Zane Durant receives praise from James Franklin

Penn State is sending quite a bit of talent to the NFL in 2023 which means that young players will be stepping into big roles for the new season. With spring ball fully underway, coach James Franklin is looking for players to step up.

On the defensive side of things, Franklin has already identified his first rising star.

On Tuesday, Franklin met with the media and spoke about an array of topics one of which was who was impressing him early in Spring camp. Franklin told media in attendance that Zane Durant has looked good early as well as added weight to his frame to better man the middle of the defensive line. He added, “I think you’ll see a big jump from his freshman year… being more of a guy with a significant role.”

Durant was one of several freshman players to make an impact on a Nittany Lions defense led by Manny Diaz that utilized freshman players. Highlighted by Abdul Carter, Durant appeared in 13 games and secured one sack in the process. With the departure of P.J. Mustipher, Durant is poised for a starting role in 2023.

As for the weight mentioned by Franklin, Durant is listed on the Penn State website at 274 pounds. If he is to play a role similar to Mustipher, he will need to get much closer to 300 pounds to handle bigger Big Ten interior offensive linemen.

Durant should be up for the task regardless as he has already shown massive improvements since he stepped foot on campus last year. He came to the program as just a 3-star recruit and is on his way to earning a starting role in a little over a year.

High expectations for Penn State in 2023 and Durant.

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Story originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire