Penn State Football: 3 Under The Radar Players Who Could Make an Impact in 2025
Penn State Football is just over a month away from beginning the Nittany Lions‘ most anticipated season in the James Franklin era.
Heading into fall camp, all eyes will be on the star power for the Nittany Lions this fall, as rising seniors Drew Allar, Kaytron Allen, Nick Singleton, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Zane Durant look to take the Nittany Lions to heights not seen in a generation for Penn State.
However, despite the star-studded roster that the Nittany Lions will roll out this fall, there are a few under-the-radar players who could play a large role for the Nittany Lions in 2025.
Here are three names to know before fall camp begins:
Cornerback Audavion Collins
While the focus this spring was on returning starter AJ Harris and Elliot Washington (who won every winter workout player of the day honor this offseason), one name to know in the cornerback room this fall is Audavion Collins.
After transferring from Mississippi State to Penn State in 2023, Collins appeared in six games in his redshirt freshman season, recording 3 tackles and a tackle for a loss in a special teams role and in garbage time.
Last season, Collins’ role expanded as Collins played in all 16 games, recording 26 tackles, two tackles for a loss, a sack, and an interception.
Now heading into year three with the Nittany Lions, Collins is in line for yet another expansion in his role this fall. Collins boasts one of the fastest speeds of anyone on the Nittany Lions roster this fall and could make a play for major playing time at cornerback beside AJ Harris this fall.
While he may not earn the starting role over Elliot Washington, Collins’ speed and nose for the football could carve him out a good role in Jim Knowles‘ defense this fall.
Safety Dejuan Lane
This offseason, a lot of the buzz at safety has been on returning senior Zakee Wheatley and the return of King Mack from Alabama, Dejuan Lane should have a major role at safety this fall for the Nittany Lions.
After an injury to Penn State starting safety KJ Winston ahead of week two last season, rising sophomore Dejuan Lane was thrust into a larger-than-expected role in 2024.
Lane appeared in all 16 games for the Nittany Lions last fall, recording 14 tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception.
This season, Lane will have an opportunity when Penn State opens camp to make a push for the second starting position at safety opposite Wheatley, or carve out a role at the position even if Mack gets the second starting nod.
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Linebacker Anthony Speca
In 2024, Penn State focused heavily on the three starters at linebacker Tony Rojas, Kobe King, and Dom Deluca.
Outside of those three, the Nittany Lions did not rotate much at all at the position. With Kobe King’s departure and Amare Campbell’s transfer, the Nittany Lions could stick to a shallow rotation at the position again in 2025.
However, Anthony Speca could make a move to carve out a role to change that this season. Last year, Speca only played in six games in his true freshman season, making eight tackles on the season. However, despite the limited playing time on gameday, Speca did earn high praise from Penn State coaches behind the scenes.
With a whole season in the Penn State strength and conditioning program under his belt, Speca could make a push for playing time behind the expected three starters this fall.
Fall camp is just around the corner for the Nittany Lions, and we will get to see sooner rather than later who will step up for the Nittany Lions ahead of a pivotal 2025 season.
There is a good chance that a major playmaker or more for the Nittany Lions this fall is someone that is not getting a ton of the attention at the moment. These three names all have a good chance to make a difference for the Nittany Lions in their push for a second consecutive college football playoff bid and a first national championship bid since 1986 (1994?).
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