Dani
Dennis-Sutton.
Dani
Dennis-Sutton.
Penn State· 6'5"· 265 lb· 4.64s 40
R4 · #120 · Green Bay Packers"Four-year Penn State power end with 23.5 career sacks, 7 forced fumbles and a heavy-handed run-defense floor; ceiling capped by average bend and a middling get-off."Pre-draft read
He aligns as a base 5-technique in even fronts and a wide-9 on obvious pass downs, with cross-training at 4i in sub-package bear looks. His primary win trait is a violent long-arm/bull rush combo where he stabs the outside shoulder, walks tackles into the pocket, and disengages late to close on the quarterback.
His secondary trait is elite hand replacement against the run. He keeps his frame square, extends first, and discards blockers to stack the C-gap. His feet stay under him through contact, his eyes work back inside, and he does not get washed on down blocks. Bend rounding the arc is average, and his first-step get-off is a tick behind top-tier edges, requiring counters and stunt work more than pure speed-to-power to his rush plan.
This prospect best projects for a one-gap 4-3 penetrating front, where he can align as a strong-side defensive end.
Dennis-Sutton projects as a Week 1 starter as a 5-technique power end, developing into an impactful run defender and pressure generator off stunts and power rushes.
He would be a poor fit in a two-gap 3-4 scheme that asks its defensive linemen to consistently occupy blockers rather than penetrate.
Dennis-Sutton's NFL-ready bull rush and elite hand usage against the run make him a plug-and-play strong-side defensive end, whose scheme flexibility allows him to thrive in multiple fronts, but his limited bend and burst off the edge cap his ceiling as a pure pass rusher on third down.
2026 NFL Draft highlights: DE Dani Dennis-Sutton
Full college highlight reel — long-arm bulls, run-defense stack-and-shed, forced fumbles.
Dominant Penn State edge — 2025 highlights
Senior-season reel showcasing hand replacement and inside counter work.
4.64 forty at the 2026 NFL Combine
Combine run — verifies his 4.64 forty at 265 pounds.
He is evaluated as a four-year power end who provides a plug-and-play strong-side presence, with a clear role as a run-defense rotation piece. His game shows a high floor due to his advanced hand usage and ability to hold up on early downs against the run, projecting as a consistent contributor at the position without necessarily becoming a high-volume pass rusher. His 4.64 forty time at 265 pounds is solid but not elite, aligning with his tape profile.
He gained extensive experience over 55 games, culminating in back-to-back 8.5-sack seasons as a junior and senior. Penn State utilized him as a strong-side end, where he consistently demonstrated his ability to translate a disciplined rush plan and elite hand replacement into production. His 2024 CFP run, which included 13 TFL and 8.5 sacks, showcased his capability against high-level competition.
The consensus view placed him inside the top 60, with a Day 2 floor and a low Day 3 range. Evaluators noted an average first step on speed rushes and a pass-rush counter tree that relied more on power than bend. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round, 120th overall, a team that values his floor as a strong-side end and his fit for their existing stunt and game schemes.
- 01
Long-arm/bull rush is NFL-ready
Punches the outside shoulder, walks tackles into the pocket and finishes late; converted power on more than a quarter of his true pass rushes in 2024.
- 02
Elite hand replacement vs. run
Stabs first, resets to reload, and disengages on the second frame; graded as a top-15 run-defense edge in the Big Ten in both 2024 and 2025.
- 03
Sack production year over year
3.0, 3.5, 8.5 and 8.5 in four seasons; 23.5 career sacks is 11th all-time in the Big Ten since 2005 and reflects a rush plan that translates.
- 04
Ball-hawk finisher for the position
7 career forced fumbles (2, 2, 3 in his last three years) and 8 pass breakups; consistently plays through the ball at the point of attack, not just to it.
- 05
Scheme-flexible frame
265 pounds with room for another 5–8 without losing bend; projects as a base 4-3 strong-side end, 5-tech in even fronts, or moveable rusher in sub-package bear looks.
- 01
Average first-step get-off
A tick behind top-tier edges off the ball; rarely wins pure speed rushes on early downs, which caps his ceiling as a designated third-down rusher.
- 02
Bend rounding the arc is ordinary
Tips over rather than dips through contact; NFL tackles who reach the set point can ride him past the pocket without much recourse.
- 03
Rush plan leans on power
Counter tree is developing; when the long-arm gets stalled by an anchoring RT, he does not yet have a reliable inside spin or cross-chop to fall back on.
- 04
Pass-rush ceiling is capped
8.5 sacks in each of the last two years is a real number but many came on stunts, second-effort scraps and coverage sacks rather than one-on-one wins.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.64sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Penn State | 13 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | Penn State | 13 | 26 | 3.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | Penn State | 16 | 40 | 8.5 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | Penn State | 13 | 42 | 7.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | — | 55 | 124 | 22.5 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- Two-time top-8 Big Ten in tackles for loss (2024, 2025)
- Two-time top-6 Big Ten in sacks (2024, 2025)
- 11th all-time in career sacks in the Big Ten since 2005 (23.5)
- Three-time top-8 Big Ten in forced fumbles (2023, 2024, 2025)
Bull-rush merchant with a compact frame who wins with hands and power and delivers 6–8 sacks a year as a plus-starter strong-side end.
Power-first strong-side end who built a Pro Bowl career on hand usage, run defense and second-effort sacks rather than elite bend.
Rotational base end whose run-defense floor keeps him on a roster but whose pass-rush production never clears the mid-single digits.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context
A four-year Penn State starter who arrived from McDonogh (MD) as one of the top edge recruits in the 2022 class and never left the two-deep. Rotational as a true freshman on a playoff Nittany Lions team, he took over the strong-side end job as a sophomore and never gave it back, closing his career with 55 games, 34.5 TFL, 23.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles. His 2024 and 2025 seasons — 8.5 sacks each, back-to-back top-8 Big Ten TFL finishes, deep CFP runs both years — are the reason he landed inside the top four rounds despite modest testing.
NFL fit — Green Bay Packers
The team spent the fourth round on a plug-and-play strong-side end to slot behind Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness, with cross-training reps at 4i inside on run downs. Green Bay's defense already leans on stunt and games work, which suits his rush plan; the defensive personnel have been transparent that his first NFL role is as a run-defense rotation piece who can spell either starter and hold up on early downs. His long-term ceiling is a 40-snap-a-game base end whose sack numbers live in the 5–7 range but whose run-defense floor lets the defense keep him on the field on second-and-8.
Retrospective
If the pick works, it is a case study in valuing a broad, four-year floor over a narrower athletic ceiling in the fourth round. If it does not, the flags will read the same as they did coming out of Happy Valley — average get-off, capped bend, a counter tree that never came. The bet Green Bay is making is that his hand usage, motor and CFP-tested run-defense floor make him a decade-long starter at strong-side end, even if the sack total never crosses double digits.