James Franklin highlights Kaytron Allen’s impact on Penn State offense

Penn State running back Kaytron Allen is an underrated player on the Nittany Lions offense, and head coach James Franklin wants him to get his due.

Franklin praised him during his Tuesday press conference and was then asked Wednesday about he decided to shout him out that way.

“In general I just think there’s guys on our team that our coaching staff has a ton of respect for,” Franklin said. “When we talk to football people, coach [Al] Groh came here this summer and spent a couple of days with us, and he raved about Kaytron and guys like Kaytron within our program.when we talk to the NFL scouts, I hope from our fan base and from our media that he’s appreciated externally the way he is internally by his teammates and the coaching staff.”

Allen sits behind fellow sophomore Nick Singleton on the depth chart. He also is behind Singleton and quarterback Drew Allar — both of whom were five-star prospects in the 2022 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies — in terms of notoriety.

But Allen is a legit talent. As a freshman last year, he rushed for 867 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those 10 touchdowns were second-most by a freshman in school history to Singleton, who finished the season with 12. He and Singleton became the first freshman duo in conference history to rush for 700 or more yards.

The first game of the year wasn’t a standout performance for either player — Singleton ran the ball 13 times for 70 yards and a score while Allen ran it 10 times for 51 yards but Franklin with happy with their performance.

“I thought we were very efficient in the run game. I thought we were really good on 1st and 2nd down. We had a chance for two or three explosive runs that would have dramatically changed the game earlier and also would have really helped obviously Nick and Kaytron’s stats,” Franklin said Tuesday.

“So I think we’re close there. Most importantly, we’re efficient, and if we’re efficient in the run game, those guys are going to make their plays. They’re both so good. So that probably stood out to me. I thought that during the game, but then you watch it and you watch the end zone cuts and the tight copy film and you see there was some opportunities there for us.”