The nice part of having a pipeline of high-level recruits is the advantage of having Sunday talents making plays on Saturday. But superstars leaving in the NFL Draft every year tasks schools with filling massive holes.
Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter fought through injuries to be the best defensive player in the country a season ago. With Carter now on the New York Giants, the Nittany Lions will miss having the type of player that headlines opposing game plans and wreaks havoc on the way to the first round. In an ultra-competitive Big Ten, that spells trouble.
Yet, the expectations in Happy Valley haven't diminished. This is a team with championship aspirations and, potentially, a title-winning defense. Finding a way to mitigate Carter's absence could prove critical to finally getting over the hump.
Enter Dani Dennis-Sutton
The best player returning to Penn State's defensive line is senior edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton. He posted 8.5 sacks as the Robin to Carter's Batman and is poised to take on the leading role up front in 2025.
Unlike Carter and Micah Parsons before him, Sutton isn't a dynamic off-ball linebacker learning to play along the edge. He's experienced and comes in a different package than his Round 1 counterparts. A hair under 6'6" and 265 pounds, he can easily stay on the field against the run and can win with mass more often than smaller linemen. His bear-scaring wingspan makes him a problem to deal with and there's plenty of pass-rushing potential to unpack, too.
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Subsequently, ESPN listed him as the 17th most important player of the upcoming college football season.
"OK, by most definitions, Dennis-Sutton is already a star," Bill Connelly wrote. "He made 15 tackles for loss with 8.5 sacks and 13 run stops last season. Few did better, but former teammate Abdul Carter was one of them. The new New York Giant was otherworldly last season, and his departure means 23.5 TFLs and 12 sacks need replacing. Can Dennis-Sutton raise his game just a bit more and make sure new coordinator Jim Knowles has elite disruption up front?"
Dennis-Sutton offers an intriguing blend of pass-rushing traits. He isn't the one-of-one athletes that Penn State tends to produce, but there's plenty of speed to work with and he has strung together bend and burst often enough to believe in.
Even in his losses, Dennis-Sutton does a solid job of impacting the pocket and making his presence felt. He's a floor-raiser for the Nittany Lions, but if he takes a leap closer to the ceiling his tools suggest, Penn State could find itself with another early-round edge rusher and a deep playoff run.
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