Scouting Penn State 4-Star Commit RB Nicholas Singleton

On Tuesday, the Highest-Ranked Pennsylvania Prep Ballcarrier Since 2017 Became the Highest-Ranked Member of Penn State’s 2022 Recruiting Class

On a streaming platform 99 percent of us didn’t know was a thing, a comforting storyline we once took for granted played out again in spite of CBS Sports HQ’s primitive production value – Pennsylvania’s premier prep playmaker picked Penn State!

After a fleeting one-weekend flirtation with Notre Dame that had Penn State’s message board mafia chomping their digital fingernails, Nicholas Singleton – a coveted 4-star running back out of Governor Mifflin High School in Reading  – finally took James Franklin up on that scholarship offer doled out back in the summer of 2019 by verbally committing on Tuesday to come play college ball in Happy Valley next season. 

Singleton’s decision finally gives us all a chance to catch our breath and recover from an epic four-day commitment bender that catapulted Penn State’s 2022 class all the way up to No. 3 nationally. It also serves as the perfect chaser to the tough-to-swallow in-state recruiting losses of OT Nolan Rucci to Wisconsin in 2021 and WR Julian Fleming to Ohio State in 2020. 

According to Rivals, Singleton is the highest-ranked PA high school running back since D’Andre Swift in 2017.  To find out why, we danced along to the license-free house music bumping in Singleton’s 2019 and 2020 HUDL highlight reels (you’re welcome, we muted the tracks) and also scouted Governor Mifflin’s 48-44 semifinal loss in the 2020 5A state playoffs. 

Not sure what’s the deal with Reading-area high school track surfaces, or if every meet in the southeastern portion of the state is held in perpetual head winds, but Singleton PLAYS faster than his reported 10.89 100-meter time – and before all 13 of you reading this get uppity, yes, that’s an unfathomably quick time for the middle-aged Tub of Goo typing this, but not as spit-take-in-disbelief fast compared to other 4-star/5-star playmakers. 

Even at 210 pounds, Singleton has proven to be a fluid, almost effortless runner with a sprinter’s stride. He’s capable of outrunning angles at the high school level and extremely confident in his ability to do so…as you’ll see below:

Thirsty for more clips of Singleton’s plus-speed? We got you:

Here’s one:

Here’s another:

But the ultimate validation of Singleton’s uncanny quicks weirdly occurred when the ball WASN’T in his hands. On this eventually-impressive play, it looks like Singleton momentarily forgets he’s supposed to pass protect and pick up the blitzing linebacker – a mental lapse that caused Governor Mifflin’s QB to force a throw he shouldn’t have thrown inside the 10. Interception. It takes a second for Singleton to recognize the ball is headed the other direction but that delayed reaction doesn’t prevent him from absolutely DK Metcalf’ing this poor future accountant/T-ball coach/HOA treasurer.

Even though Singleton possesses standout speed, his running style skews more physical than finesse. Frankly, he’s not a stop-start muscled-up waterbug like Saquon Barkley or Miles Sanders. To us, the best Penn State player comp for Singleton is former Heisman runner-up Larry Johnson. If Singleton is tackled, it’s never by the first defender. When Singleton is tackled, he always punctuates the carry by falling forward. For such a high-profile prospect who has known for years he’ll be playing in bigger games on bigger stages, Singleton doesn’t dodge contact or exit out of bounds prematurely…which is really refreshing to watch. 

Furthermore, to borrow a phrase without asking from former Dos Equis commercial actor Les Miles (not like he’ll be using it any time soon) Singleton displays a violent and passionate “WANT” to score when the ball gets put in his hands near the end zone. 

While Singleton’s natural gifts are obvious and abundant on film, projecting how soon he’ll make an impact at the next level – and in what ways – isn’t as easy as perhaps it should be thanks to Governor Mifflin’s predominately triple-option offense — an absolute fossil of a system, even in high school football. We’d guessimate on 80-85 percent of his runs, Singleton catches the ball on a toss or pitch in space on the edge. Therefore, it’s tough to assess Singleton’s instincts as a runner since he’s rarely asked to find a hole between the tackles or read defenders. In fact, the three runs we clipped two clips ago to showcase Singleton’s physical nature were the only three runs where the then-junior took an actual handoff from his quarterback in the state semifinals vs. Pine-Richland. 

With that said, as a sophomore, Singleton did take a couple dozens snaps at fullback and had no trouble finding running room amongst the mess of bodies along the line.

During a few short-yardage situations in the 2020 playoffs, Governor Mifflin flexed Singleton out wide to pull defenders out of the box for either a QB sneak or fullback dive…never a pass to Singleton in the flat. In fact, we never saw Singleton get targeted beyond the line of scrimmage in the footage we scouted, so no clue whether he can be a weapon in the passing game at the next level, or if he’ll be an every-down back since Governor Mifflin’s unearthed time-capsule offense doesn’t ask Singleton to pass protect often. When Singleton did pass protect, well, let’s just say those reps won’t be found in any How-To coaching clinic tapes. 

Oh, lastly, we clipped two trick plays where Singleton threw the ball 40-ish yards and flipped the field with his arm instead of his legs…which isn’t super relevant but cool to watch, so here you go: