Danny Stutsman, LB Oklahoma: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Stutsman was a three-star recruit from Foundation Academy in Winter Garden, Fla. in the class of 2021

Junior linebacker Danny Stutsman is a leader on Oklahoma’s defense, but the star Sooner isn’t positioned for a high pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He would benefit from returning to school for another season.

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Danny Stutsman, LB Oklahoma: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior weakside linebacker from Windermere, Fla.

Background: Stutsman was a three-star recruit from Foundation Academy in Winter Garden, Fla. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 402 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 388 (four-star) for On3.com. Stutsman was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 78 grade out of 100. He wrapped up his high school career with 333 tackles, including 47 for loss with 20 sacks, and eight forced fumbles on defense, plus 3,252 all-purpose yards and 43 touchdowns on offense. As a senior, Stutsman amassed 78 tackles, five sacks, and two interceptions in eight games. He also totaled 588 rushing yards, ten rushing touchdowns, 542 receiving yards on 25 receptions, and seven receiving touchdowns. That season, Stutsman led Foundation Academy to the 2020 Florida 2A state semifinals and was the West Orange Times and Observer All-Area Player of the Year. As a junior, he was a member of the Florida 2A All-State Team as a wide receiver when he tallied 891 yards and 12 touchdowns on 44 receptions and 30 carries for 202 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games. Stutsman picked up 110 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, three sacks, four passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown on defense that season. His sophomore year included 650 yards and 11 touchdowns on 43 receptions, 101 yards on 11 carries, and 59 tackles with two sacks. Stutsman’s father and mother played football and basketball, respectively at Baylor, while his sister played softball at Florida State.

Injuries & Off-Field: Missed three games in 2021 with an elbow injury

Awards: 2022 Honorable Mention All-Big 12, 2023 Team Captain

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, appears to have acceptable arm length, nice speed flowing laterally, shoots gaps for TFLs, missile when he gets his momentum going, some big hits, good pursuit speed, quick to diagnose screens, swim move on Jordan Whittington to get a free shot at the ball carrier (2023), quick to close on short completions, impressive range in coverage, nice speed to reach coverage assignments, gets wide and deep to cover intermediate curls and comebacks in zone, some ability to carry tight ends up the seam, reads the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate throws, dips under tackles and bends to the quarterback when rushing off the edge, closing speed makes him a threatening blitzer

Cons: Lean frame, runs himself out of plays by coming too far downhill, eagerness to get downhill leads to him filling the wrong gap, run fits and anticipation of where offensive linemen are moving must improve, poor run fits vs. Texas (2023), missed tackles and not wrapping up are concerns, slides off tackles, lacks the twitch and phone booth agility to mirror ball carriers in the hole or open field, lacks play strength to challenge climbing linemen, blocking tight ends seal him, doesn’t play through or separate from offensive line blocks at a high level, doesn’t separate from blocks and redirect in a timely manner, awareness of climbing linemen is hit-or-miss, Texas’ (2023) run blockers had a field day with him, sucked downfield by play action freeing receiving options behind him

Overview: Stutsman shows rare leadership traits for a junior. His quote, “I’m certain that one, Oklahoma only fears God. And No. 2 — Texas fears Oklahoma,” ahead of the 2023 Red River Rivalry will have a place in school history. Stutsman has special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. He appears to have NFL-sized arms attached to his lean frame. Stutsman’s speed flowing laterally pops as possibly the best element of his game. He works east-to-west to close down opportunities for the offense quickly. When working north-to-south, the Florida native fires through gaps with his burst to make tackles for loss. He is a missile when his momentum gets going. Stutsman has good pursuit speed. He is quick to diagnose and close on short passes or screens to prevent yards after the catch. Stutsman’s athletic ability gives him an impressive range in coverage. He has the speed to get wide and deep to cover intermediate curls and comebacks in zone. The linebacker can sometimes carry tight ends up the seam, but this isn’t a consistent part of his game since he’s much more comfortable operating in zone. Stutsman reads the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate throws. As a pass rusher off the edge, he dips under tackles and bends to the quarterback. However, he lacks ideal power and contact balance to handle offensive tackles. This issue translates to run defense. Stutsman doesn’t anticipate where offensive linemen will be on a play and runs himself into blocks. He lacks the play strength to challenge climbing linemen and also struggles against tight ends. The former three-star recruit struggles to separate from or deconstruct blocks in a timely manner. The Longhorns found significant success reaching and sealing or displacing Stutsman at the second level in 2023. Additionally, Stutsman runs himself out of plays by coming too far downhill. His over-eagerness to come firing downhill leads to him fitting the wrong gap or biting on play action and allowing a completion behind him. Missed tackles are a concern for the All-Big 12 honorable mention. He slides off tackles, fails to wrap up, and lacks the twitch and phone booth agility to mirror ball carriers in the hole or open field.

Overall, Stutsman is an athletic linebacker that thrives flowing sideline to sideline, but his run fits and lack of ability to stack and shed blocks make him an unlikely candidate to see considerable snaps early in his NFL career. Stutsman offers zone coverage upside with his speed to quickly reach assignments at all depths.  

Role & Scheme Fit: Weakside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme

Round Projection: Mid Fourth to Early Fifth

Size: 6'4", 236 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 10-14-23