Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1454229
2 2 M A R C H 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P enn State put the finishing touches on its 2022 recruiting class earlier this month, earning a signature from a verbally committed juco prospect in three-star safety Tyrece Mills and add- ing three-star Washington offensive lineman Vega Ioane on Feb. 2. With most prospects inking their letters in December — not just at Penn State but around the country — National Signing Day in February doesn't hold the same sort of drama that it once did. But because there are now two end- ings to the recruiting cycle, it's possible to gauge the results well in advance of the traditional signing day. Here, then, is my assessment of the 10 most consequential signings in Penn State's class of 2022: 1 Nick Singleton Gatorade National Player of the Year. All-American Bowl Offensive Player of the Year. Maxwell Football Club's Na- tional High School Offensive Player of the Year. A five-star rating in the On3 Consensus. I could go on. Singleton has done it all over his four years at Governor Mifflin. It was clear af- ter just his freshman season — he rushed for 1,224 yards and 16 touchdowns at 14 years old — that this young running back was going to be something special. For his career, Singleton totaled nearly 6,400 yards rushing and 115 touch- downs. He was coveted by just about ev- ery school in the country, too. Penn State had to fight to sign the Keystone State prospect, but those hours should be well worth it in the end. Singleton's combination of speed and strength just isn't something you see often from players his age. A 4.5-second 40, combined with an elite 100-meter time of 10.89 seconds, proves that he has it all from a speed perspective. Add in a 4.02-second 20-yard shuttle, plus a 405-pound max bench press (he can bench 225 pounds 28 times), and you start to wonder if there are any weak- nesses at all. I certainly haven't found one yet. 2 Drew Allar All Allar did was put together one of the best senior seasons of any quarter- back in the country, totaling 4,443 yards passing and 48 touchdowns. He also rushed for 406 yards and nine touch- downs. And he did it at a high school where he wasn't surround by other FBS- level prospects. That's not a knock on Medina (Ohio) High and his teammates. It's just something you can't really say about most of the other Elite 11 quarter- backs this year. Physically, Allar has everything you could want in a quarterback. His arm strength, vision and touch are all among the best I've ever seen up close. The No. 4 quarterback prospect in the country according to the On3 Consen- sus, Allar will face daunting expectations at Penn State, where fans are eager to see an elite signal caller running the offense. Only time will tell if he's able to deliver, but the tools are certainly there. Men- tally, it's all there, too. The Blue-White Game should be fun this year. 3 Dani Dennis-Sutton If you were to argue that Dennis- Sutton deserves to be No.1 on this list, there's really not much I could counter with. I'm picking between Ferraris here for these top three spots. We could talk all day about Dennis- Sutton as a defensive end prospect. The only thing he's lacking is that backside pursuit speed. Ranked as the No. 23 overall prospect in the country in the On3 Consensus, he can move, but not as fast as some previous pass rushers at Penn State. With that said, technically, he's ab- solutely more advanced than most of those predecessors were coming out of high school. That's a major reason why he's been so successful in camp settings. The nation's top offensive linemen just haven't been able to combat his combi- nation of good leverage skills and above- average rush moves. Off the field, too, Dennis-Sutton is everything you could want. He's a natu- ral leader and someone who relates well with teammates. 4 Kaden Saunders This is the one player whom I've disagreed with my On3 colleagues about since November. It's unfortunate that Saunders got hurt during the first prac- tice of the Under Armour All-America Bowl. I don't think the four-star receiver has much to prove, but I do believe his stock would have climbed substantially if he had been able to play that week. Saunders is listed as the No. 35 wide receiver nationally in the On3 Consen- sus, and I would put him up against any- one when it comes to his route running. Assessing The Top 10 Prospects In PSU's 2022 Class ANALYSIS BY RYAN SNYDER S i n g le t o n r u s h e d f o r n e a r l y 6 ,4 0 0 ya r d s i n h i s Pennsylvania prep career and comes to Penn State as a five-star prospect. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER