The Football Writers Association of America curated watch lists for the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy and 2025 Outland Trophy and released them on Tuesday, July 29. Alongside Penn State football's A.J. Harris and Vega Ioane for the two awards, respectively, defensive tackle Zane Durant earned a spot next to them on both lists.
The defensive tackle had a breakout season in 2024-25, earning an All-Big Ten honorable mention for a second consecutive season. He came to Penn State as a three-star recruit, but proved to be an essential asset for the Nittany Lions. Durant's return to Penn State for his senior year, which he announced in January, was one of many notable returns for not head coach James Franklin but across the country.
Zane Durant earns spot on 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List features 60 defensive standouts across the country, and Durant was one of 10 defensive tackles selected to the list. He has the opportunity to be the first Nittany Lion to win the National Defensive Player of the Year award, surpassing defensive end Abdul Carter who was a finalist last season.
“[Durant] is the best I’ve played against,” center Nick Dawkins said last week at 2025 Big Ten Media. “He’s the best d-tackle I’ve played against . . . and it’s no shade to any other defensive lineman I’ve played against. It’s the twitch, it’s the lateral movement. It’s the combination and recovery of being able to have a counter movement. He has a counter to power and can go power-to-speed.”
Zane Durant earns spot on 2025 Outland Trophy Watch List
Fifty interior linemen were selected to the Outland Trophy Watch List, between both offense and defense. Durant was one of the 10 defensive tackles. Former Penn State defensive tackle Mike Reid is the only Nittany Lion that's won the award.
Durant is entering his third year as a starter for Penn State. In 2024-25, he was second in the conference and fourth in the country in tackles for loss. In addition to his 11 tackles for loss, he recorded 42 total tackles, three sacks, and one pass break-up. He tacked on 25 more tackles than his sophomore season as well as 5.5 more tackles for loss.
The rising senior has a lot of buzz going around in the preseason. He could've declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, like many other Nittany Lions, with his ability to disrupt both the run and passing game and working his way up to becoming the one of the top interior defenders across the country.
Durant was also named to the Walter Camp Preseason All-America First Team Defense at the beginning of July.