Two Penn State Players Earn First-Round Grades in New 2026 NFL Mock Draft

Penn State's 2026 NFL Draft class could be a peak point for the program, with perhaps a dozen Nittany Lions getting selected. Penn State's next draft class also is top-heavy with potential first-round talent. A new Sports Illustrated mock draft projects Penn State football continuing its recent first-round success.

In his way-too-early 2026 NFL mock draft, Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer includes Penn State quarterback Drew Allar and running back Nicholas Singleton in the first round. Allar is part of a high-profile quarterback group that includes LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers and Clemson's Cade Klubnik.

Yet who will be the first quarterback off the board, according to Fischer? It's Allar, at No. 3 overall to the New York Jets. Here's what Fischer writes about Penn State's third-year starter.

After signing Justin Fields, it’s clear the Jets could be in the market for a new signal-caller to build the franchise around in 2026. Allar very well could have been a top-10 pick had he entered the ’25 draft, but returning to school should pay off long term as he rounds off a few of the edges when it comes to his decision making and starts to live up to the kind of ceiling that many believe he has.

Allar as a potential first-rounder this year was an idea floated before the draft. As Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote, some NFL teams "actively encouraged" the Penn State quarterback to skip his senior year and enter the 2025 draft.

Allar, though, had announced in December that he would return to Penn State, which the Nittany Lions' playoff semifinal loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl reinforced. Allar has a long way to go until next year's draft, to which he alluded after Penn State's Blue-White spring football game in late April.

"I came back for a reason," Allar said. "I came back to get better as a person off the field and on the field. ... And we have a lot of guys on our offensive side of the ball that decided to come back for another year with us because we want to accomplish more as a team."

Singleton is one of those players who returned. He arrived with Allar in the 2022 recruiting class with fellow running back Kaytron Allen, who also is back for a fourth season. Singleton has rushed for 2,912 career yards at Penn State and is within striking distance (as is Allen) of Evan Royster's career-rushing record of 3,932 yards.

Singleton also could have left after his junior year, as a projected second- or third-round draft pick, but returned to win and upgrade that status. His goal this season is to become more of a consistent home-run threat, both from the backfield and in the passing game.

Fischer projects Singleton as a late first-round pick to a good situation. How about Singleton joining Patrick Mahomes in the Kansas City Chiefs' offense? Writes Fischer...

If Singleton falls to the Chiefs, everybody in the league will be cursing how they let a good player land in the same backfield as Mahomes. He’s adept at running between the tackles as he is getting out into the flat (eight receiving TDs), and should be plenty fresh for the NFL, given how he’s split carries with Kaytron Allen in Happy Valley.

Mark the calendar. The 2026 NFL Draft is scheduled for April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.

More Penn State Football