Georgia Tech's Dalen Penson Makes Permanent Change To Wide Receiver

One of the biggest questions this offseason has been the WR position and what it will look like with so many changes to the room, with players transferring out and running out of eligibility. Jordan Allen has been at the forefront of the convo and looks like he will be one of the main guys moving forward. However, there is a player who recently made a position change that has significantly raised the floor of the wide receiver room. Coming out of high school, he was a four-star prospect, a multiple-time state champion in track and field, and one of the best two-way athletes in the country. I am talking about no other than Dalen Penson. Head coach Brent Key talked about the permanent position change for Penson.

"Yeah, there's no cross-training right now. He's a receiver. He started the first part of practice at DB. We needed another guy that could burn and take the top off. We moved him over. Practiced him there a couple of times, a couple practices, and then went ahead and made the move full-time with him. And he can go. Made a couple really good plays today. A couple really nice catches. He's gaining more and more confidence every day. But, I mean, from the first day he stepped in there, I mean, he doesn't have issues getting aligned. He's an aerospace engineering major,” said Key.

“He can go. He's electric. He's going to be a huge, huge asset for us this year on the offensive side. Now, does that mean we're not going to have packages on the other side? Once the season gets here, I don't know. I have, we're not going to have packages on the other side? Once the season gets here, I don't know. I have no issue playing guys both ways. I don't. But you have to master one side before you can do both. And we're banged up a little bit on the back end of the corner. And those guys pushed through and played today. I mean, they love football.”

The key thing in what was said is that they needed another guy who could take the top off the defense. Penson fits that mould perfectly and is a guy who can make plays consistently. It is no different from what he did in high school. Penson could easily be a mismatch and a guy who wins consistently against man coverage. It makes the WR room that much better because now you have multiple guys with speed, route-running ability, and who can get loose in the open field. Now, when teams try to stack that box to slow down a Justice Haynes or Malachi Hosley, you can kill them over the top with a guy like Penson.
While some may feel like the wide receiver room still has questions, the Yellow Jackets may have figured things out to help their offense going forward in a new scheme under offensive coordinator George Godsey. Don’t be surprised if you see this team making a lot of big plays down the field in 2026. Penson will likely be at the center of it all.