It began with a meeting. James Franklin was there, as was Penn State safeties coach Anthony Poindexter. Zakee Wheatley sat at the edge of the table, prepared to listen to the hard truth. And so it began, the conversation that would forever change Wheatley’s work ethic, transforming him into a College Football Playoff standout and future NFL Draft pick.
That was last offseason. Wheatley exited the room with an altered mindset and mentality. He returned to the facilities for winter workouts and immediately stood out. Then came spring practice and his success only escalated. By the time the season began, Wheatley was a completely different player than he was a year prior. And, through 16 games, he only improved.
Wheatley could have declared for the draft this year alongside fellow starting safeties Kevin Winston Jr. and Jaylen Reed. Instead, he returned for his final season of collegiate eligibility. There’s a high bar set for Wheatley after combining for 35 tackles and two interceptions across four postseason games. He’s determined to make this next fall his most accomplished yet.
“I’m never complacent. In my eyes, what I did last year, that’s in the past. What I want to do this year, I got to be 10 times better,” Wheatley said last week. “Be a better player, be a better leader. And obviously losing such great people, I need to be an even better player, just to make up for them.”
Wheatley has followed a particular trend since his first season with the Nittany Lions in 2021. As his playing time increased, so did his production. And with the opportunity to enter the starting lineup for the first time last year, Wheatley didn’t view vast improvement as only an option, but a must.
His conversation with Franklin and Poindexter spearheaded the experiment. It worked, and Wheatley hasn’t looked back.
“It just started building in winter workouts, spring ball. Then you saw the season he had a year ago,” Poindexter said. “And that’s kudos to him. He made that choice. ‘I want to be great.’ And kudos to him, putting the work in, putting the studying in, and just being determined that, ‘I’m gonna be a great player.’”
There’s a certain expectation that comes with being a top safety at Penn State. Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown, who mentored Wheatley over his first and second seasons, are both in the NFL. Winston and Reed are set to join them during next week’s draft. Wheatley is next in line, and has become the leading figure to continue creating a lineage of success for years to come.
“Just really seeing how they led, leading my own way, using my own traits and my personality,” Wheatley said, “and really just being a good example for the younger guys and coaching them when I see something, and also growing and being a leader myself and being the best me.”
The best Wheatley is one that should contend for national awards, leading the defense of a program with hopes of obtaining a national championship. Wheatley certainly looked the part of an NFL safety this past season, but he ultimately decided the draft could wait another year. This season is all about taking his game and production to another level.
“It was a hard decision for me, personally. I just felt like I haven’t done everything I needed to here, accomplishment wise,” Wheatley said. “The main thing really was just coming back and having that feeling in the playoffs and knowing what I came back for and knowing what we can do as a team together, if we really just put our mind to it and thrive and strive for that, for that ring.”
