Zane Durant, Penn State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Durant was a four-star recruit from Lake Nona High School in Orlando, Fla. in the class of 2022

Penn State’s Zane Durant is an undersized interior defensive lineman in the 2025 NFL Draft who will likely return to school for the 2025 season. He offers impressive quickness and bend for a defensive tackle but is too much of a tweener to be a high-usage NFL contributor right now.

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Zane Durant, IDL Penn State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior defensive tackle from Lake Nona, Fla.

Background: Durant was a four-star recruit from Lake Nona High School in Orlando, Fla. in the class of 2022. He was the No. 331 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 307 for On3.com. Durant was an unranked four-star recruit for Rivals. ESPN ranked him 279th in the nation with an 81 grade out of 100. He began his high school career as a linebacker and lettered four times. Durant was a team captain twice and owns the program’s career and single-season sack records. In 2021, he amassed 66 tackles, including 28 tackles for loss and 15 sacks, 38 quarterback hurries, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, four rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown. In 2020, Durant was the team MVP and Defensive Player of the Year on top of earning Florida 8A Second-Team All-Conference honors. That year, he totaled 40 tackles, including 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two recoveries, and a defensive touchdown. Durant finished his sophomore campaign with 28 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. His freshman year included 35 tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks, and a fumble recovery. Durant also lettered in track and field and weightlifting. He owns the program record for longest distance in the shot put and placed eighth in the state in the event in 2020. Durant’s father, Marcus, played football at Florida A&M University from 1990-95. His sister, Arielle, played basketball at FIU from 2010-14. Another of Durant’s sisters, Gabrielle, ran track and field at UCF from 2014-19.

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2023 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (Media)

Pros: Arm length appears to check IDL box, low center of gravity, quick first step and good snap timing, several instant wins with quick gap exchange and bend at the snap, gets skinny to shoot gaps, bend to flatten rush angle, plays under the offensive lineman’s pads, dips shoulder under guard’s frame to capture the corner, push-pull move, club move, club-rip, swim move, forklift move, targets and traps the offensive lineman’s hands, impressive contact balance, knee bend and hip flexibility to stay on his feet vs. double teams, surrendered little ground vs. Michigan double teams working vertically (2023), beats guards across their faces, sheds blocks off a long-arm in the run game

Cons: Limited special teams experience, undersized for an interior role, height and mass are below thresholds, tweener with lack of clear NFL positional fit, doesn’t fight through double teams as a rusher, limited pass rush arsenal, bull rush lacks power to generate consistent displacement, takes too wide of an arc on stunts, attempts to push upfield open run lanes, lacks true high-end anchoring ability, horizontal blocks displace him from the POA, sealed away by down blocks, just overpowered and bounced of his gap vs. run sometimes, really pushed around by Maryland (2023), doesn’t separate from blocks and close gaps in a timely manner, dives and misses tackle attempts

Overview: Durant is an undersized interior player for Penn State who primarily takes snaps at 3-tech, 2i, 2-tech, and 1-tech. Despite lacking the ideal height and weight for his role, Durant appears to have arms that meet the position’s measurements. He has a quick first step that helped him post several instant wins by immediately exchanging gaps at the snap and wrapping around linemen with his bend. Durant gets low and skinny to fly through gaps and has surprising bend for an interior player. It helps that he plays below the offensive lineman’s hands and pads consistently. The junior dips his shoulder under the guard’s frame to solidify a path into the backfield. His pass rush arsenal primarily consists of push-pull, club, club-rip, swim, and forklift moves. He’s also good at targeting and snatching the offensive lineman’s hands. Durant needs to add more moves and counters to his pass rush plan. His bull rush stalls out because he lacks the power to displace offensive linemen. The Florida native takes too wide of an arc on stunts but has the athleticism to shorten that angle. He doesn’t handle double teams as a pass rusher well. As a run defender, Durant turns his low center of gravity into contact balance. He has the knee and hip flexibility to bend but not get knocked down by double teams pushing vertically. His initial quickness allows him to win across the faces of guards and get behind the offensive line. Durant primarily relies on a long-arm to shed blocks in the run game. Unfortunately, he’s a tweener without a clear position at the next level and lacks the elite athleticism to make up for his size. His constant desire to push upfield leads to the loss of gap integrity and opens running lanes for the offense. Durant is frequently displaced horizontally at the point of attack, and some offenses have success overpowering him and completely clearing him out of his gap. The former four-star recruit doesn’t have the anchor needed to provide consistent support against the run. He doesn’t separate from blocks in a timely manner, which leads to running backs slipping through his gap.

Overall, Durant is an undersized interior player with the quickness and bend to post a few wins as a pass rusher, but his tweener traits and attacking mentality make him a liability in the run game. Durant needs to go to a team with a clear vision for his role-specific body type and skill set.

Role & Scheme Fit: Defensive end (4i) in a 3-4 scheme

Round Grade: Late Sixth Round to UDFA

Size: 6'1", 288 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 06-29-24