Penn State wide receiver enters transfer portal after 2 seasons with Nittany Lions
Penn State wide receiver Cristian Driver, who was a four-star safety prospect in the Class of 2022, is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.
One member of the Penn State wide receiver room is on the move after the 2023 season as the Nittany Lions roster enters what’s expected to be an offseason of transition.
Penn State wide receiver Cristian Driver has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to a 247Sports source. Driver, a redshirt freshman, is the second Nittany Lion to enter the transfer portal since the window for undergraduates to enter opened Monday.
Driver follows punter Alex Bacchetta, a fellow member of the Class of 2022, into the transfer portal.
The 5-foot-11, 188-pound Driver appeared in four games for Penn State during the 2023 season. He caught his first career pass for eight yards against Delaware in September, and he recorded a pair of special teams tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, he totaled 27 offensive snaps.
While it didn’t manifest in the form of more playing time on Saturdays, Driver worked his way up the wide receiver pecking order over the course of the season. He made the travel roster around midseason, and down the stretch, he was wearing his own No. 80 as opposed to a scout number in practice.
The 2023 season marked Driver’s first season playing wide receiver for Penn State. He redshirted in 2022 while playing cornerback, and he appeared in four games, including the Rose Bowl, for the Nittany Lions.
Late in the 2022 season, Driver began to transition from cornerback to wide receiver. He approached coach James Franklin, defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, cornerbacks coach Terry Smith and former wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield about making the switch.
“It was a thing I had kind of been wanting to do since the beginning of the season,” Driver said in February. “I’d been talking to my dad about making the transition. He was like, ‘You’ve gotta be a man about it. You’ve got to go tell them what you’re planning on doing, what you want to do, and the ways you feel you can help in the program.’”
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