All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at true freshman defensive tackle Zane Durant.
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 272 pounds
Hometown: Lake Nona, Florida
Before Penn State: Durant played football in all four years at Lake Nona High School and was a two-time team captain.
Durant finished his senior season with 66 tackles, a school-record 15 sacks, 28 tackles for loss and 38 quarterback hurries.
Durant also set Lake Nona’s records for career sacks and tackles and has the school’s shot-put record and placed eighth in the state as a junior.
247Sports, Rivals, On3 and ESPN all had Durant as a four-star recruit. He committed to Penn State on the Fourth of July in 2021, choosing coach James Franklin’s program over Auburn, Indiana and Miami, among others.
Where he stands: Penn State seems pretty solid at defensive tackle, with PJ Mustipher back from injury, Coziah Izzard and D’Von Ellies back after having to step up due to Mustipher’s injury and Hakeem Beamon set for an increased rule.
Even with competition, don’t be surprised to see Durant get some playing time at DT. He comes to Penn State with a solid pedigree and impressed coaches during winter workouts and spring practice.
A quote about Durant:
“If he keeps trending the way he is right now,” coach James Franklin said before Penn State’s first spring practice in March, “I think he’s going to have the chance to compete for playing time as a true freshman at D-tackle, which is unusual.”
