Malik McClain was one of five players who left Penn State on the final day of the spring transfer portal window. It’s late in the game, but there are still options out in the portal as replacements if James Franklin gets aggressive.

The final day of the spring transfer portal window became something of a mass exodus at Penn State. No, nothing on the scale of Coach’s Prime’s first year in Colorado, and James Franklin likely won’t be trolling his former players on social media anytime soon, but still, five portal departures in a day is notable for a program that has had a relatively quiet offseason.

The transfer portal officially closed on May 1, but it can take about 48 hours for the paperwork to go through, so it took until May 2, for the list of Nittany Lions leaving Happy Valley to come to light. The headliner was 2023 four-star safety King Mack, who only played 70 defensive snaps as a true freshman, but he was joined by offensive lineman Golden Israel-Achumba, running backs David Yencry Jr. and London Montgomery, and wide receiver Malik McClain.

From that second group of departures, McClain is the most notable loss and at a position of desperate need for Penn State. After transferring to Penn State from Florida State, the 6-foot-4 200-pound receiver caught six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown but played sparingly despite the Nittany Lion’s obvious lack of depth on the outside.

Since last season, Penn State has added Julian Fleming to the wide receiver room and watched KeAndre Lambert-Smith, Dante Cephas, Malick Meiga, Christian Driver, and McClain. While a former five-star from Pennsylvania who was under-utilized in Columbus, Fleming, the Ohio State castoff, won’t be enough to help Drew Allar and Andy Kotelnicki’s offense take down the Buckeyes who are the favorites to win the Big Ten next season.

While entry into the transfer portal is closed, there are still plenty of players who are available and a few wide receivers who could fit on James Franklin’s roster. Judging from his lack of activity in the portal this offseason, Franklin is unlikely to make a big splash, but for those hopeful Penn State fans, here are three of the best available transfer portal wide receivers.

Penn State is desperate to add talent at wide receiver, maybe even desperate enough to target Cottrell. There aren’t many options for Andy Kotelnicki to add receivers, let alone the super-sized wideouts he loves for his offensive system.

Cottrell played in one game as a true freshman for Texas A&M last season and after transferring to Kentucky this winter, is back in the portal looking for his third school in two years. Franklin typically stays away from players like Cottrell who are obvious flight risks, but the situation at receiver is dire enough that Penn State may need to bet on his high school pedigree as a 2023 four-star.