Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537537
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 7 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / D E F E N S I V E B A C K S / / / / / / / off contests and finished the year with 6 tackles. • Moved from cornerback to safety this spring. DEJUAN LANE So. | 6-2 | 212 • Played in every game and finished his freshman season with 14 tackles, includ- ing a season-high 4 stops versus UCLA. • Was a four-star prospect, as well as the No. 30 safety nationally, and the No. 11 player in Maryland, per On3. LAMONT PAYNE JR. R-So. | 6-0 | 190 • Saw action in just one game — Kent State — during his redshirt freshman year. • Made an offseason move from corner- back to safety after redshirting in 2023. • Played in three games as a freshman. VABOUE TOURE R-Fr. | 6-1 | 210 • Saw action in three regular-season con- tests, along with the Big Ten Champion- ship Game against Oregon and Penn State's CFP opener versus SMU. • Was a four-star prospect and was listed by On3 as the No. 277 overall prospect and No. 24 safety nationally, as well as the No. 5 player in New Jersey. ZAKEE WHEATLEY R-Sr. | 6-2 | 200 • Finished his redshirt junior season as Penn State's third-leading tackler with 96 stops, including 16 against Notre Dame. • Tied for the team lead with 3 intercep- tions, including 2 picks in the CFP. • Received honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from the media. • Combined to make 51 tackles and 2 inter- ceptions during the 2022 and '23 seasons. NEWCOMERS Cornerback DARYUS DIXSON Fr. | 6-0 | 191 • Had 8 interceptions and 25 pass breakups in four seasons at Mater Dei in California. • Was a three-star prospect and the nation's No. 51 cornerback, per On3. JOSHUA JOHNSON Fr. | 6-2 | 192 • Received a three-star rating from On3 and was the nation's No. 53 cornerback and No. 20 player in Ohio. • Flipped from Louisville to Penn State last October. JAHMIR JOSEPH Fr. | 6-0 | 189 • Totaled 4 interceptions and 11 pass de- flections as a senior at St. Joseph Regional High in Montvale, N.J. • Was a four-star prospect, per On3, as well as the nation's No. 252 overall player and No. 27 cornerback. XXAVIER THOMAS Fr. | 5-11 | 183 • Had 6 interceptions as a senior at Pitts- burgh Central Catholic. • On3 awarded him three stars and listed him as the No. 52 cornerback nationally and No. 11 player in Pennsylvania. Safety KING MACK Jr. | 5-10 | 187 • Transferred back to Penn State in January after making 14 tackles in 13 games at Alabama last season. • Began his college career with the Nittany Lions, appearing in 13 games as a true freshman in 2023 and finishing with 3 tackles and a quarterback hurry. BRAZ THOMAS Fr. | 6-2 | 203 • Missed his senior season at Pleasantville (N.J.) High with an injury. • Listed by On3 as a three-star player, as well as the No. 39 safety nationally and No. 15 prospect in New Jersey. BY THE NUMBERS 16 Tackles by Zakee Wheatley in Penn State's 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals. It was the most tackles by a PSU player in a postseason game since Lance Mehl had 17 stops against Ala- bama in the 1979 Sugar Bowl. 25th A.J. Harris' spot in the 2026 mock draft released by Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports in June. Wilson had Harris going to Green Bay late in the first round. If he does indeed turn out to be a Day 1 choice, Harris would be the first Penn State cornerback ever selected in the opening round. 79.5 Wheatley's overall grade from Pro Football Focus last season — best among PSU's return- ing defensive players. There's a considerable drop-off after those two, with no other returning defensive back hav- ing taken more than 400 snaps last year. DEPTH ★★★ In Harris, Washington and Collins, Penn State has three starter-caliber players to man two cornerback positions. That's a good place to start, and true freshman Daryus Dixson displayed great instincts during spring football. He shined in the Blue-White Game, tallying 2 pass breakups against the starting offense. Depth is a bigger concern at safety. Beyond Wheatley, there's not much experience at the position. There's been a lot of buzz around Lane, but he's yet to start a game at the college level. Behind him are fellow second-year Penn State defender Vaboue Toure and freshman Braz Thomas. OVERALL GRADE ★★★★ There are very few, if any, downsides to the cornerback group. The starters are solid, and the younger players have shown sky-high potential. Penn State will need this group to be ef- fective, because a transition is underway on the defensive line. An excellent coverage team can give the pass rushers an extra split-second to get home. At safety, Wheatley should thrive in Knowles' scheme. Penn State will try to force ball carri- ers into positions where the safeties can rally unblocked for a stop. Wheatley's development as a run defender last year, plus his instincts in coverage, make him a potential superstar from a production standpoint. And it's not just him. The pliability of the three-man coverage umbrella means that Lane, Mack or Tracy could wind up in unexpected places or be the player tasked with making the tackle. From a coverage perspective, the opportunity for interceptions thanks to murky pre- and post-snap reads could make this defense a nightmare for quarterbacks to diagnose.