Penn State Football Top 25 Countdown: No. 9 RB Kaytron Allen
As we continue our countdown of Penn State's top 25 preseason players, we turn our attention to one of the most underrated players on the team's roster. Checking in at No.9 is running back Kaytron Allen.
Allen is one half of Penn State's fantastic running back duo with Nicholas Singleton. Last fall, Allen actually saw more carries than Singleton, with 167 rushing attempts to Singleton's 156. While he didn't have the total rushing yards that Singleton provided, Allen put up impressive numbers of his own in 2022, with 867 rushing yards and ten touchdowns.
Singleton, for comparison, rushed for 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns last season with his 156 carries. Allen, however, was a bigger part of the passing game out of the backfield for the Nittany Lions, totaling 20 receptions for 188 yards and one touchdown. Altogether, the Virginia native totaled 1,055 total yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns.
If Singleton weren't a part of Penn State's backfield, the Nittany Lions would be just fine with Kaytron Allen leading the charge. While more of a power back than Singleton, Allen still provides quite a bit of speed and elusiveness in his own right. He's much more of the "thunder' portion of the cliched "thunder and lightning".
This fall, Allen, alongside Singleton, arguably gives the Nittany Lions the best backfield duo in the country, which is something to say considering they're in the same division as Michigan (Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards) and Ohio State (Treyveon Henderson, Miyan Williams).
He's going to get overshadowed by Singleton in all likelihood, but Kaytron Allen is an elite running back in his own right and has a chance to be a game-changer on a weekly basis for Penn State this fall.
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