Needing to fortify the defensive tackle depth, the Buffalo Bills selected Penn State DT Zane Durant in the fifth round.
The three-time honorable mention Big Ten selection finished his career in Happy Valley playing in 54 games with 49 starts totaling 89 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks. He was part of a strong 2022 recruiting class that at one point was one win away from a national championship in 2024. Despite being a team captain in 2025, the Nittany Lions saw a significant drop off in play that led to the firing of head coach James Franklin. They were able to rebound to finish 7-6 but a far cry from the college football playoffs and national championship aspirations.
Read below for a full injury history and analysis.
Injury History
2022 Penn State
No publicly reported injuries.
2023 Penn State
No publicly reported injuries.
2024 Penn State
No publicly reported injuries.
2025 Penn State
Left elbow injury, vs Indiana, missed 0 games.
Durant suffered an elbow injury against Indiana, briefly left and returned with an elbow brace to finish the game. He wore it for the remainder of the season for the final three games before opting out of the bowl game.
Buffalo Bills Injury Analysis
Durant was incredibly durable during his time at Penn State, never missing a game. Searching for any documented injuries was difficult as there were not any instances where he required medical attention in any X posts or post game reports.
The only reason that his left elbow injury was found was due to a Google search that showed the elbow brace. That led to game film review that found the injury comparing film before and after when he had the brace on, leading to finding the injury.
You can see that he gets his left elbow hit and he jumps off the screen in pain in the two replays. After getting a brace placed on the elbow, he was able to return and finish the game. He played with the brace for the rest of the season. It’s possible he hit his ulnar nerve or funny bone and wore the brace to protect the area from further irritation. He may have also sprained his left UCL when he got hit and needed protection to avoid stressing the area further. Whatever the injury was, it didn’t appear to affect his performance in that game or the final contests of the 2025 season.
Final Thoughts
Durant has a motor that won’t stop which is needed on this Bills defensive line. He has shown incredible durability and the ability to play through injury as evident against the eventual national champions. I would also suspect that he played through other minor issues that went unreported. I like this pick from both a positional need and what he is as a player.
I don’t expect him to avoid injury altogether in the NFL, but it looks like it’ll take a notable injury to slow him down.
I’d like to welcome Zane Durant to Buffalo and to remain healthy this season.
Top Photo Credit: Ericka Apolskis/Onward State
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