Can Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton throw a wrench in the vaunted 2025 NFL Draft RB class with his scouting report?
Here’s a look at what Singleton has already accomplished, and how he can truly elevate his profile in the 2025 cycle.
Nicholas Singleton’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’0″
- Weight: 227 pounds
- Position: Running Back
- School: Penn State
- Current Year: Junior
Few RB recruits over the past half-decade were more anticipated than Singleton. A four-year starter and a senior team captain at Governor Mifflin High School in Pennsylvania, Singleton broke county production records, while establishing a consensus five-star billing.
As a senior, Singleton amassed 2,059 rushing yards and 44 rushing touchdowns. And across his four-year career, he accumulated 6,326 yards and 116 TDs — mind-boggling numbers at any level.
Singleton’s talent was such that he played in all 13 games and started eight as a true freshman at Penn State, even while sharing touches with Kaytron Allen. In his first year, he ran for 1,061 yards and 12 TDs on 156 carries.
In 2023, Singleton once again eclipsed 1,000 total yards from scrimmage — catching 26 passes for 308 yards and two TDs — but his rushing efficiency dipped. He logged 309 fewer yards on 15 more carries than 2022.
Singleton’s profile is still incredibly alluring, but the 2024 campaign will go a long way toward quelling questions about developmental stagnation.
Can he become the first-round RB prospect he has the talent to be? Let’s discuss.
Singleton’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Rocked-up runner with a well-proportioned frame and exceptional compact mass.
- Energized, hyperactive accelerator with elite explosive capacity and home-run speed.
- Has the speed to obliterate tackling angles and generate chunk plays with reliability.
- Has the throttle freedom and foot speed to explode out of cuts and shoot through gaps.
- Possesses the ankle flexion to use curvilinear acceleration while warping pursuit angles.
- Uses snappy short-area athleticism and twitch to sidestep and explode past extensions.
- Has a baseline degree of patience in allowing blocks to set up before diverting upfield.
- Has shown he can vary his footwork based on available spacing and snap into phase.
- Can quickly identify vertical creases and work upfield on sweep and wide zone runs.
- Runs with excellent leverage and a low center of gravity, supplementing contact balance.
- Moves with unnatural foot speed and leg churn, and can reset instantly out of contact.
- Has very willing physicality and will routinely attempt to finish forward through tackles.
- Has the grating leg churn and energy to scrape through arm tackles and recalibrate.
- Capable ball tracker down the field, who presents rare RAC upside with instant burst.
- Alert pass protector who can process stunts, square up rushers, and play low.
Weaknesses
- Can sometimes be late to recognize opportunities to bounce outside and use his speed.
- Is, at times, indecisive when faced with early contact threats on interior runs.
- On occasion, gets tunnel vision on fleeting interior lanes with cutback paths available.
- Isn’t overly adaptable with his intent and sometimes attempts to whittle away at piles.
- At times, patience can be a double-edged sword, causing him to miss viable gaps.
- Doesn’t have elite second-level vision and can be late to recognize LBs occluding paths.
- Can be more anticipatory with his angles to avoid letting LBs cut him off on approach.
- Modest hip tightness can make it more difficult to sink and reduce on sharp transitions.
- Slight hitches on angle adjustments can snag advances upfield and reduce his speed.
- Occasionally runs with his pad level too high into contact, negating leg drive on finishes.
- Despite size, mass, and energy, doesn’t quite have quantifiably elite contact balance.
- With dense, muscle-bound frame, doesn’t quite have elite sink on RB angle routes.
- Still has room to improve his positioning and upper-lower synergy as a pass blocker.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Entering the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Singleton grades out as a fringe top-100 prospect who could challenge for early-round capital next April. His game still needs refinement past his raw talent, but he has one of the highest ceilings in the entire RB group.
As one would expect from a former five-star recruit, talent is by no means in short supply for Singleton. The Pennsylvania product has truly hyper-elite explosive capacity and game-breaking long speed, melded together by unnatural stride quickness and energy for his 227-pound frame.
Already, Singleton has shown that his elite dynamic ability can generate big plays both in the running game and the passing game. On the ground, his instant burst and home-run speed allow him to rocket through creases. And through the air, Singleton a venerable RAC weapon.
If raw talent were the only thing to grade, Singleton would be an RB1 candidate — and with improvement in the categories of vision and creative instincts, he can get there. But right now, he still needs to seek a better balance of patience and decisiveness and improve his second-level processing.
All this being said, Singleton’s floor as a three-down presence is high enough, and his unique vertical athleticism makes him a big-play threat few RBs can emulate. In the immediate timeline, he’s a valuable sparkplug in an NFL RB rotation who has volume starter upside.
