Most of the talk for Penn State regarding the NFL Draft has been centered around what Drew Allar looks like at the next level. Allar, once viewed as a first-round pick, now has some questions entering Thursday night.
There are some other players on the roster who are dealing with similar things, including star running back Nicholas Singleton, who is projected to go much higher than he currently is. Singleton, unfortunately, faced adversity last season, but still showed he is a very good player.
As things currently stand, it's much more likely that he'll be drafted after the fourth round and will be viewed as a backup early in his career. One such team that could use him is the Las Vegas Raiders, which would give Las Vegas a very interesting running back room with Ashton Jeanty at the center of it.
“Ashton Jeanty got 266 carries last season. The Las Vegas Raiders made sure to give the rookie one of the heftiest workloads among all running backs in the NFL in 2025. Geno Smith recorded the second-most rushing attempts for Las Vegas last season with 41. No other Raiders running back got more than 22 carries on the year. Naturally, Las Vegas only stands to gain from selecting a promising running back in the 2026 NFL Draft to take pressure off of Jeanty next season.
“One such back is Penn State's Nicholas Singleton who is projected to be selected early on day three of the draft. Singleton recorded 549 rushing yards as well as 13 rushing touchdowns last year with 1,099 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns the year prior in 2024,” Matt Legros of Raiders Wire said.
About a year ago, many expected that Singleton would have his own running back room, or at least be the leader of it, in the NFL. However, the more likely option now is that he'll deal with what he did in college and share snaps with another very good player.