Penn State safety K.J. Winston taken in third round of NFL Draft by Tennessee Titans
One of the more intriguing Nittany Lions in the 2025 NFL Draft has come off the board. Safety K.J. Winston was selected No. 82 overall in the third round by the Tennessee Titans Friday night. He’s now the third Penn State player to go, joining Abdul Carter who joined the New York Giants and Tyler Warren who was taken by the Indianapolis Colts.
Winston left the Nittany Lions for the NFL after a difficult final college season that saw him reportedly tear his ACL after the team’s season opener against West Virginia. Despite that, he ran a 40-yard dash at Penn State’s pro day and did it in 4.5 seconds — a quicker time than expected, even without considering the injury recovery.
That was an important part of the pre-draft process, according to Winston.
“I wanted a faster time than that,” Winston said at Penn State’s pro day. “I just wanted to show that I’m running. I’m doing well, I’m running, getting stronger. It felt great.”
Winston’s selection comes after he was widely projected as a top-50 pick in the draft ahead of the 2024 season, with his injury clearly dropping his stock.
Those pre-draft projections were based on a 2023 season that saw him rack up 60 tackles, five passes defended and an interception. And even in his limited 2024 action, Winston looked like he could build off that production in a major way, earning 12 tackles and a forced fumble in the team’s season opener.
But his loss could be the Titans’ gain, with the former Nittany Lion still having the upside to be a starter in the NFL. If he’s able to regain his pre-injury form, he should be able to have a sustained NFL career and prove his ACL injury was merely a blip on the radar.
