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Penn State Football recruiting: Why Dani Dennis-Sutton’s commitment matters

By Alec Whitaker

Penn State head coach James Franklin high-fives fans after a NCAA Big Ten Conference football game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Penn State, Saturday, Oct., 12, 2019, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.191012 Penn St Iowa Fb 077 Jpg
Penn State head coach James Franklin high-fives fans after a NCAA Big Ten Conference football game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Penn State, Saturday, Oct., 12, 2019, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.191012 Penn St Iowa Fb 077 Jpg /
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Defensive coordinator Brent Pry of the Penn State Nittany Lions(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Filling A Void

Dennis-Sutton is the type of player you get on the field as early as possible, because his likely hood of sticking around for more than three years is slim.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Dennis-Sutton may be ready to play defensive end in the Big Ten right away as a freshman, and that’s good news for defensive coordinator Brent Pry and defensive line coach John Scott Jr.

The defensive end depth at Penn State was seen as a strength from 2016-2019, but that stockpile began to dwindle last season. Now, the Nittany Lions will be replacing their two starters from 2020, with Odafe Oweh and Shaka Toney both being drafted back in April.

Penn State Football went out and got transfer Arnold Ebiketie from Temple to start opposite of Adisa Isaac in 2021, but he is likely only in Happy Valley for one year. Isaac is also draft eligible after the season, and if he produces, he could see an opportunity to go pro.

That would leave Nick Tarburton, Bryce Mostella, Smith Vilbert, Zuriah Fisher,  Davon Townley and Rodney McGraw as the scholarship defensive ends, who won’t be true freshmen, in 2022. To date, no one in this group has seen significant game action. That will likely change in 2021, especially for Tarburton, but the group will still be young in 2022.

Dennis-Sutton will be the youngest of the group in 2022, but his talent and size may make up for that.

There’s no guarantee that Dennis-Sutton will start on day one, but at least having him as an option should make the entire Penn State staff feel better about the future of this group.

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