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Newly minted 5-star expected to visit Penn State Football

By Alec Whitaker

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks on during the Penn State spring practice at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Alberti-USA TODAY Sports
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks on during the Penn State spring practice at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Alberti-USA TODAY Sports /
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Penn State Football is expected to get an on-campus visit from top 2022 target, five-star defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton

Dani Dennis-Sutton is arguably the top target on Penn State football’s 2022 board, and the defensive end will come to campus next week with a new designation: 5-star.

In the latest Rivals rankings update, Dennis-Sutton checked in as the 11th best recruit in the country.

https://twitter.com/Rivals/status/1401939508292165637?s=20

This new ranking comes on the heels of his official visit to Georgia, which by all accounts on social media, went well for the Dawgs.

https://twitter.com/DaniDennis302/status/1401674046018830339?s=20

The Nittany Lions are up next for Dennis-Sutton on his visit list.

James Franklin and his staff are coming off of a strong first weekend of the June visiting period, but they’ll have even more work to do this upcoming week. Dennis-Sutton is one of multiple top targets who will be visiting Happy Valley, with others including Nick Singleton and Jaeden Gould.

Dennis-Sutton has long been linked to the Nittany Lions for numerous reasons. He’s a Maryland recruit, and Penn State has done well down there under Franklin, regardless of the high school the recruit attends.  Dennis-Sutton is different though, because he attends arguably Penn State’s best pipeline in Maryland, the McDonogh School.

Penn State has four players from McDonogh on their current roster; PJ Mustipher, Dvon Ellies, Will Knutsson and Curtis Jacobs. Recruiting director Kenny Sanders is also a graduate of the school and 2023 recruit Antonio Tripp is a top target and attends McDonogh.

In addition to his connections to the program, Dennis-Sutton plays a position of need. The Nittany Lions are desperate for more star power at the defensive end position after the departures of Yetur Gross-Matos, Shaka Toney and Odafe Oweh over the past couple of seasons.

Recruiting at the defensive end position was sparse in the 2019 and 2020 cycles and former defensive line coach Sean Spencer leaving for the New York Giants after the 2019 season didn’t help.

Defensive line coach John Scott Jr. was able to rebound in 2021 and pick up Rodney McGraw and Davon Townley, but work remains.

Getting a 5-star as talented as Dennis-Sutton would go a long way in fixing the problems at defensive end. Penn State has a chance to fend off Georgia and attempt to secure Dennis-Sutton’s commitment this weekend.

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