Tag: John Cappelletti

Penn State’s all-time first-round NFL draft picks

Every Penn State football player ever drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in school history.

In the history of the NFL draft, only a handful of schools have had more players drafted by NFL franchises than Penn State. The Nittany Lions have sent over 360 players through the NFL draft over the years, and that number continues to climb every year. And when it comes to first-round picks, Penn State has had a solid number of those as well, including some top draft picks.

Lenny Moore, arguably the best player in Penn State football history, is appropriately the first player in program history to be selected by an NFL franchise in the NFL draft. Since then, Penn State players have been selected in the first round numerous times through the decades with players like Shane Conlan, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, LaVar Arrington, Saquon Barkley, and Micah Parsons.

Here is a look at every first-round NFL draft pick in Penn State history, starting with the first.

ChatGPT ranks Penn State football’s top 10 players of all-time

ChatGPT ranks the top 10 players in Penn State history. Did it get it right?

The storied history of Penn State football is full of all-time great players not just in program history, but in the history of the sport of football. Coming up with a list of the top 10 players of all time is always an interesting exercise because the opinions you have on the subject may change by the day. Do you lean more toward the defensive standouts or give preference to some of the top offensive players of all time?

In an ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence and analytical analysis, what if you just let a computer do the ranking for you? It may not be a perfect science, but out of curiosity, I turned to ChatGPT, a language model trained by OpenAI, and asked the AI interface to rank the top 10 players in Penn State football history for me.

The results were not too bad, although I do have some different opinions on the ranking. But let’s take a look at how ChatGPT ranked the top 10 players in Penn State’s football history.

Sean Clifford named to Maxwell Award watch list

Sean Clifford seeks Penn State’s nation-leading 8th Maxwell Award

College football’s watch list season is officially underway, and Penn State quarterback [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag] is already making an appearance on one of the more notable individual award’s watch list.

Clifford was among the players mentioned on the watch list for the Maxwell Award, presented by the Maxwell Football Club. The award is presented annually to college football’s most outstanding player as determined by The Maxwell Football Club.

Penn State has a strong history with the Maxwell Award with seven all-time winners of the award. Previous Maxwell Award winners from Penn State include [autotag]Richie Lucas[/autotag] (1959), [autotag]Glenn Ressler[/autotag] (1964), [autotag]Mike Reid[/autotag] (1969), [autotag]John Cappelletti[/autotag] (1973), [autotag]Chuck Fusina[/autotag] (1978), [autotag]Kerry Collins[/autotag] (1994), and [autotag]Larry Johnson[/autotag] (2002). Johnson is also the most recent player from a Big Ten school to win the award, giving the conference a surprising  20-year drought it is looking to end this fall.

Penn State is tied with Notre Dame for the most all-time Maxwell aWard winners with seven each.

Last year’s winner of the Maxwell Award was Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. Young was the fifth player from Alabama to win the award. Alabama’s first Maxwell Award winner was A.J. McCarron in 2013.

[vertical-gallery id=17914]

[lawrence-related id=21157]

[lawrence-related id=21319,21312,21274,21266,21263]

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion. Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Saquon Barkley leads Penn State in rushing touchdowns, where does everyone else fall?

Here are Penn State’s all-time rushing touchdown leaders heading into 2022. How long until Nick Singleton makes this list?

Penn State has a long list of successful running backs to its credit in both college and the NFL. So many names that college fans know and love are in the Penn State record books.

To round out our recap of the Penn State rushing records we look at the guys who always wanted to end a drive with six points. The guys who could be the work horse type back and finish things off in the endzone, the top rushing touchdown leaders of all-time.

There will be a lot of familiar names like [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] who lead the list but also players like [autotag]Franco Harris[/autotag], [autotag]Curt Warner[/autotag], and potential hall of famer [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag]. All of these players left lasting impacts and will be remembered for the foreseeable future at Penn State for their accomplishments.

For now, lets see who made it to the end zone the most with the blue and white on them.

A surprising name leads Penn State’s all-time leading rushers

Who is Penn State’s all-time leading rusher? It may not be who first think of.

Penn State has had a large amount of notable running backs step foot on Beaver Stadium’s grass, including several college hall of fame players. Of those notable men, none of them are actually the all-time leading rusher in the program’s history.

Names like [autotag]Larry Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag], and [autotag]Curt Warner[/autotag] are names you expect to see but none of them lead the list. Leading the list is a running back who was more than reliable during his tenure. Speaking of reliability, Penn State has strayed away from the run game but recent recruiting points to that aspect of the game making a grand return.

For the time being, while [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] decides what he wants to do with the offense, we can just hope that [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] joins this list one day. Until then, take some time to jump in the way-back machine in Penn State history.

Penn State well-represented on ESPN’s top 100 RBs of all-time list

ESPN ranked the top 100 running backs of the past 60 years in college football. Here’s who is included from Penn State.

[mm-video type=video id=01fztzdc035qyezvkyam playlist_id=01ey902ehrs6e9bvhw player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fztzdc035qyezvkyam/01fztzdc035qyezvkyam-0827357c3525549a58342cbdbfcc2df4.jpg]

Penn State football has produced some terrific running backs over the years, including some pro football hall of fame players and backs who would go on to be considered franchise running backs at the next level. But where do Penn State’s best running backs of all time compare in the history of the sport of college football? ESPN’s recent ranking of the top 100 running backs of all time provided a possible answer.

