Even in stacked FSU RB room, Samuel Singleton begins to make presence felt

It is well known that Florida State enters the 2024 season with a running back room filled with veterans. Seniors Roydell Williams , Lawrence Toafili and Caziah Holmes , and junior Jaylin Lucas are all expected to be key contributors on offense this year.

In addition to those three, the Seminoles landed a pair of four-star freshmen in the 2024 recruiting class — Kam Davis and Michai Danzy — and both of them bring talents that could get them one the field as true freshmen.

Because of the excitement surrounding those six backs, the veterans and the newcomers, it’s easy at times to forget about second-year sophomore Samuel Singleton Jr. , a four-star recruit in the 2023 class who redshirted last season.

But after an impressive scrimmage last Saturday and another strong practice early this week, Singleton is definitely making his presence felt.

“Sam has had a great nine days …,” Norvell said after Monday’s practice. “He is a talented back. He’s got speed, explosiveness. One of my favorite plays from the scrimmage the other day — he had a couple runs that broke tackles — but he had one of the best pass-protections pickups in the scrimmage. And allowed us to have a big throw down the field.”

Florida State defensive coordinator Adam Fuller was so impressed by Singleton in Saturday’s first scrimmage that he singled him out without being asked. Fuller said the running back broke three or four tackles on one specific touchdown run.

“I thought Sam ran really, really hard tonight, Singleton,” Fuller said. “I was really impressed with his leg drive and running through tackles.”

In 2023, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound back saw action in two games, North Alabama and the Orange Bowl. In those two games, he saw limited action but showed a glimpse of his talent, rushing for 56 yards on eight carries. His longest attempt went for 24.

Now, going into 2024, the Jacksonville-area product is beginning to show much more of a complete back he is than when he arrived one year ago.

“For me it was just improvement from last year,” Singleton said. “Coming in, I was kind of nervous and didn’t know much about the offense. It was just a bunch of mistakes I made last year, so coming in this year, I did pretty much everything I needed to do. It was a lot of improvement from last year.”

Singleton has enjoyed hearing comments like those from Fuller about the physicality of his game. Coming out of high school, he was best known for his blazing speed. But the redshirt freshman said he has never shied away from contact.

“I think people expect it because of my size probably, but I think I’ve been doing pretty much the same thing since high school,” Singleton said. “Yeah, people are looking at me like I’m probably just a speedy back, but I’m willing to take the hit. I’m not soft.”

With just over two weeks remaining before Florida State kicks off the 2024 season against Georgia Tech in Ireland, it’s still to be determined how big of a role Singleton will play in the Seminoles’ offense. Those other six backs are still vying for touches as well, and some have much more experience.

But Norvell said Singleton certainly could be part of the equation.

“I absolutely think that Sam will have a chance to help this team,” the Florida State head coach said. “At what capacity is going to be a lot on him and just continuing to earn that role. But I feel great about where that room is, and I really believe Sam’s putting himself firmly in the conversation to be able to help us.”

Florida State will hold the second of its two practices in Jacksonville today on the UNF campus.

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

The post Even in stacked FSU RB room, Samuel Singleton begins to make presence felt appeared first on On3 .