No matter where you turn, the laurels are there for Penn State’s 2025 defensive line unit.
Phil Steele has them ranked third nationally in his rankings, trailing only Oklahoma (No. 1) and Clemson (No. 2).
PFF College ranks the defensive line unit at No. 5 championing the two known commodities in EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton and defensive tackle Zane Durant.
Bill Connelly of ESPN marveled at Penn State’s high end defensive talent but remarked that of 17 players who had 300 or more snaps defensively last season, only eight return with only two on the defensive line – that being Dennis-Sutton and Durant.
The emphasis of being elite in the trenches has dominated the sport in college football the last three decades. It was how the SEC dominated the landscape for much of the 21st Century and key strengths to Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2024) winning national championships.
The defensive line this season will go as far as Dennis-Sutton and Durant take them, they are the flag bearers and deservedly so.
Dennis-Sutton, since 2023, is second amongst Power Four defenders with 75 pressures and is rated by PFF College as their No. 9 EDGE rusher heading into the 2025 season.
Zane Durant during pregame warmups at Hard Rock Stadium.
Durant is receiving more laurels and is seen by many as either the top or, at worst, second best interior lineman in the nation. Durant during the 2024 season had 14 tackles for a loss or for no gain and 28 pressures, which was Top 25 nationally.
Beyond them, it begins to get dicey with a lot of unknown but many with tremendous upside.
Last season, it got dicey late when Alonzo Ford Jr. suffered an injury and sixth-year senior Hakeem Beamon left the team. Penn State was left in the interior with Durant, Dvon J-Thomas, and Coziah Izzard.
Ford is expected to have a bounce back season and start beside Durant.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Ford made an impact as Penn State’s No. 3 interior defensive lineman last season receiving an overall grade of 75.9, which was the fifth highest grade of any Penn State defender at the time of his injury.
Another mark that is promising of the potential of Ford was his 77.2 run-defense grade last season, which ranked 10th among Big Ten interior defenders who played at least 175 snaps.
Redshirt freshman Max Granville, who was expected to play opposite of Dennis-Sutton, was part of Penn State’s College Football Playoff run and accrued much valuable experience that much of the defensive staff was high on the impact he would provide.
Unfortunately, Granville sustained an unspecified “long-term injury,” leaving Penn State to look at sixth-year senior Zuriah Fisher.
Fisher, who was a four-star prospect from the Class of 2020, has had to face many trials and tribulations during his time at Penn State. But that experience has come with maturity and Fisher making the most of his opportunity.
“Internally within our program, I think there’s a lot of confidence that Fish has got a chance to have a big year,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said in June. “He’s one of those guys that I don’t think anybody is talking about right now outside of the program, based on just not seeing him recently. But there’s a lot of excitement internally with our players, with our staff. Those things are really apparent.”
The Nittany Lions weren’t shy about supplementing this unit in the transfer portal with two key transfers.
Penn State added former Class of 2022 EDGE rusher Enai White (Texas A&M). White was projected by many at the time to have a frame that can fill out to 250 to 260 pounds and had many comparisons to Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns.
Former Michigan defensive lineman Owen Wafle is expected to add the necessary depth in the interior defensive line. The projection of Wafle, being a redshirt freshman, is to be a consistent Power Four starter and at minimum an impact rotational player.
Redshirt freshmen EDGE rusher Jaylen Harvey and defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam highlight the depth beyond the two-deep for the Penn State defensive line unit. Harvey had an exceptional Blue White Game flashing his potential. Gilliam, who had to play with high alert with the interior last season after the depth thinned out, provided necessary depth.
Overall, this is an elite unit and as good as it gets in the nation.
Nittany Lions defenses having six top 10 scoring defenses in the last eight seasons, you can see why the top analysts give the Nittany Lion defense the benefit of the doubt with the lack of experience. It’s proven track record of producing top defenses is established with multiple defensive coordinators.
With all the high-end talent bearing all the experience, but the young supporting cast has immense talent, but inexperienced it is that unknown that makes the margin of error slim with a season with the highest expectations.
