re ready to take the next step.”
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