Penn State's biggest stars have surprising rankings in latest top-100 impact ratings from across the nation

Is Penn State a real contender, a paper tiger, or something else? The nation is waiting to see what happens when Oregon comes to town at the end of the month. Through two games against cupcakes, it's fair to say that James Franklin's Lions aren't lighting the world on fire.

But, it's early. And this team clearly has talent. It's possible this group of veterans simply aren't rolling at its peak yet and they're not motivated until they're punching against a team at their level.

That's the hope for Penn State fans. On3 recently ranked the top 100 impact players across the nation, and the Nittany Lions have four members. Here's who made the list and how those stars are performing thus far.

Drew Allar headlines Penn State's top impact ratings

Here are the four Penn State stars who rank inside the 100 most impactful players across the nation and where they landed.

• No. 10- Dani Dennis-Sutton, EDGE
• No. 17- Drew Allar, QB
• No. 97- Kaytron Allen, RB
• No. 98- Nick Singleton, RB

Allar has completed 69.5% of his attempts for 417 yards and three touchdowns. His average yards per attempt has dropped a bit to 7.1 despite the Nittany Lions revamping their receiving corps. He's averaging only 208.5 yards per game.

Meanwhile, the backfield tandem of Allen and Singleton hasn't been as split as expected. Allen has three more carries but 92 more yards, averaging an incredible 7.8 yards per touch. Singleton has been more of a power back, notching three scores on 21 carries. But he has 32 more yards on only one more reception.

The top-ranked player on the team is Dani Dennis-Sutton. The senior pass-rusher leads the team with two sacks and the conference with five tackles for loss.

Is this enough talent to win the National Championship? Ohio State has only three entrants. Even though two of them rank in the top three overall, Penn State looks the part of what should be a major College Football Playoff contender.