Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Danny Stutsman returns for a fourth season in college football with plenty of national hype.
Stutsman was named a preseason Walter Camp first-team All-American earlier this month and made the preseason first-team all-conference squad in the SEC last week. He represented OU at SEC media days and part of his reason for returning to college was to get a chance to show his stuff in the SEC this year.
The recognition keeps rolling in for Stutsman. He appeared on College Football News’ list of the Top 25 linebackers in college football. Oklahoma’s emotional leader came in at No. 6 in the rankings. That placed him as the second-best linebacker in the SEC, behind only LSU‘s Harold Perkins.
Stutsman led the Sooners with 104 tackles in 2023, including 16 for a loss. He had three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery last year, as well as his pick-six against Tulsa. He also had three pass breakups in coverage. This all came in a little over ten games, as he missed a portion of the Kansas loss and all of the Oklahoma State loss with an injury.
Oklahoma went 10-1 last season in games Stutsman started and finished. If he’d been healthy for all twelve regular season games, there’s no telling where OU’s season might have gone in 2023. Brent Venables needed a player like Stutsman to help lead the Sooners out of the Big 12 and into the SEC, and a fully-developed Stutsman should be a joy to watch against college football’s best conference.
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