When looking at the keys to the season this is a guy who gets overlooked. Not saying he is more important than Allar improving, the WR room improving, or the O-Line. However, he had a sophomore slump and regressed a little. Can he have a monster year? Can he also catch bslls out of the backfield and we get him in space? That would be huge for us if he could perform at a first team B10 level. He is certainly capable and that could put us in the playoffs.
Singleton Under the Radar
- Thread starter ryoder1
- Start date
Singleton has to be a big play threat every time he touches the ball. Considering we have Allen, who is a prototypical bell cow back already, we shouldn't be running Singleton right into the Guards 90% of his touches. Get him outside. WB him and run the Jet Sweep. Screens. Pitches. Student Body left and right. There is a ton he excels at and Yurcich Inside Zone'd him to death without having a passing game nor play action game.
It's impossible to exactly quantify what kind of numbers he has to have for us to be a "deep run in the playoff" team, but I would at least says 8+, 40+ yard TD plays is the minimum for his style.
I think he needs to reconsider changing his name to Doubleton or Tripleton.
Yep, I remember watching the Auburn game at their place when he busted out and became a national name in my opinion. Some tosses and sweeps and getting him to the outside where he get out run those SEC DB with southern speed. As you said it seem that about 90% of his touches last year were between the guards he’s a guy that needs to use to speed, make one read and go.
Yes he needs to be our big play back so design plays to optimize that threat. I forget his 40 time but I know he is fast. I like the jet sweep concept with him but we need to disguise it and run other stuff off that formation to keep the defense honest. Creatively get him in space where his speed and athleticism can shine.
What about a wildcat package for him?
I think you’ll get your wish. Singleton will be 1 of 6 or 8 athletes targeted to excel in this new offense. — I believed his “regression “ last year was as much a function of the OC and play calling as anything else. I think this OC will successfully impliment many opportunities for Singleton, other backs ( Allen , Martin, Wallace),Denmark, Evans, Wallace , Saunders, Black ( speed guys), along with multiple tight ends seeing the field in various packages . We have a good O-line on paper. If that translates to game execution, I believe this offense can be better than the Barkley, McSorley, Gesicki years.
Singleton has to prove he's able to run effectively between the tackles though otherwise when he's in there without Allen they'll take away the edge. I agree they need to get him in space more but he needs better patience at the LOS and his vision has to improve. I still think he's best used in the slot, as a change of pace back or in a two back set with Allen (one on either side of Allar in the gun). Allen needs 20 carries in big games
If by regressed, you mean that PSU attempted almost zero passes above ~10yds and defenses could clamp down on the run, then yes. It all starts with Allar and the WRs ability to keep defenses honest.
4.35 @ 228 I believe was his last testing day info.
2 back him with Allen. Motion out, then motion into the Jet.
There is footage of him and Allen taking snaps together a la Wildcat, but he has to improve his inside running or just use it for straight carrying and the fake there for eye candy.
Definitely so. I think rhythm matters. If one guy is running good, leave him in until he's tired. Simply series to series rotation doesn't work unless the offense is in a rhythm (other than consecutive 3 and outs).
Outside of improvement this year (be it scheme, play calling, Nick, Drew, whatever), I agree. I do think 20 rushes will be tough though if the offense is ineffective.
20 carries will be the offense was effective so I agree. It won't be easy. I just see that as our best path to victory
None of our current wideouts would make tne two-deep on that Saquon, Trace teams.
Kotelnicki needs to figure out how to maximize both Singleton and Allen. They have different styles so they should be complementary. Allen is our power guy but I would not say he has to get 20 carries in big games. Maybe if a certain scheme is working or the defense has a weakness playing to Kaytron's strengths but it is not a must have.
The reason I singled out Singleton (pun intended) to start this thread is he is our "explosive play" RB. And we lacked explosive plays last year particularly Singleton. I do think that had a lot to do with Yurcich's mismanagement of his skills. I think our OC has a lot of creative options for Nick that have been mentioned in this thread. Don't get me wrong, Allen is great and we need him as much as Nick especially between the tackles, goal line packages, etc. However. Singleton is the guy that can give us 50, 60, 70 yard TD runs or catches and that can really deflate a defense and give a huge momentum boost for us. Simply put a game can pivot on one big play from Nick.
The reason I singled out Singleton (pun intended) to start this thread is he is our "explosive play" RB. And we lacked explosive plays last year particularly Singleton. I do think that had a lot to do with Yurcich's mismanagement of his skills. I think our OC has a lot of creative options for Nick that have been mentioned in this thread. Don't get me wrong, Allen is great and we need him as much as Nick especially between the tackles, goal line packages, etc. However. Singleton is the guy that can give us 50, 60, 70 yard TD runs or catches and that can really deflate a defense and give a huge momentum boost for us. Simply put a game can pivot on one big play from Nick.
