From now until the 2025 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top 10 picks, down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Navy safety Rayuan Lane III.
NO. 18 Rayuan Lane III/S Navy – 5107, 200 pounds (Senior)
MEASUREMENTS
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Rayuan Lane III | 5107/200 | 9 3/4 | 30 1/4 | 74 5/8 |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| 4.57 | 1.56 | 4.28 | 7.10 | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| 10’8″ | 37 | N/A |
The Good
– Good athletic ability shown when flipping hips and getting depth on hook zone drops
– Good speed driving down on the ball
– Technical footwork that is obvious he tries to master
– Has good versatility that allows him to play multiple spots on the field
– Looks good in coverage when getting collisions with receivers
– Durability: plays every snap and has never suffered an injury
– Supreme special teams value
– Team leader
The Bad
– Average play strength
– Has a tough time shedding blocks
– If he fails to get collision, he gets beat in man coverage
– Gets beat over the top by speedy receivers
– Needs to have awareness of down and distance and play everything from depth
– Gets fooled by underneath threats that are used as decoys
– Shows weak awareness in zone coverage
– Bad tackler with no technique
– Feet stop driving at the tackle point
– Falls on the ground more than he should
Bio
– Started 43 consecutive games across 4 years at Navy, appearing in all 49 games in his career
– 43 straight start the longest active FBS streak by safety
– 2024: 70 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 3 forced fumbles, 7 PBU’s, and 2 interceptions
– Won National Special Teams Player of the Year as a gunner
– Named First Team All-American Athletic Conference
– Received Honorable Mention All-American
– Competed in the 2025 Senior Bowl
– 2023: 66 tackles, 3 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 12 PBU’s, and 4 interceptions
– Named to All-American Athletic Conference Third Team
– 2022: 71 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 PBU’s
– Zero-star prospect out of Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland
– Also participated in basketball and track
– Received All-MIAA honors in 2019
– Squad leader in charge of the seven Midshipmen in the Brigade’s 8th Company
Tape Breakdown
Rayuan Lane III is a veteran at Navy and a team leader. The best skill he brings to an NFL roster is his special teams value, as he received many awards and praise over his time in college. He was the best gunner in the nation, which will be enough to give an instant positive effect to a special teams unit as a rookie. On tape, you can see why he is good on special teams due to his athletic ability. He shows good speed driving downhill and has good hip flexibility that gives him a good change of direction.
His 40 time was not good, but his vertical speed is faster in game. In man coverage, it is imperative that he gets collisions with receivers and tight ends to run with them. If he does this effectively, he can be serviceable in man. In zone coverage, he does a good job of getting depth when there is no threat underneath, walling off deep crossers. On this play, his area of the field is not targeted, but you can see the natural mobility he possesses in an underneath zone.
While he plays well in deep play-action concepts with no underneath threat, he struggles a lot in the drop-back pass game as a second-level defender when there is a decoy route underneath. Offenses will manipulate him into moving towards the line of scrimmage, and he fails to play those routes from depth. Defenders are taught to play the underneath routes from further away so they can wall off the routes coming behind them, and Lane III fails to do this.
This happened multiple times, but in crucial spots. On a big 4th and 8, he rushes up to the checkdown, leaving a wide-open window that leads to a first down and an explosive play.
When he is playing the middle of the field, I like his footwork getting depth, but he needs to have better awareness of his responsibility. He can choose the wrong matchup to key on, leaving his area of the field wide open. This leads to massive plays for the offense.
On this play, the offense has 3 split receivers to the field with a tagged dig to the backside. He chooses to wall the most inside receiver and leave his zone, creating a massive explosive that could have been prevented had he played from depth and driven on the ball.
When he does not get collisions with receivers in man coverage, he does not have the coverage ability to stay with a speedy receiver. If he is defending an intermediate route, he opens his hips too early, and they snap it off and beat him. He will fail to catch them with his body when they go deep, and they run straight past him.
His recovery ability needs to improve, which can come from more time in coverage, but it is a serious problem right now. On this play, he gets beat by a step because of a failure to collision and commits pass interference because he does not get his head turned.
In the run game, Lane III shows decent aggressiveness getting to the ball and fits gaps fine, but I have a serious problem with his tackling technique. It is not that he shows flashes of good technique; he has no technique. On some plays, he leaves his feet extremely early, diving at the legs of a ball carrier, but he does not have the play strength to bring them down. On other plays, he will be in a great position to make a play, but he stops driving his legs and gets run through. He never blows a ball carrier back. He is always catching the man and falling on his back.
His play strength is just average, and he gets hurt by stiff arms. On this play, he is the reason a touchdown is let up because of his inability to make tackles.
Conclusion
Rayuan Lane III is a special teams force that will bring value to a unit on Day 1. He will be a starting gunner in the league for a while but will have trouble competing for playing time as a safety. He has a lot of flaws that a 43-game starter should not have, and he will need to clean up his tackling technique and awareness in zone coverage.
If he builds on his athleticism and ability to catch receivers with his body in coverage, I could see him getting time as a backup or in minor sub packages. My comp for him is Deon Bush.
Projection: Early Day 3
Depot Draft Grade: 7.0 – 5th Round (Backup/Special Teamer)
Games Watched: vs Notre Dame (2024), vs Tulane (2024), vs Army (2024)
