To lay out the wide receiver position for the 2009 season means we have to look at why the top four returning players had a combined 29 receptions last season.

The answer to that is pretty simple; all you have to do is utter the words Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood.

Butler finished his career as Penn State’s all-time leader in receptions, with 179, beating out Bobby Engram’s 167. He is also in at number two with 2,771 receiving yards.

Williams landed himself in third on the all-time receptions list with 161 and Norwood came in fourth with 158. There is no question that these three talented players did a lot to turn around the Penn State program and they will be missed.

With the departure of all three, many onlookers mark the receivers as Penn State’s biggest weakness on offense. I however don’t see it in the same light. Sure, Brett Brackett, Graham Zug, Derek Moye and Chaz Powell are unproven, but they bring something that Williams, Butler and Norwood did not.

What they bring is different skill sets and most importantly, size. Brackett stands at 6’6”, which is six inches taller than Williams, who was the tallest of the three standouts. Brackett, a junior, caught 13 passes last season for 160 yards and one touchdown. His height and frame, at 231 pounds, will give Daryll Clark a big target to throw to this season.

As for Zug, he stands 6’2” and showed he could make plays last season, even on the biggest stage. At Ohio State he caught a 49 yards pass from Clark, which would have gone for a touchdown if the ball was not under thrown. Zug, a junior, caught balls in nine of the Nittany Lions 13 games last season. Although he never caught more than two balls in a game, he posted 11 receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

Zug sees the bright spot in the Nittany Lions increased size at the position this year. “It's a big difference. It definitely helps out the quarterback to give him a bigger target to throw to.”

That brings us to Moye, a sophomore, who stands 6’5” and has speed to burn. Although he only caught three passes last season as a redshirt freshman, he averaged 23.7 yards per catch, showing he knows how to get deep. Expect Moye to make a huge impact this season.

Powell already showed his speed last season as a redshirt freshman, by returning kicks, and doing some damage out of the backfield. In the season opener against Coastal Carolina, Powell broke out for a 55 yard TD scamper on a reverse.

All-in-all Powell rushed the ball eight times for 74 yards and had two receptions for 37 yards. Expect Powell to be much more involved in the offense this year, as he will line up in a lot of different positions, but mainly in the slot.

Redshirt freshman A.J. Price will figure to get some looks as well, as he posses’ good size at 6’4”. Also senior Patrick Mauti could get some looks in games that Penn State pulls away in.

A host of other redshirt or true freshman makes up the rest of the receiving corps, but don’t expect any to factor in heavily at all.

Some of the pressure will be taken off the group by the help of two outstanding pass catching running backs in Evan Royster and Stephfon Green, and two senior tight ends in Andrew Quarless and Mickey Shuler.

Sure this receiving group is inexperienced, but they have play makers and a lot of size to go around. I don’t expect them to struggle as much as many experts think.

Clark may have summed it up best by saying, “They've shown that they can play; they've stepped up. We've been successful against our defense thus far and as I've said as long as I've been here, if you're able to be successful against this defense we play against every day, you're well on your way.”