Penn State football WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith will be hot portal commodity

Penn State football star KeAndre Lambert-Smith will take his talents elsewhere for the 2024 season, as he enters the transfer portal. Lambert-Smith missed the Nittany Lions' practices last week and didn't participate in the program's spring game last weekend.

Lambert-Smith was the top target for a struggling Penn State receiving corps in 2023.

The 6-foot-1 wideout recorded 53 receptions, 673 yards, and four touchdowns in 2023. Outside of Lambert-Smith, no other pass-catcher for the Nittany Lions eclipsed over 40 receptions. In fact, Penn State halfback Nick Singleton had more catches (26) than the second-most productive wide receiver (Dante Cephas, 22 catches) for the Nittany Lions.

Furthermore, could Penn State quarterback Drew Allar's inconsistent campaign in 2023 have affected Lambert-Smith's decision to leave? Allar struggled immensely against premier teams such as Ohio State and Michigan. Granted, the Buckeyes and Wolverines both have stout defenses, but Allar didn't seem up to the challenge whenever it was time to rise to the occasion. The Penn State quarterback against Ohio State and Michigan had a combined stat line of 261 passing yards, two touchdowns while having a QBR of 46.8 and completed 45 percent of his passes, collectively.

Allar will have to try to overcome the "big-game jitters" in 2024, and perhaps Lambert-Smith wants to be with a quarterback or an offense that is more up-tempo and can spread the ball out.

The Virginia native pass-catcher is certainly one of the portals top commodities, and whichever program he ends up at, its offense will improve vastly.