Penn State football: What landing 4-Star RB Nicholas Singleton means for Nittany Lions

Penn State football landed their top 2022 offensive target when 4-star running back Nicholas Singleton committed to the Nittany Lions.

This is a major recruiting victory for head coach James Franklin and his staff. Singleton is a Pennsylvania recruit, hailing from Reading, making him a key part of Franklin’s quest to retake dominance of the state.

Secondly, Penn State did not take a running back in the 2021 class, so landing an elite talent like Singleton at the position was one of Franklin’s main goals in the 2022 class.

Singleton chose the Nittany Lions over Alabama, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame, but if you looked at the crystal ball predictions on his 247 Sports profile, you would see that the Irish posed the biggest threat.

247 Sports ranks Singleton as the No. 3 running back in the nation, the composite has him a little lower at No. 6. 247 Sports analyst Gabe Brooks compared Singleton to former Georgia and current Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb.

Listed at 6-foot and 210 pounds, Singleton’s size is ideal for the running back position and he can easily add more weight once he arrives in Happy Valley. Penn State strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt has done great work physically developing running backs in the past.

In a shortened 2020 junior season, Singleton ran the ball 107 times for Governor Mifflin High School, totaling 1,311 yards and 22 touchdowns. While the pandemic ruined some of his development as a junior, Singleton’s legs will be fresh heading into his senior year, which could lead to a monster season.

With the addition of Singleton, Penn State now has 18 commits in their 2022 class and the class now ranks second nationally, only behind Ohio State, according to 247 Sports.

Now that we have some background on Singleton, let’s take a look at the impact his commitment has.