2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 24 London Montgomery
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.
Up next is a newcomer to the program fresh out of high school with running back London Montgomery. And like Nick Singleton before him, Montgomery was one of the top running backs in Pennsylvania and looks to contribute in whatever way he can once he gets started. But did Penn State get a steal on the recruiting trail with a player coming back from a serious injury? Here’s a snapshot look at Montgomery heading into the 2023 Penn State football season.
Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Scranton, PA
Height: 5-10
Weight: 180
247Sports Composite Ranking
[4-stars] | [No. 8 in Pennsylvania] | [No. 28 overall running back]
Class of 2023
Class in 2023: Freshman
Penn State went swinging for the fence with some of the state’s top high school talent in the Class of 2023. While a few did get away to other programs, Penn State did well inside the top 10. Among those top 10-rated players in the state by 247Sports was running back London Montgomery out of Scranton Prep.
Needless to say, Penn State had its eye on Montgomery from an early point in the recruiting process. Potts made an unofficial visit to Penn State’s campus in November 2021 already with a couple of offers in his hands from other schools. Rutgers and Michigan State soon joined the offer sheet before Penn State welcomed Montgomery to a junior day event in January 2022. Despite the apparent interest on both sides, Montgomery did not receive an offer from Penn State until March 2022. With more offers also having come in, including Iowa and Michigan, Penn State finally secured a commitment from Montgomery in July 2022, a month after an official visit.
Montgomery signed with Penn State in the early signing period for the Class of 2023 and enrolled with the school in May.
Career Stats
London Montgomery has yet to step foot on a football field in a Penn State uniform as he just joined the program in the summer of 2023 leading up to his freshman season. But Montgomery racked up serious yardage in high school. As a junior, Montgomery rushed for 2,356 yards and 36 touchdowns for Scranton Prep.
Why mention his junior season and not his senior season? Fair enough. Montgomery actually missed his senior season of high school football due to a season-ending injury suffered just before the start of the year. Montgomery suffered a torn ACL in a preseason scrimmage before the season officially kicked off.
Depth Chart Overview
It looks safe to assume that Penn State will be able to ease London Montgomery into any kind of meaningful role in the offense in 2023, but the future does have reason to look very bright for him down the line. Penn State’s running game will be fueled by a bit of a youth movement with both Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen (both pictured above) looking to follow up their terrific freshman seasons with even more production in their respective sophomore seasons.
Penn State also has a couple of upperclassmen likely to provide help in the backfield with Tank Smith and transfer addition Trey Potts. That puts Montgomery a bit down on the depth chart to start his college career, but it may not take very long before we start seeing him find a role in the ground attack for the Nittany Lions.
Montgomery knows he can have an impact on the Penn State roster in a relatively short time. He should be full of confidence in his abilities after calling himself the baddest high school running back in the state before the 2022 season
