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Drew Allar is returning to Penn State in 2025; no other Nittany Lion is announcing his stay-or-go choice yet

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•12/17/24•

GregPickel

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Defensive tackle Zane Durant. (Credit: Steve Manuel | Blue White Illustrated)

Penn State junior defensive tackle Zane Durant is one of many Nittany Lions who have a return to school or go to the 2025 NFL Draft decision to make. But, he is not ready to announce it before the No. 6 Nittany Lions host No. 11 SMU on Saturday at Beaver Stadium (Noon ET, TNT). And, neither are any of his other draft-eligible teammates who were asked about their future on Tuesday after starting quarterback Drew Allar said Monday that he would be back in 2025.

“I haven’t made a decision,” Durant said. “I’m just focused on SMU.”

Speaking after Durant, All-American defensive end Abdul Carter, who has his own choice to make, when asked about preparing for the Mustangs and any message he might have for players making a stay-or-go decision, said:

“We just take each week like we’ve been having throughout the whole season. We prepare the same way. It’s the same energy. And towards the NFL, we are not focused on that. We just focus on the Playoff. Focus on one game at a time, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Fourth-year linebacker Kobe King allowed that he has given his future some amount of thought. But, no announcement is imminent.

“It’s been a thought in my head, just with time crunching and just being my fourth year, but I’m not really thinking about that right now,” he said. “Focusing on SMU, because that’s all I can really focus on right now, is game week.

“And, you know, focusing on today, [having a] great for practice, go out there with the right mentality, approach, and execute.”

Last but not least, junior running back Nicholas Singleton sang a similar tune to that of his other teammates who talked on Tuesday.

“I saw Drew coming back yesterday, which is phenomenal,” Singletons said. “But right now, I’m just focused on the season, SMU, SMU. And just after that, at the end of season, I’ll figure out if I’m staying or not.”

Recapping Penn State decisions made so far

Only one Penn State player has made his intentions for returning in 2025 clear: Allar.

As for those who have not yet made their intentions known, Carter is all but guaranteed to leave at the conclusion of this season. He is on multiple All-American teams, is the Big Ten defensive player of the year, and is among the nation’s leaders and sacks and tackles for loss after his first 13 games as a defensive end.

Durant’s decision is not as clear-cut. While he has performed well over his first three years in State College, ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr., does not currently have him among his top 10 draft-eligible defensive tackles. The same goes for King at linebacker. Singleton, then, is Kiper Jr.’s No. 4 draft-eligible running back.

All of the aforementioned players do not need to be in a rush to make their NFL Draft declarations. The deadline to declare is Jan. 15 for any player who is not in the College Football Playoff national title game. And, it’s Jan. 24 for anyone who is. So, time will tell how it plays out.

Beyond that group, three Nittany Lions are currently in the transfer portal. Quarterback Beau Pribula announced Sunday that he was moving on before the season ends. Tight end Jerry Cross did so before the Big Ten title game. And defensive tackle T.A. Cunningham did so after the conference championship game.

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