Bill Connelly of ESPN ranked the top 100 running backs over the past 60 years of the history of college football, taking the list back to the point in time when players began to have more specialized positions and running backs really took off as the main cog in any team’s offense. And, as noted by Connelly, running backs were the main bread and butter for successful teams at a time before big passing games became the norm. A running back won the Heisman Trophy 17 out of 24 times between 1965 and 1988, including Penn State’s own [autotag]John Cappelletti[/autotag] in 1973. Cappelletti made the list at No. 40 overall and is the highest-ranked Nittany Lion to appear on the ranking.

Penn State had a handful of other running backs included in Connelly’s top 100 ranking of running backs. Larry Johnson, as the school’s only 2,000-yard rusher, earned a ranking of No. 45 in Connelly’s list. [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] (68), [autotag]Lydell Mitchell[/autotag] (69), and [autotag]Ki-Jana Carter[/autotag] (70) were lumped together in a group of notable standouts. This trio would probably sit well together on a Mount Rushmore of Penn State running backs as they each stand out in different points in time for the program. Mitchell was one of the most successful backs in program history in the earlier days of Joe Paterno’s career. Carter was a dominant running back at the beginning of the Big Ten era for Penn State. And Barkley is the latest star player that took the position to new heights as an athlete in today’s more modern approach to the game.

Perhaps one notable exemption from this list is [autotag]Franco Harris[/autotag]. Harris is a Pro Football Hall of Fame member and a four-time Super Bowl champion and nine-time Pro Bowl running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But this list is strictly based on success at the college level of the game, and what happened in the NFL is not taken into account. And considering Harris spent much of his time in Happy Valley blocking for Mitchell, that all makes sense.

Check out the full ranking of running backs from ESPN here (a paid subscription is required).

[listicle id=4087]

[lawrence-related id=18241,18237,18234,18214,18204]

22 days until Penn State football 2021 season opener

There are now just 22 days to go until Penn State football returns.

Happy Friday! We are officially 22 days away from Penn State football!

We have spent the last few days talking about current players on the roster. Today, we will talk about one of the most historic Penn State football players to wear the number 22. His name is John Cappelletti.

Cappelletti was an exciting player to watch on both sides of the ball. The versatility of these players continue to flourish in State College. Cappelletti played both defensive back and running back for the Nittany Lions. He is the only player in Penn State history to ever win the most prestigious award in college football in 1973. The Heisman Trophy.

Cappelletti’s birthday was actually earlier this week, on August 9. So it’s actually fitting that with 22 days away from Penn State football, we are talking about one of the most coveted players to ever put on this number at State College.

Even though Cappelletti only played two years at Penn State, they were one of the most prolific years in Penn State history as a running back. In his two seasons, Cappelletti rushed for over 2,600 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Cappelletti was recruited during the Joe Paterno era. He praised his head coach and talked about how Paterno helped him grow both as a player and as a man. One quote Cappelletti mentioned from Paterno was that “You can take care of the little things, the big things take care of themselves”. Cappelletti also mentioned how Paterno had a certain way to get things done as a coach, which was a thing that helped Cappelletti grow both on and off the field.

Cappelletti went on to get drafted 11th overall in the 1974 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He spent five seasons with the Rams before finishing off the last four years of his career in San Diego with the Chargers. Cappelletti ended up switching to a fallback during his time in the NFL.

John Cappelletti will go down as one of the greatest Penn State football players to ever wear the number 22. From being productive on both sides of the ball to winning multiple awards, including the only player to ever win the Heisman Trophy in Nittany Lions history, Cappelletti will always be remembered for his success at Penn State.

[lawrence-related id=4607,5518,5483,5479]

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.

[vertical-gallery id=5331]

[listicle id=4087]

Penn State’s all-time leading rushers in Nittany Lions history

Where does Saquon Barkley rank among Penn State’s all-time leading rushers, including Franco Harris, Lydell Mitchell, and Ki-Jana Carter?

Maybe Penn State doesn’t have as strong a case to be made for Running Back U as some other programs, but the Nittany Lions have had their fair share of some of the best running backs in the game. From Lydell Mitchell to Franco Harris to Ki-Jana Carter and to Saquon Barkley, Penn State running backs have provided plenty of memories to fans over the years.

But who tops the list when it comes to Penn State’s all-time leading rushers list? Perhaps one of the more unassuming names to come through Happy Valley, Evan Royster. Royster may not have had the talent and skills of some of the others to suit up for the Nittany Lions over time, but his hard work and reliable performance stood the test of time. And having the opportunity to break into the offense early on and play his full four years of eligibility helped him continue to climb the ranks of Penn State’s all-time leading rushers.

With three 1,000-yard seasons, it has proven to be difficult to catch Royster, but his mark may not be untouchable. Saquon Barkley came close to catching Royster and would have easily surpassed him had Barkley remained at Penn State for one more season of eligibility instead of heading to the NFL. But as things stand now, Royster should feel pretty comfortable atop the leaderboard for a little while longer before anyone makes a run at his school record.

Here is a look at Penn State’s top 20 all-time leading rushers.

All data is credited to College Football Reference. This list will be updated accordingly.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.