The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2025. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first-place vote being 10 points, a second-place vote being nine points, and so on. Today we take a look at Dani Dennis-Sutton, who figures to be a force to be reckoned with in 2025!
How he got here
Dani Dennis-Sutton came in as one
of the top defensive ends recruits in the 2022 class. A 5-star recruit out of high school and No. 29 in the 2022 class, Dennis-Sutton was expected to contribute from the start. And that he did.
Dani earned True Freshman All-American honors from ESPN.com, based on a season where he gathered 17 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, an interception, and a pass breakup. He only built on from there, earning third-team All-Big Ten in 2023, adding on to his tackle total —26 in 2023, 6 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hurry, and a pass breakup.
As the full-time starter in 2024, Dennis-Sutton increased his tackles to 42 on the season, 24 of which were solo, 13 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception, 3 pass breakups, and 9 quarterback hurries.
What to expect in 2025
With Abdul Carter gone, Dennis-Sutton figures to be the go-to guy at the edge in 2025. Expect his contributions to continue to increase as it has been the case for every year he has been with the Lions. His performances in the playoff were some of the best of his career, and, with Jim Knowles taking over the defense, Sutton will have every opportunity to become as important to the defense as the previous two first round defensive ends before him.
