Penn State Football Recruiting: First 2022 Big Board

3. Dani Dennis-Sutton

Penn State is in some trouble at defensive end going forward. Shaka Toney and Shane Simmons probably won’t take a sixth year in 2021, and Jayson Oweh may enter the draft. That leaves Penn State with Adisa Isaac and Smith Vilbert as the likely starters for 2021. Next year will be an issue, but 2022 and the years after may be worse.

If Isaac was to have a good season, he is eligible to leave, and it’s a position that the Nittany Lions did not recruit well in 2020 and 2021. Talent and depth may be an issue in 2022.

Enter Dennis-Sutton, a highly ranked 4-star coming in at 6 foot 5 and 250 pounds. He has the build and talent to play right away as a true freshman, and the Nittany Lions may need him to.

He’s got schools like Alabama and Michigan hot on his trail, but the Nittany Lions should feel good about this one. The reason, he attends McDonogh High School in Owings Mills, Md, a school that has produced current Nittany Lions D’Von Ellies, Curtis Jacobs and PJ Mustipher. Penn State has built a pipeline with McDonogh and that relationship should help them here.

Not only is the relationship there, but so is the possibility of playing early and playing with some former teammates. It’s far from a done deal, but it’s not hard to imagine Dennis-Sutton in blue and white.