Going into the 2023 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.

Continuing this effort is a look at running back Kaytron Allen. The sophomore is coming off a huge, record-setting season along with his backfield running mate Nicholas Singleton. He was the lesser-known prospect coming into Penn State but quickly showed that he is an elite player too. Can Allen carry over his strong play from last season into this one?

Preseason Player Profile

Hometown: Norfolk, VA

Height: 5-11

Weight: 218

247Sports Composite Ranking

[4-stars] | [No. 19 in Virginia] | [No. 12 overall running back]

Class of 2022

Class in 2023: Sophomore

Virginia has been a hotbed for James Franklin and his coaching staff when it comes to recruiting. They have a strong foothold in that state and showed that when they got Kaytron Allen to commit to Penn State. He committed to them over Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas and 28 other schools across the country.

Allen took an official visit to Penn State in June 2021. He visited four other schools before committing to Penn State on July 16th, 2021. While committed to the Nittany Lions, he took an official visit to Florida State, but signed his National Letter of Intent in December 2021 to make his commitment to Penn State official. He enrolled in school January 2022.

Career Stats

It was a monster freshman season for Kaytron Allen. He and Singleton were the first pair of Big Ten Freshman running backs to each rush for over 700 yards in a season. There was a lot of hype surrounding what both running backs could do and they both exceeded it. Allen was able to establish himself as a staple in the backfield immediately and continued to produced week after week.

When Allen rushed for three touchdowns against Indiana last season, he was the first freshman to do that for Penn State since 2003 when Austin Scott did that against Kent State.

Depth Chart Overview

The position group with possibly the least amount of questions coming into this season are the running backs. It’s clear that the running back room continues to stay healthy with elite talent year after year. It’s truly impressive how much talent has been in that room and Allen is no exception.

While Singleton is the starter in name, Penn State always operates with getting other running backs involved throughout the game. This will be another year of the two headed monster in State College and should wreak havoc against any defense that’s in front of them.

Story originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire