Franklin: True freshman defender to have important role Penn State football game plan this week

Penn State football is looking to get a rising young defender more involved in the defensive rotation this weekend against Kent State. Ensuring that true freshman safety Dejuan Lane gets on the field versus the Golden Flashes has become a “focus” for the Nittany Lions coaching staff, according to James Franklin.

The plan comes in light of the recent injury to standout safety KJ Winston, who exited during the first half of Week 2’s matchup against Bowling Green with an injury. The junior defensive back was not seen during the practice viewing window during the bye week.

“I don’t really have any new information to share with you guys at this stage [on Winston],” James Franklin said during his weekly press conference Monday. “I probably will; I would think probably post-practice when I see you guys later in the week.”

Penn State relied heavily on Jaylen Reed and Zakee Wheatley through the remainder of last week’s 34-27 win over Bowling Green. Now, the Nittany Lions turn to the former four-star recruit to help bolster their depth in the defensive backfield.

Earning the “green light” to burn his redshirt coming out of training camp, Dejuan Lane made his college debut in the season opener at West Virginia. Against the Falcons in Week 2, he was limited to special teams reps.

“Dae-Dae Lane is the next guy that we’ve been trying to get reps for,” Franklin said. “Obviously, when you are talking about Jay Reed and Zakee, those two guys played a ton of football for us and will need to continue. Dae-Dae is another guy that we’ve been trying to get more reps and more experience.

“That will be important, but we’re going to have to develop a few more guys. Especially, hopefully, we’ll see timing-wise how this whole thing will play out, but definitely for the short-term, we’re going to have to develop some more guys.

“Dae-Dae is going to be really important this week and obviously moving forward as well. He’s a guy that we’ve been trying to get more involved. We had planned on playing him more last week [versus Bowling Green]. It didn’t play out that way, but he’s probably the guy that I would say our focus is on the most right now.”

Tight end Luke Reynolds becomes the third Penn State football freshman to earn “green light”

© Alex Disabella / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

Dejuan Lane was one of two freshmen given the go-ahead to play beyond their regular season four-game limits coming out of August, joining offensive lineman Cooper Cousins.

An ever-changing situation, another Nittany Lion newcomer was added to that list this week. On Monday, James Franklin confirmed that tight end Luke Reynolds is also expected to burn his redshirt. The former five-star’s new status comes after redshirt freshman Andrew Rappleyea recently suffered a long-term injury.

Looking ahead, developing the true freshmen and other younger Nittany Lions will become vital as Penn State football manages the health of its roster through the middle portion of the season.

“The coaches have got to play guys. We need to continue to build depth,” James Franklin said last week. “We’ve had more bumps and bruises than this year than we’ve had in the last couple years. Three years ago, we had a decent spike in some bumps and bruises, and we got that right now.

“So we got to develop depth. That’s going to be really, really important for us moving forward, and we got to play them.”

Penn State football returns to action Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Thank you for reading Basic Blues Nation, one of the fastest-growing outlets covering Penn State athletics. Part of the Full Ride network, we are an alumni-owned, community-operated, credentialed media outlet dedicated to providing you with updated and reliable insights for all your favorite Nittany Lion sports. Whether it’s Penn State football, basketball, wrestling, or anything in between, you can find it all on Basic Blues Nation!

Please follow us on our social channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and subscribe to our newsletter on Substack for breaking news and notifications. For feedback, questions, or concerns, please email us at [email protected] or direct message us on social media.