Maybe, maybe not. —They certainly didn’t perform as expected last year. But, just as I believe Singleton’s so called “ regression” was largely attributable to poor play calling/OC, the WR’s were affected by the same poor system. The WR room is very athletically talented ( as Franklin has repeatedly asserted ). I believe their development was stunted by a poor system…..We’ll soon see what a talented OC and another year of maturity can do for them. —The Saquon, Trace, Gesicki teams were very talented….and Saquon himself was a generational talent. But , in the aggregate, this team has many more pure speed ( sub 4.4) guys….and I’m very optimistic that this new system will unlock a lot of previously muted potential. — We won’t have to wait long to find out.
I can't even remember the last time PSU had an imaginative running game. You can't expect an "explosive" play from a running back when all you do is run between the tackles. Every new coordinator brings new hope but it never changes. If it doesn't change under this new guy then it must be Franklin. If that's the case I'll join the chorus of Franklin must go but we all know that won't happen given the money he's owed. Once again, I'll be hoping for something better. We will find out soon.
Agreed. When watching this season unfold, watch how the good DC defend us. If successful, we'll see that same defense all year. Last year, Illinois played 7 or 8 in the box. They keyed on stopping the run. Their CBs were told to chuck our WRs at the LOS and then don't let them get behind you. They were betting that the pass rush on Allar and our lack of good WR play would limit offense. The S cheated down and when they stopped our running game, our offense was impotent. We then saw that the rest of the season.
We had almost ZERO long passes. Nobody cared about passes over 15 yards downfield so they didn't defend it. That allowed the D to pack their S up close to the LOS and defend the run. This is EXACTLY what we are going to see from WVU in a few weeks until we beat it. WVU has a strong front 7 so running will be a challenge unless we can back up their S and respect our deep game. We have to go over the top which we rarely did last year successfully.
Tell him how you’d do it. Be specific. Draw X and Os for him. 🙄
Question: Do you see this type of offensive scheme where Allen gets 20 carries and Singleton fewer carries to be better at producing touchdowns or mainly better with time of possession? The reason I ask is that Allen hasn't shown he can run away from the best defenders even if he finds daylight. He usually gets caught 15-20 yds past the LOS whereas Singleton can actually take it to the house from long yardage. I'm thinking there will have to be other elements (passing and shut down defense) firing on all cylinders to truly take advantage of an Allen-heavy run game if PSU is going to put up 4+ touchdowns against the best teams we will face this season. My feeling is that Singleton will have to finally step up and get explosive yardage plays with a touchdown or two along with Allen doing his shorter yardage runs if we have any chance to beat OSU.
I think it opens up Singleton to create big plays in other ways. Singleton is best in space.
Singleton's long run last year was 24 yards (even Potts and Tank had longer runs)--we can blame scheme all we want for that but on one less carry he ran for 150 less yards which isn't all on scheme.
Allen averaged over 5 a carry-he's not truly a short yardage back--he's also significantly better in protection or was last year.
I'm hopeful play-action will work well with Allen this year and Fleming or Wallace can make plays downfield.
I still want Singelton on the field and to get touches just not as many carries. I just don't think we've going to contend for anything if they're at a 1:1 ratio again. Allen needs to be the primary back and we need to be creative in getting Singelton in space so he can be successful. Ideally, he gets 4-5 receptions a game, 8-11 carries (including jet sweeps) plus kick returns. We easily can have 30 carries between the 2 of them on average against real competition. 18-20 for Allen. 8-12 for Singleton plus those other touches.
My chime;
TDs. Allen was gaining more yards on less touches. That's more first downs. More total offensive plays.
Of course there has to be other elements. Not even Michigan ran the ball exclusively; they had McCarthy throwing rather efficiently.
The gist of this perspective is that IF 1) Singleton doesn't improve 2) the scheme doesn't help 3) Allar and the WRs doesn't produce more THEN you run the offense through Allen as the bellcow and treat Singleton as a change of pace, true #2.
It's no different than how Michigan treated Corum and Edwards. If Edwards gets hot, you feed him. Last year, Edwards was cold as ice the entire season save for the title game vs Washington.
What if Singleton improves? He is not a between the tackles guy so we have to give him a shot in space and see how he does. I think it is more 1 and 1A between Singleton and Allen if Singleton thrives with Kotelnicki offense. If not then he gets less than Allen.
A RB must be able to run between the tackles. Absolutely has to be the featured back.
If Allen isn't the primary back we're not going to reach our potential. That doesn't mean Singleton still won't touch the ball 15+ times a game in different ways but Allen must be the primary back for the exact reason you're stating--Singleton hasn't shown he can run between the tackles.
This isn't the 80s--we're going to to run "toss sweep right" 90 times.
Looks like a pretty good strategy. Singleton has to be better for this team to improve and have a chance at beating OSU and the other really good teams on the schedule. Allen has proven his consistency and might not have much more upside (we know what he can do). We need more big plays from Singleton or another RB has to emerge as a long yardage playmaker and Singleton gets fewer and fewer carries.
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Maybe it's the age of NIL, maybe it's the bad luck of Brown's medical retirement combined with Cain getting hurt and the other backs all being strictly average or worse during '20-'21 but Singleton was given rushes in '23 that should have been given to Allen. It's not meant as a detriment to Nick, but Allen is a really good RB.
Part of Singleton improving IS better running between the tackles. He's definitely going to get his opportunities in space, but he might be best used like a situational NFL style RB.
Edwards went through the same thing last year with Michigan. Behind that great OL, he ended up with worse rushing stats than Singleton did. Doesn't seem possible, but he did. The difference was, he wasn't given equal rushes to Corum.
Fleming almost certainly would. Recall that Polk got significant run in 2016 and 2017.
I think that was true last year but this year has yet to be seen. We've got a seasoned and experienced WR in Flemming. Then we've got Wallace and Saunders. Probably more importantly, we've got a new OC. there is a reason why the old OC was fired before the season was over. When nobody on offense is performing well, you have to look at the least common denominator. We had a very good OL and two of the best RBs in the nation yet couldn't run. At that point, you've got to look at scheme and not players.
Hard to prove you can run between the tackles from the slot.
He's still going to be in the backfield at times and will have those opportunities. Allen can't play every snap. This isn't a difficult concept. Singleton was a disappointment last year. Part of that was because of how he was used....part of that was he lacked vision. Think Trent Richardson when he got to the NFL. Hopefully that changes but Allen earned the majority of the categories as he completely outperformed him last year. It wasn't in close in the run game. Singleton being on the field helps our team but not at the expense of Allen.
Fleming? He has proven zilch. He peaked as a junior in high school.
But even given your premise, 2024 is far behind 2016.
Allen is WAY behind as a receiving back, and seemed to get dinged up last season, probably due to his style.
Is he though?
He has 34 career receptions in 2 seasons for about 200 yards.
Singleton has a few more receptions for more yards (which isn't surprising given his higher end speed)
This thread is littered with people claiming that Allen is "clearly" the #1 guy, but over their two years they are actually quite similar, so I was just playing that game.
The punchline is that Singleton is +168 yards and +5 Touchdowns, with 9 fewer touches.
We will indeed. I hope your optimism is correct. I suspect it is not. Certainly no empirical evidence to support it.
During '23, he was. Obviously, no?
Singleton did have the better '22, which makes him the plus guy over both years statistically.
My question is, without seeing fall camp, what would you base your #1 projection on? Who played better during the most recent season or the guy with the slightly better stats?
Let's look at last year not 2 years ago. We're talking about the best runner not the best all-around threat since you're not using just rushing.
The majority seems to finally accept Allen was better last year...the rest just don't want to admit it.
A lot of people are down on Singleton on this thread. I get it to a point given his 2023 campaign but it does surprise me. The negativity toward him and then the contrasting positivity toward Allen like he is the 2nd coming of Saquon seems out of whack to borrow a Joe phrase.
They are backs with different styles, right. So I don't think you go into the year saying Allen is clearly our first string guy and Singleton is 2nd string but I think many are saying that so I guess I am in the minority.
The point of me posting the thread was obviously not to bring attention to our 2nd string RB who will be minimized in big games and just be a "filler" to Allen. I think Singleton has a lot of potential and can make some big plays for us that can be game changing and game winning. Allen doesn't have the big play potential as much. To relegate Singleton to 2nd string status seems like a waste or premature. Yes, I realize his '23 campaign was not stellar and he was not as good as Allen but this is a new season, with a new OC so we don't know.
I don't know what the right balance is for touches between the two, that depends on a lot of things. What also seems to get lost in the negativity toward Singleton is the poor OC coaching last season. Not saying it was all that but clearly it played a role.
Kaytron is really good and needs to play and get a good amount of touches so I'm not saying he is second string to Singleton either. None of us are at practice or in the coach's meetings so we don't have any current data.
Singleton getting less carries and utilized in other ways isn't insulting to him nor is it making Allen into Saquon. They both need to be on the field together and the best way to do that is to be creative with Singleton because of his skill set and the fact we all seem to agree he lacks the vision/patience to be great between the tackles.
Thinking that us wanting to use Singleton to best showcase is skills is "negative" is just insane
Thinking that us wanting to use Singleton to best showcase is skills is "negative" is just insane
