Penn State safety KJ Winston is ready to lead by more than example

Penn State football doesn’t lack hard workers. For the most part, the team recruits and develops hard-working, talented young men who want to be great at their craft. But head coach James Franklin wants more than that this year. Coming off of an uneven 2023 after losing team leaders like PJ Mustipher and Sean Clifford, he’s looking for players to lead.

“And one of the things we’ve been talking about this offseason a bunch about guys have to be willing to step outside of their comfort zone and grow as leaders and be vocal leaders. This generation, I think most guys want to be leaders through example and don’t necessarily want to speak up and challenge and necessarily call out teammates from time to time,” Franklin said.

While the focus is on quarterback Drew Allar , the team may have found its defensive captain, even if he didn’t earn that title through a vote this spring. That player is junior KJ Winston .

Winston building himself into a leader

We discussed earlier this week that most freshman football players don’t come out of the box as great players. We discussed the game’s intricacies with Winston and his maturation process on the field . He also spoke about his maturation as a leader. Like his game, he’s been working on it since he arrived on campus in 2022.

“You know, coming in my freshman year, I knew I, you know, I wanted to move like a vet. So in order to do that, I hung around the vets. So I was always around Ji’Ayare Brown, you know, learning from him my freshman year,” Winston said.

Winston earned a starting role and blossomed into a star player during his second season on campus but he still didn’t feel comfortable being “the guy” from a vocal perspective because at the time, he still needed to prove himself between the line.

“I came in the sophomore year with the mindset like I got a lead. I got more of the guy that leads by example. But at that time, I didn’t really have the voice as I do now. I wanted to learn and show everybody before I start talking,” Winston said.

Penn State teammates seeing Winston take that role

But being a vocal leader doesn’t work unless the teammates you’re trying to inspire, see you that way. Even though he’s on offense, that’s exactly how Allar sees Winston.

“We have some great leaders on this team. One guy that I specifically see on a day-to-day basis be a great leader, and he’s more of the edgy guy on our team is KJ Winston. Everybody respects him. Everybody loves KJ, his work ethic. And he’s not afraid to get in your face and yell at you and tell you you’re not doing the right thing, you need to step it up. And I love that about KJ because we definitely need that on our team and there’s a balance to it. Coming from one of the hardest, easily top five hardest workers on the team, and the way he takes care of himself and just everything he’s about is really good. KJ has done a phenomenal job with that.”

Yet, it takes time and dedication to become a leader. Letting your actions speak for you means something other than performance on the football field. Winston has intentionally been forging relationships with his fellow teammates and getting to know them better. That way, they have a strong bond that can withstand his scrutiny and demand.

“So now it’s just having a relationship with everybody on the team. That’s my first step, and that’s what I’m working on now before, you know, I just go out there [and] go hard. I’d rather have a relationship with him, understand how to talk to him, understand how he is and how he goes about things.

So, I’m in that position now, feeling great. [I’m] trying to learn everything, learn everybody, learn how everything goes with everybody with this new team.”

Passing down leadership

However, just like Winston did with Brown, the best teams pass down leadership traits to the next generation. If all goes according to plan, this will be Winston’s final year at Penn State with a promising NFL future ahead of him. So, who stands out as the next KJ Winston? Which freshman is attached to his hip and trying to soak up all the lessons and information he has to give?

“Dejaun Lane right now. The first day he was here, we were doing condition, and I wanted him to line up next to me and see if he would, you know, go with me. And he didn’t hold back. I don’t know how he felt after, if he was tired or not if it hurt him a lot. But I’ll say one thing: he didn’t back out. He finished the workout strong. So I give a lot of credit to him for that and respect them for that.”

It may not happen immediately, but if Lane learns those lessons from Winston, the Penn State safety position is in good hands.

The post Penn State safety KJ Winston is ready to lead by more than example appeared first on On3 .