Nicholas Singleton came to Penn State with a lot of hype.
In 2021, he won the Gatorade National Player of the Year, All-American Bowl Player of the Year Pennsylvania Mr. Football.
Let’s just say that he has not disappointed so far this season, especially in the past two games.
I know one of those games was against Ohio, and Penn State players are supposed to look good against Ohio, but Singleton looked like a man amongst boys against an SEC team.
Auburn is a mediocre SEC team, but it has plenty of three- and four-star recruits coming out of high school.
CBS college football color commentator Gary Danielson thinks that Penn State can win the Big Ten, and I think he may have come to that conclusion because of Singleton.
Penn State is now on par with Ohio State and Michigan solely because Singleton is the best running back in college football. Some of my colleagues think this is too soon, but the fact is I know what I saw, and I saw a generational talent on the field Saturday.
Former 5-star Nick Singleton through 3 games:
– 334 rushing yards, most of any PSU RB since Larry Johnson in 2002.
– Johnson had 54 carries, Singleton has 30
– Saquon Barkley had 307 yards through 3 games in 2017 pic.twitter.com/9chyEMBanl— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 19, 2022
Once in a while, you see players such as Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, Marshall Faulk, Adrian Peterson and Todd Gurley play as true freshmen and you just see a player on another level against 18-22-year-old men.
In the “Last Dance” documentary, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the two top players in the league in the early 1980s, admitted that Michael Jordan was the best player in the NBA as a rookie.
Singleton is 2022 college football’s version of Michael Jordan.
Singleton has the size (6-feet, 220 pounds), track-star speed, power and can catch the ball at an elite level. The only issue with Singleton is that he hasn’t had enough carries through the first three games. He has 30 touches for 334 yards and four touchdowns, which equates to 120 carries for 1368 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Some words of advice to head coach James Franklin when he goes into conference play: Give the ball to Singleton at least 20 times per game.
He is one of the best players in college football already, and if Penn State is going to beat Ohio State and/or Michigan, then he has to utilize his top weapon to the best of their ability.
Singleton is the game-changer that Penn State needs to get past these teams and possibly make the College Football Playoff this year with the talent on its roster.
Singleton is the type of player that can take over a game at any time, and Penn State will have the best player on the field when they play the big two teams in the Big Ten.
The bottom line is that if Penn State is to win the Big Ten, it needs to ride the best running back in the country.
By the time Singleton leaves Penn State, barring injuries, he could be the best running back ever to come out of the school, and that includes Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris.
Twitter: @bwalkerdadon
