There were plenty of headlines coming out of Penn State’s Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame. Some focused on James Franklin’s impressive roster retention, keeping Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Drew Allar, and much of his veteran core in Happy Valley and out of the NFL draft. Others focused on the transfer portal departures of Franklin’s top two wide receivers from the 2024 season, Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans, but wide receiver Tyler Johnson’s portal departure didn’t draw much attention.
After signing with Penn State in 2022 as a three-star wide receiver prospect out of Ridgeway, Virginia, Johnson saw just 78 offensive snaps and did not catch a pass across his three years in Happy Valley. Johnson saw his only action this past season, appearing in eight games with a career-high 28 snaps in the Nittany Lion’s 56-0 Week 4 win over Kent State.
Now, with two seasons of eligibility remaining, Johnson has signed with East Carolina, according to ON3.com’s Pete Nakos.
Johnson will join fellow former Nittany Lion London Montgomery in Greenville, North Carolina to play out the final two years of his college career. The Pirates finished 8-5 in 2024, going 5-1 down the stretch after firing head coach Mike Houston and replacing him with defensive coordinator Blake Harrell. This offseason, ECU removed the interim tag from Harrell, who is now leading the program into 2025.
East Carolina’s leading receiver Anthony Smith will return for 2025 with quarterback Katin Houser, but Johnson will likely replace WR2 Chase Sowell, who transferred to Iowa State this offseason.
The loss of Johnson won’t hurt Penn State much in 2025, but the Nittany Lions are pressed for depth at wide receiver with three portal departures. There will be a lot of pressure on incoming transfers Kyron Hudson and along with rising redshirt freshman Tyseer Denmark, who is likely to step into a large role for offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki
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