Penn State Football: 3 Nittany Lions land on ESPN’s list of Top 25 most important players for 2023

Penn State football is getting the most preseason hype from national media outlets has in a long time, and rightly so, this is a team loaded with young talent.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly put together a list of the top 25 most important players in college football for 2023 on Thursday — and impressively — three Nittany Lions made the cut.

At No. 22, is star running back Nick Singleton, who finished last season with 156 rushing attempts for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“There are few feelings more exhilarating for a college football observer than watching a young player who (a) is doing physically spectacular things we rarely see and (b) clearly has another gear or two to find,” Connelly writes. “That was the Nick Singleton experience in full in 2022.

“He also fumbled three times with minimal contributions in the passing game. He’s probably going to get better. That’s a scary thought.”

The next player — and how high his ranking is — felt a bit surprising but it makes sense. Penn State has clear talent at nearly every position with depth to back it up, but there are obvious question marks at wide receiver with the team’s two top pass catchers from a season ago now gone. ESPN slated Kent State transfer Dante Cephas one of the No. 13 most important player in all of college football for the 2023 season.

“Cephas’ upside appears immense if his power-conference learning curve isn’t too steep,” Connelly writes. “In 23 games over the past two seasons, he caught 130 passes at 15.3 yards per catch with nine 100-yard games. He has experience out wide and in the slot, and he could be a solid security blanket for a young QB.”

It’s clear Connelly understands for 5-star quarterback Drew Allar to succeed, he is going to need reliable weapons. Cephas could be one of the biggest keys to Allar’s success this season and should cement himself as he No. 1 wide receiver for the Nittany Lions.

Speaking of Allar, Connelly has the highest-ranked signal caller in Penn State football history as the No. 2 QB in his section labeled “new starting QBs for potential contenders with a potential game-changing leap and shots at lots of contenders.”

“The Nittany Lions need to find a smidgen more upside, in other words,” Connelly writes. “You know, the kind that a blue-chip, throw-it-over-the-moon quarterback can deliver.”

Allar is the key to Penn State’s success this season. Vegas has him slated as a dark horse sleeper for the Heisman Trophy, and I’ve made it clear, if he lives up to the hype and delivers, the Nittany Lions will reach the College Football Playoff.

It’s obvious to see why ESPN ranks him so high. While there is young talent across the board on this year’s roster, there isn’t a more important position in all of sports than the starting quarterback.

Allar must thrive for the Nittany Lions to meet their goals in 2023.