By Jeff Rice, NN Senior Writer

jrice@nittanynetwork.com

May 15, 2009

Three rookie receivers out of Penn State are trying to make an NFL roster this summer. Three other former Nittany Lion wideouts are already league veterans. Not surprisingly, all six made NN’s all-time Top 10 wide receiver list.

Who are the best of the best? See for yourself.

1. Bobby Engram
The only Penn State player to total 1,000 receiving yards in a season did it twice. Engram is the school’s leader in career receiving yardage (3,026) and touchdown catches (31) and ranks second in receptions. He had great hands, terrific body control, ran precise routes and could run away from or around defenders. Engram was lethal in 1994 on a stacked offense, then showed he could be just as dangerous the following year as the primary option.

2. Deon Butler
The only Nittany Lion to catch more passes than Engram (179) also holds the single-game receiving yardage mark (216 yards) and is one of just three Penn State players with more than 20 career touchdown catches. Not bad for a walk-on. Butler made up for what he lacked in size and strength with speed, quickness and savvy. His ability to stretch the field helped turn a passing attack that had gone stagnant into one of the best in the country.

3. O.J. McDuffie
Penn State’s version of “The Juice” caught a total of 16 passes during his first three seasons as a Nittany Lion but made up for it as a junior and senior. His 63 catches in 1992 are a single-season record (Engram tied the mark three years later) and only Engram and Bryant Johnson compiled more yards in a two-year span than McDuffie did in 1991-92 (1,767).

4. Kenny Jackson
Todd Blackledge’s favorite target during the 1982 national championship season finshed a strong career a year later with a sterling 18.4 yards-per-catch average. He’s the only Nittany Lion to catch at least five touchdowns in four different seasons, and his career total of 25 puts him second-best in school history. Jackson went on to coach several Nittany Lion receivers, including Engram, Joe Jurevicius, Freddie Scott and Bryant Johnson.

5. Derrick Williams
If not for the broken arm that sidelined him for the final five games of his 2005 freshman season, Williams might have finished with as many or more catches than his good friend Butler. As it was, he’ll have to settle for being the third all-time leading receiver and perhaps the most versatile. Williams’ skills as a runner and kick returner made him most valuable to Penn State’s offense, but his good hands, body control and football smarts made him an excellent receiver.

6. Jordan Norwood
Basketball was the first love of this baby-faced star, and the qualities he learned on the hardwood — quickness, anticipation, lateral movement — helped him become one of the school’s greatest possession receivers. Norwood, the fourth-leading receiver in team history, could count on his fingers the number of passes he dropped in four years, and he had a penchant for being able to take bone-crushing hits and pop right back up.

7. Terry Smith
Former Penn State star cornerback Justin King might have had a tough time trying to cover his stepdad in Smith’s prime. Smith improved his production by nearly 50 percent in each of his final three seasons, grabbing 55 passes for 846 yards and eight scores as a senior in 1991. He now coaches at Gateway High School, one of the state’s top scholastic programs.

8. Bryant Johnson
This big, physical player from Baltimore overcame a moderate case of the drops early in his career to become a consistent threat and a first-round NFL draft choice. While teammate Larry Johnson was chugging for 2,000 yards in 2002, Johnson quietly rolled up 917 receiving yards on just 48 catches, showing the ability to go over the middle or down the sideline.

9. Jack Curry
Only the old-timers will remember Curry, who played 1965-67, but his body of work stands the test of time. He and Engram are the only two Nittany Lions to lead the team in receiving in three different seasons and his 117 career catches were a school record until McDuffie caught and passed him in 1992. They’re even more impressive when you consider they were nearly 45 percent of Penn State’s overall catches during that span.

10. Joe Jurevicius
The big man (6-foot-5) was a big-play threat. He averaged better than 21 yards per catch during his final two seasons and his career average of 20.1 is the best by any Lion with at least 75 career catches. Jurevicius could go up and get it or just run past everyone to get it, and there might not have been a physically tougher receiver to play for Joe Paterno.

Honorable mention: Gregg Garrity, Freddie Scott, David Daniels, Chafie Fields, Tony Johnson