ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Navy senior safety and special teams maven Rayuan Lane III was named the Special Teams Player of the Year and First-Team All-American on Special Teams by College Football Network. Lane was also named an Honorable Mention All-American as a safety.
Lane, who is considered by the Navy coaches to be the best punt team gunner in the country, is also on the kickoff team and recently took over punt return duties for the Mids.
Lane, who was voted First-Team All-AAC at safety by the league head coaches, has started 41-consecutive games at safety for the Mids which is the most of any safety in the country. He was named a Midseason First-Team All-American by the Sporting News and Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the fifth best safety in the country (minimum 675 snaps). He is third on the team in tackles with 61 and his three forced fumbles rank 14th in the country in forced fumbles per game.
Heidenreich was named a Third-Team All-American as a flex player for his dual role abilities as a runner and pass catcher. Heidenreich, who was not voted to any of the All-AAC teams by the league head coaches, has rushed for 402 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 55 carries (7.3 yards per carry), while leading the Mids with 36 catches for 597 yards (16.6 yards per catch) and 5 touchdowns. Heidenreich needs 1 more touchdown catch to tie the school record for touchdown receptions in a season. Heidenreich is ranked as the second-best receiver in the country by Pro Football Focus for players with a minimum of 50 targets or more.
Senior linebacker Colin Ramos and senior corner Dashaun Peele joined Lane III as Honorable Mention All-Americans on defense.
Ramos, a two-time First-Team All-AAC selection, leads Navy in tackles with 110 and is the first Navy player to have back-to-back 100 tackle seasons since Ross Pospisil in 2008 and 2009. Ramos has recorded 300 tackles in his career and is just 20 tackles shy of Clint Bruce and Marc Firlie for fifth on Navy's career tackles list.
Peele, a Second-Team All-AAC selection in 2024, leads Navy in interceptions with 4 including the 2 he returned for a touchdown against Charlotte. Peele is fourth in the country in interceptions per game (0.4) and his 9 career interceptions rank 6th all-time at Navy.
Navy (8-3) will take on #19 Army (11-1) in America's Game on Saturday at 3 PM at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. Saturday's game will be televised nationally by CBS and broadcast on the Navy Radio Network and nationally by Westwood One Radio. The 125th playing of the Army-Navy Game is presented by USAA.
