There won’t be a ton of expectations placed on Navy safety Rayuan Lane III heading into his rookie season in the NFL given that he is likely to be selected during the third day of the upcoming draft.
Don’t tell Lane that, though. He expects help any team both on the field …
“You’ve got a special teams warrior,” Lane said on Glenn Clark Radio April 14. “You’ve seen it all throughout college, starting on special teams all four years while starting on defense. Just the hunger and love for football, no job too small. Going out there, just trying to put my best foot forward, trying to do whatever I can to help the team out.”
… and off the field, given his experiences at the Naval Academy.
“Leadership is not always who’s speaking up or trying to hop in front of lines first,” Lane said. “In order to lead, especially in new places, you’ve got to be able to listen and learn and respect others. Being humble and being able to do those things, then you can kind of work your way into different, various ways of leading. I feel like I have a lot of training in that area and I feel like I could definitely help out the program or room or whatever it would be.”
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound safety earned invitations to the Senior Bowl and NFL Scouting Combine following a productive four-year career at Navy. Lane played in 49 games for the Midshipmen, totaling 244 tackles, 21 passes defensed, eight forced fumbles, seven interceptions and two pick-sixes. He also made an impact on special teams as a gunner.
Lane entered the transfer portal following his sophomore season at Navy but ultimately chose to return to Annapolis. He was rewarded as a senior in 2024, when the Mids went 10-3 overall, took back the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and earned a trip to a bowl game for the first time in five years.
“I don’t really tend to think about what could have happened or what should have happened or anything like that,” Lane said. “I’m just really grateful to be in the position I am in — to have stayed, to soon be a graduate of the Naval Academy, to have accomplished those things. I never tend to think back. I’m just really, really grateful for my decision and to be able to be here at the Naval Academy.”
Lane is juggling his work at Navy with his preparation for the draft. He is set to graduate from the Naval Academy this spring, and whenever his football career ends, he’ll serve for at least five years in the Marine Corps.
Lane won’t even be able to watch the first two nights of the draft because of his responsibilities in Annapolis.
“If it was easy, everyone would be able to do it, so just being able to go through that process — to balance class, workouts, film, Zoom meetings, all those different things, it just makes my character that much better,” Lane said. “It makes me prepared for that many more things. It’s a blessing and I’m glad I’m getting to go through it this way.”
Lane attended the Ravens’ local pro day as part of the predraft process, a particularly special day for the Jessup native and Gilman graduate who played at M&T Bank Stadium as a youth football player.
“Getting to go to their facility where they train at, getting to talk to coaches, getting to talk to coordinators personally and stuff like that, I would say it’s kind of surreal,” Lane said. “Obviously, that’s a dream being young. For it to be able to come true, to be sitting in the same rooms as greats have sat in in the past, it’s a surreal experience, but it’s awesome at the same time and I’m very thankful for it.”
For more from Lane, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox