Penn State Defensive End Dani Dennis-Sutton “Disappointing”

By the thirteenth and fourteenth game of the film study, I had seen enough of Penn State defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton.

Fourteen games of watching him on cruise control was good for me.

Dennis-Sutton is an underachiever

How can I say that?

Because I was able to compare most of his game film to a few moments here and there when he turned it on, and it left me thinking, “Where was that the rest of the time?” Two pass rushes in particular stood out against Notre Dame when he looked like a different person. He flashed a dominant rip move against the left tackle and leveled the quarterback, causing the ball to go flying. Not long after, he gained outside leverage against that left tackle again and created pressure.

I was like, “There he is.”

Heading into the evaluation, I noticed Dennis-Sutton was ranked as the No. 17 prospect overall in the 2026 NFL Draft (nflmockdraftdatabase.com). By the end of the evaluation, I was saying to myself, “No way.”

It wasn’t just the underachieving either. There were other problems as well.

What other problems?

• Lacks bend
• Unpolished as a pass rusher
• Decent straight-line speed
• Indifferent to run defense

Dennis-Sutton is stiff.

It’s spray-painted all over his game film. It shows up when he gets worked past the quarterback’s backside on passing plays, and it shows up when he ends up tackling air on running plays. Dennis-Sutton compensates with A LOT of inside stunts and attempts to shoot an inside gap on passing plays instead of going the long way home. It’s just tough when a pass rusher lacks bend.

He has a good amount of pass rush moves, but he doesn’t look like he knows when to use them.

Compounding the issue is doesn’t have the speed that can blow the doors off offensive tackles, so he’s often left on the outside of the pocket looking in.

And don’t even get me started about his run defense. I couldn’t even count how many times he half-assed it on running plays.

A deeper look into his production

Pro Football Focus

• 9.0 sacks
• 13 quarterback hits
• 45 quarterback pressures
• 15% win rate

Those numbers sound impressive, but many of them resulted from when Dennis-Sutton faced little to no resistance from blockers.

NFL future

What Dennis-Sutton put on game film in 2024 does not move the meter for an NFL team.

A take it or leave it attitude doesn’t inspire me.

He loves to hammer people when they are in a helpless position or when they don’t see it coming, and he likes playing flag football the rest of the time.

This play did it for me.

Dani Dennis-Sutton 6-foot-5, 265 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s 2025 Summer Grade: Third-Round (I would not select him)

Projected by NFL Mock Draft Database to be a First-Round prospect as of August 10, 2025

2024 game film evaluated: West Virginia, Bowling Green, Kent State, Illinois, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon, SMU, Boise State, and Notre Dame (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Classic workout warrior type who checks a lot of the boxes. Muscular athletic frame. Long arms. Methodical alpha demeanor. Raw. Predominantly LDE. Gets off the snap in pass-rushing situations. Fluid straight-line movements. Teams respect his natural brute power at the point of attack (charted 24 double-teams). Flashes short-area burst. Uses hands well. Head fake is his signature pass-rush move. Seldom used his swim, spin, rip, jump step, or slap and go pass rushing moves. Doesn’t have a secondary pass rush plan. Occasionally drops into short zone coverage (charted 15 times). Tends to give up if he has to work for it. Lacks fight. Not a dependable tackler on running plays.

What to watch for during the 2025 college football season

1. Effort level?

2. What does he look like when he’s trying to change direction?

3. Does he care about run defense?

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock, and has written for Sports Illustrated (Lions, Jets, and 49ers), NFL Draft Diamonds, and Yardbarker, as well as a featured guest on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. Featured in USA Today. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. Follow on Twitter @firstroundmock.