Penn State football defensive tackle Zane Durant is just weeks away from hearing his name called in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Lake Nona, Florida, native has seen his draft stock climb thanks to a strong performance at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and an explosive workout at the NFL Combine, where he ran the fourth fastest 40-yard dash by a defensive tackle in combine history. The 290-pounder’s 4.76-second time was also the best among competing defensive tackles this year.

“I’ve always [been] learning. I was never too good to be big-headed. I’ve just tried to continue to grow in every aspect, not just in football, not just in life, but also as a man.”

His testing certainly turned the heads of the scouts and drew the mainstream media’s attention, but Durant says he didn’t surprise himself at all.

“I’ve never surprised myself. Everything I’ve [done], I believed in it before it happened,” he said when talking to reporters during his Pro Day media availability on Wednesday. “I mean, yeah, I put in a lot of work, three or four months of working at it, getting my diet right, things like that. I kind of knew it was going to happen already.”

The shockwave of attention he garnered from his combine testing was impossible for Durant to ignore, but he’s adamant about not getting lost in it.

“I definitely paid attention to it, but I’m just trying to keep busy, keep trying to get better every day, and try to become a better football player as best as I can,” he said.

Durant says he has spent the off-season improving his technique and becoming a better overall athlete, which is scary considering how explosive he already is on tape as a pass rusher thanks to his twitchy get-off at the line of scrimmage.

That burst has translated into a steadily rising sack count across each of his four seasons in Happy Valley, but Durant credits his hunger for improvement and humble attitude for his growth at Penn State.

Durant also credited Penn State for the positional versatility he developed from coaches who exposed him to multiple spots along the defensive front.

“I play run downs, I play [three-technique], two-i. All the positions I played at Penn State got me ready for the league, so wherever the coach wants to put me at, I’m ready to go.”

And while Durant proved himself as a versatile athletic freak in Indianapolis, he believes he also excelled in his meetings with NFL personnel.

“The interviews were easy. I just tried to be myself, made sure to tell the truth,” he said. [There’s] nothing to hide. Whatever I did, I did, whatever happened, happened,” he said. “They just wanted to get to know me as a man a little bit more. Knowing how I was raised, what made me play football, what makes me tick, and some things that make Zane Durant who he is.”

One of those things is undeniably a football player.

After proving everything he needed to with a strong combine performance, Durant still chose to participate in drills for scouts at Penn State’s Pro Day, a clear testament to his devotion to the game.

“I just love to play ball. I came to workout. I already did all that stuff, but I just wanted to come showcase it again,” he said.

Now with pre-draft training out of the way, Durant is ecstatic to finally loosen up his diet.

“I didn’t eat sweets that much while I was training, so the first thing I’m probably going to do is get me some donuts,” Durant said while grinning.

As for the path ahead to the NFL Draft in April, Durant says he has no expectations about which round he’ll go in, but he emphasized that he has “an open mind, gratitude, and a big heart.”

Durant says he’s headed South to his home state of Florida to watch the draft, a place where his dreams of playing professional football began at just 8 years old.

He wants to be “in the heat” for the life-changing moment, rather than the bitter cold of State College, and who can blame him for that?

Folks can watch Durant and the other draft-eligible Nittany Lions find their new homes at the next level from 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 23, through Saturday, April 25.