Why a Young Penn State Safety Faces High Expectations to Mature Quickly

Penn State safety Dejuan Lane has been chosen.

Or, to read between the lines from coach James Franklin’s words this week, the situation almost mandated Lane to play early and keep earning more and more reps as the 2024 season goes.

Franklin gave a true green light to just two true freshmen to start the season, and Lane was by far the bigger surprise of the two after a spring and summer of offensive lineman Cooper Cousins creating buzz for himself.

Lane didn’t get to campus until summer, so he had a much shorter window to make his case for playing time undeniable.

Lane was a consensus four-star safety/linebacker coming out of Gilman High School in Baltimore, but he was only listed in final national rankings assembled by ESPN. In other words, Lane wasn’t in the “can’t-miss” category nationally, but his temperament and skill were clearly undervalued.

“Again, since he just arrived just this summer, he’s doing some pretty good things,” Franklin told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “Big, strong, fast, physical guy that’s working very, very hard at it right now. He’s a guy as you know, we green-lighted. We’re trying to fast track his development, kind of speed up his maturation process.”

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To be selected for burning a redshirt certainly speaks to Penn State’s need to develop depth at safety.

Franklin touched on that when asked about Lane this week, but also indicated that the commitment is flowing both directions.

The coaching staff saw more than enough to believe Lane was up for the job of filling a key role as the team’s No. 5 safety, but the choice did require a leap of faith that Lane’s development would continue in the same direction.

On the other side, expectations are falling onto Lane’s shoulders to hold up his end.

The urgency climbs another notch in the first season under defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who used a ton of Jaylen Reed in the LION role as a roving playmaker against West Virginia. With the ability and structure to play three safeties on the field, that No. 5 man needs to be ready.

That’s the mission for Lane going into Week 2 with perhaps a shot to see a big jump in snaps on defense, in addition to his special teams role.

“When you’re talking about creating that depth we talk about and having at least a two and a half deep, we need somebody to step up into that fifth safety role, especially with us playing so much three safeties on the field,” Franklin said.

“His development as well as other guys is important. We need his reps to increase this week, and we need his reps to increase next game, so that his role can continue to grow on special teams and on defense, and that he earns the trust of his teammates and the coaches.”