Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526526
2 8 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Head coach James Franklin said Reed's experience gives him an edge. "He's just the wily vet, been around for a while now, played a ton of foot- ball for us," Franklin said. "He's one of the smartest football players I've ever been around. If you watch him, he's out there and he is kind o f o rc h e s t ra t i n g everything, really a vocal player on the field. The game of football makes sense to him. It al- ways has. The guys on the team respect his physical abil- ity. They respect his mental ability, his football IQ and his approach to the game." And, as the "Lion," he is positioned to impact the game in a number of ways. "He is a unique player in that he can play on the second level and the third level," said Anthony Poindexter, Penn State's co-defensive coordina- tor and safeties coach. "He's a talented blitzer, talented cover guy. He has a lot of facets to his game that I don't think a lot of people are aware of. He's one of the smartest football players I've ever been around, and he's doing a really nice job." Driven To Improve Starting opposite Reed in the second- ary is junior Kevin "KJ" Winston Jr. Af- ter a breakthrough sophomore season in which he led the team with 60 tackles and found himself on the radar screens of NFL teams, Winston received the offseason praise Reed sought. The 6-2, 208-pounder from Columbia, Md., was called one of the nation's top return- ing safeties by Pro Football Focus, and other outlets dubbed him a potential All-American and first-round 2025 NFL Draft pick. Make no mistake: The praise is earned. In addition to his team-leading tackle total, Winston forced 2 fumbles, broke up 5 passes and had an intercep- tion, earning honorable mention All- Big Ten honors alongside Reed. After making a team-high 12 stops while also forcing a fumble against West Virginia, Winston shared the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week award and won similar honors from the Maxwell Football Club. "NFL teams are going to love him," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen said earlier this year. "They're go- ing to put in the film, and I don't care if it's Monday's practice, Tuesday's prac- tice, Wednesday's practice. They're go- ing to see a dude flying around. "And they also want leaders. They're trying to build a locker room just like we are. This is about the big picture of building the best team and finding guys who do that, who make that locker room better and aren't afraid to hold guys ac- countable. That's special, especially when they're your best players." The other player in a three-man rotation of first-team talents is Zakee Wheatley. The 6-2, 200-pound redshirt junior came to Penn State from Crofton, Md., at the same time as Reed but did not see as much action as his classmate his first three years on campus. That is all changing this year. He has taken the next step and played nearly as many snaps (55) as Winston (60) and Reed (59) at West Virginia. Poindexter said Wheatley has been driven to make the most of his potential this year after playing less than expected last fall. "I didn't think he had the season or production that he wanted to have," Poindexter said. "We had a long talk at the end of the year and addressed a few things he could get better at. Instead of moping, he went out, and you could tell during winter workouts and spring ball, he had a different mindset. He's a very talented kid. He tweaked a few things, and you can see the fruits of his labor." 'A Really Nice Combination' Put it all together, and Penn State is making a push to be known as the team with the best safeties in the Big Ten, maybe even the country. The one big concern is depth. It's unclear whose role would increase if one of the top three went down, but it would likely be Dejuan Lane, a true freshman from Jessup, Md. Lane has been green-lit to play in his first season on campus after passing classmate Vaboue Toure and redshirt freshman Lamont Payne Jr. on the depth chart. Both young safeties are progress- ing but are still learning how to play at the necessary speed. Lane, though, is already "I'm going to make the world feel me. I feel like sometimes I don't get the recognition I deserve. But it's OK. Sometimes that's just how people's journeys go. I'm going to keep playing like that every game, like I have a chip on my shoulder. I've got something to prove." R E E D Redshirt junior Zakee Wheatley is due for a bigger role in Penn State's 4-2-5 defensive alignment this season. PHOTO BY FRANK HYATT