Nick Singleton entered 2022 as a five-star prospect and ended the season as a household name for Penn State Football fans.
Following in the footsteps of Saquon Barkley, Miles Sanders, and Journey Brown, Singleton became the latest Penn State running back from Pennsylvania to captivate Nittany Lions fans breaking off long touchdown runs and producing mesmerizing broken tackles.
What will the Nittany Lions star running back do for an encore?
3 Bold predictions for Penn State Footbal RB Nick Singleton’s 2023 season
Multiple kick return touchdowns and receiving touchdowns
If you read my bold predictions for Penn State’s 2023 season, this should not be a surprise.
Singleton has incredible skills with the football in his hands both in speed and elusiveness. In 2022, Singleton showed his prowess in the kick return game breaking off a 100-yard kick return against Rutgers. Penn State has only had a player return more than one kick for a touchdown in a season twice this century, Derrick Williams in 2008 and Saquon Barkley in 2017.
My bold prediction is that Singleton adds his name to this renowned list of Penn State legends by returning at least two kicks for a touchdown in 2023.
In addition to this prediction, I am predicting that Penn State gets Nick Singleton more involved in the passing game in 2023 in his second season in Mike Yurcich’s offense and catches at least two touchdown passes.
Penn State needs to take advantage of Singleton’s elite athletic ability in every way that it can on the field and using Singleton as both as a kick returner and a pass catcher out of the backfield would go a long way toward helping Penn State reach its goals in 2023.
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Leads Penn State Football in rushing yards, but not rushes or rushing touchdowns
Another prediction from my bold predictions was that Kaytron Allen would lead the team in both rushes and rushing touchdowns.
In 2022, Allen lead Penn State with 167 rushes to Singleton’s 156. I think the nature of each back lends to Allen getting more touches again in 2023. Singleton was the team’s “homerun” back, racking up an astonishing seven 40+ yard carries, including five for touchdowns. Allen, on the other hand, was used as the steady, “ground and pound” back, especially at the goal line. With Singleton both returning kicks and breaking off long runs, it makes logical sense that Singleton would get less carries in the running game than Allen, who has been used as a bruising back that can sustain long drives.
I also am predicting that Singleton and his elite elusiveness will get more involved in the passing game, taking away further from rushing attempts. Singleton will still rack up yards on less rushes if he is once again able to break off long runs in 2023.
Nick Singleton triples catches from 2022
With both of Penn State’s feature backs carrying true freshman status in 2022, neither back was used heavily in the passing game.
I predict that both with a new quarterback and with an extra year in the system, Singleton and Allen will get used more in the passing game for Penn State in 2023.
Singleton’s athletic ability and elusiveness should play very well catching balls out of the backfield. In 2022, Singleton caught 11 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. I predict in 2023 that Singleton will triple his catches and possibly even receiving touchdowns.
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Penn State Football is set to open the season against WVU in less than a week with the highest expectations for the program since at least 2017.
If Penn State is to reach these lofty expectations, expect Nick Singleton to play a major role in the offense and help alleviate the pressure from first year starting quarterback Drew Allar both by allowing the tough Penn State running game to take focus for the offense and as a safety net in the passing game for Allar.
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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