ALTOONA, Pa. -- There's a lot of "buzz" around Penn State's freshmen running backs, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, while some other young players on the team hit a bit of a "wall" in practice with all the new stuff they're learning.
James Franklin talked Wednesday after practice about those aspects of camp and gave updates on how some of the prized members of this year's freshman class have fared so far this preseason.
The Nittany Lions are exactly three weeks away from opening the season at Purdue on Sept. 1, so the team is starting to get into more and more details and fine tuning with each practice.
BUZZ AROUND RBS
Singleton, the Gatorade national High School Player of the Year last season, obviously deserves a lot of attention. And Allen was rated the No. 12 running back recruit in the nation.
Both of those guys have gotten off to strong starts this preseason.
"They've been really good, really both of them," Franklin said. "Obviously, there's been a lot of conversations about Nick Singleton. Him and Kaytron, there's a buzz within our program about those two guys and what they're doing.
"I know Sean (Clifford) is really excited about it. I know the young quarterbacks are really excited because they're gonna have more time with them. But I think it's created really good competition in that (running back) room.
"Once again, they gotta go out and do it under the lights against Big Ten competition and other teams and other conferences that we play. But they are big enough, they are strong enough. They both seem to have pretty high football IQs. They don't seem to be overwhelmed. I think the fact that they both were able to be here in the spring and summer, that helped, too. But they're doing really well, and they both have really earned a lot of respect already in a short period of time."
SOME YOUNGSTERS HIT WALL
It's not a surprise -- and actually to be expected -- that the learning curve has started to accelerate and become a bit more difficult for some young players.
"We kind of hit the wall with some of the guys today in terms of install and red zone and third down," Franklin said. "We had some young guys that I think basically the install started to pile up on them, had a few more missed assignments.
"The other thing is we're doing some creative things on defense, we're doing some creative things on offense that are causing some challenges for the young guys. So, this will be great film for us.
"The competitiveness has been really good. I think we've been really physical, as well, which has been important for us. But it's like most years -- like it just depends on what it is. Some things I think we're ahead of, some things we got to get cleaned up."
DENNIS-SUTTON IMPRESSIVE
Defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton was a 5-star prospect and rated the No. 29 recruit in the nation, so there obviously were high expectations for him coming in as a freshman.
Dennis-Sutton has lived up to the expectations so far.
"He's just so much more physically prepared than most guys," Franklin said. "Benches 455 pounds. Physical, comfortable, comes from a great program that we've had a lot of success.
"But, again, he wasn't able to be here in the spring, and he wasn't able to get here early in the summer, as well. So he's playing a little catch-up right now. But there's excitement for him, whether it's game one or game four, we'll see. But I think he's trending in the right direction and obviously somebody that we're talking a lot about."
BUSY RECRUITING WEEK
There has been a lot of recruiting news this week -- one bad item but a couple of good items.
The Lions lost 4-star prospect Tomarrion Parker, who decommitted Tuesday. He had committed June 21. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder from Alabama is rated the No. 12 defensive line prospect and No. 100 overall prospect in the nation for 2023. He also has offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Florida State.
A day later, Penn State landed a commitment from speedy 4-star wide receiver Carmelo Taylor from Roanoke, Va. He's rated the No. 6 prospect in Virginia and No. 49 wide receiver in the nation.
The 5-foot-11, 160-pounder also had offers from West Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland and Virginia Tech. Taylor is lightning fast, winning the 100- and 200-meter state titles in Virginia in the spring.
With the movement, Penn State is now No. 10 in the national recruiting rankings, per 247Sports. The Lions have 18 commits.
None of those commits is from a quarterback, although that could be changing before too long.
Jaxon Smolik (6-foot-2, 200 pounds), a 3-star prospect from West Des Moines, Iowa, decommitted from Tulane on Wednesday.
— Jaxon Smolik (@JaxonSmolik) August 11, 2022
Smolik is a late bloomer on the recruiting circuit, coming on strong of late to emerge as a quality prospect after initially receiving little interest. He attended a Penn State camp two weeks ago and was offered by the Lions.
He told On3 that Notre Dame and Wisconsin were interested, but he does not yet have an offer from either school. So, at this stage, Penn State would have to be the frontrunner for Smolik.
