Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley opts out of Pinstripe Bowl, declares for NFL Draft

Penn State senior safety Zakee Wheatley is leaving the Nittany Lions early. The Maryland native will not play in the Pinstripe Bowl against Clemson on Dec. 27 in New York in favor of starting preparations for the 2026 NFL Draft.

In announcing the news, Wheatley writes:

”First, I want to thank God for blessing me to play five years of football at Penn State University! Without him, none of this would have been possible!

“I want to thank all of my coaches that invested in me and developed me into the man and player that I am today.

“I also want to thank Penn State and all the fans for the amazing support and memories! I could not have imagined a better collegiate career or experience anywhere in the country. I also want to thank my family for always supporting and always showing up for me through the good and bad times.

“Now it is time to work to have the chance to create new memories.”

Wheatley joins defensive tackle Zane Durant in opting out. Others could join before the Noon ET kickoff on ABC.

“We’re just looking forward to putting our best team forward and trying to get ready for this Clemson team that creates all kind of challenges for us,” Lions interim head coach Terry Smith said on Dec. 9. The process is the same as anything. It’s going to be the next man up. The standard is the result. We’ll field a team that’s going to be ready to compete. We have our work cut out for us to play against Clemson, but we’re going to put a product out there on the field that’s representative of Penn State.

“We’re going to play really hard and play really tough, and we’re going to get after it. Then the result will be the result, but the next man up has to deliver the job.”

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