FORT WORTH, Texas — Christmas came early for Navy safety Rayuan Lane III, who accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl on Dec. 20. The Gilman graduate will compete in a game that has become the foremost showcase for players considered top NFL prospects.
This year’s Reese’s Senior Bowl All-Star Game will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 1 in Mobile, Alabama. Played at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of South Alabama, the game will be televised live on the NFL Network.
“I was hoping it would happen, but I definitely didn’t expect it. Once I got the call I was very excited,” Lane said prior to Navy’s practice at Wednesday. “Not many people get a chance to go to that very prestigious game and show what they can do.”
The Reese’s Senior Bowl is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game. More than 900 NFL personnel, including key decision-makers from all 32 teams, attend practices leading up to the game to evaluate players.
Navy defensive passing game coordinator and safeties coach Eric Lewis said Senior Bowl scouts attended several Navy football games this season to see Lane play in-person.
“I’m excited for Ray because it’s a great opportunity to go against the best in college football and show what he’s all about,” Lewis said. “Obviously, it’s a very good sign for his football future. It tells you the people that matter consider Ray a pro prospect.”
Lane has started 42 straight games dating back to his freshman season and amassed 240 career tackles. He has also recorded seven interceptions, 27 pass breakups and eight forced fumbles over the past four seasons.
Lane was named first team All-American Athletic Conference this season after totaling 66 tackles, four pass breakups, three forced fumbles and two interceptions. He clinched an early season upset of Memphis by picking off a pass and returning the ball 86 yards for a touchdown.
Lane, who was a third team All-AAC selection as a junior, is just the fifth player in Navy football history to earn an invitation to the Senior Bowl. He joins tailback Napoleon McCallum (1986), fullbacks Eric Kettani (2008) and Chris Swain (2015) and long snapper Joe Cardona (2014).
Navy coach Brian Newberry said representatives of “almost every NFL team has been through our facility” to prepare a profile of Lane. They spoke with Newberry, Lewis and defensive coordinator P.J. Volker, then observed practice.
“It’s a huge honor for Ray and certainly well deserved. It says a lot about what the NFL scouts think of him. I know he’s projected to be picked and is on a lot of team’s boards,” Newberry said.
Newberry was defensive coordinator in 2021 when he thrust the raw but talented plebe into the starting lineup for the last six games of the season. There were growing pains along the way, but the Jessup resident showed he could be a playmaker with four pass breakups, an interception and forced fumble.
Lane has gotten better and better with each passing season, steadily developing into a complete, versatile safety capable of covering a lot of ground. Volker dubbed the rangy and athletic 5-foot-11, 197-pounder the “eraser” for his ability to cover up mistakes on the back end.
“Ray has grown and matured tremendously during his career and doesn’t have any glaring weakness in his game,” Lewis said. “He has outstanding speed and excellent ball skills, very good feet and can flip his hips, is a very durable and extraordinarily intelligent player.”
Lane is also a standout special teams performer, an attribute that makes him even more attractive to NFL scouts. He has particularly excelled as the gunner on punt coverage, easily beating block attempts and racing downfield to either tackle the returner or down the ball.
In fact, Lane has become such a dominant gunner that opponents have resorted to using two blockers to keep him from getting off the line of scrimmage.
“We feel Ray is the best gunner in the country. It’s come to the point now that if teams don’t double him, they have no chance to return a punt,” Lewis said. “Ray is a seasoned special teams player, which has created a lot of value for him among NFL scouts.”
Newberry and Lewis said all the scouts that interviewed Lane or Navy coaches about him came away impressed with the intangibles. Lewis talked about Lane’s work ethic, coachability and competitive spirit.
“Ray has all the qualities the NFL is looking for in terms of the character piece. He comes from a great family, does very well in school, has a long-term girlfriend and doesn’t go out and party,” Lewis said.
Newberry talks all the time about Navy being a developmental program. The coaching staff recruits high school prospects then spends four years transforming them into productive Division I players.
Lane is a shining example of a player who has developed from raw freshman to polished senior. He also defines loyalty, declining transfer opportunities to such major schools as Notre Dame and UCLA to remain in Annapolis.
“Ray chose to stay at the academy and is now going to get the best of both worlds. He’s going to get a world-class education, will graduate with world-class leadership skills, and most likely he’s going to end up in the NFL,” Lewis said.
While it is clear the NFL has interest in Lane, it remains uncertainty what path there is for him to play professionally.
A policy put in place by Donald Trump during his first presidency allowed service academy athletes to pursue pro sports immediately after graduation. That memorandum stipulated that those athletes would commission as officers and serve their full five-year military obligation once their pro careers concluded.
However, that policy was rescinded in 2022 by Congress with a new law requiring service academy athletes to complete at least two years of active duty service before becoming eligible for a waiver.
An attempt by House Armed Services Committee to include language reinstating the Trump administration policy ultimately was not included in the annual defense authorization bill.
Under the new proposal, any Army, Air Force or Navy graduate that “obtains employment as a professional athlete before completing their commissioned service obligation” would be allowed to transfer to a recruiting billet in the reserves, pending approval from service officials.
That alternative reserve commitment could last up to 10 years and would require athletes to “participate in efforts to recruit and retain [military] members.”
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