Danny Stutsman #LB27 of Oklahoma participates in a drill during the NFL Scouting Combine (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Former All-American linebacker and NFL draft prospect Danny Stutsman has high expectations for himself.
As he prepares to hear his name called during the 2025 NFL Draft, Stutsman projects as one of the more intriguing prospects at the linebacker position. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker projects as a Day 2 or Day 3 pick after a prolific career with the Oklahoma Sooners, which included three straight 100-tackle seasons.
Stutsman turned in an equally impressive Combine performance, ranking third in the 40-yard dash and 10th in the vertical jump among all linebackers.
A Rookie of the Year Mindset
Needless to say, Stutsman is setting the standard as he enters his first year—he wants to be in the Rookie of the Year conversation.
“The first thing is, you gotta make the 53-man roster,” says Stutsman in a one-on-one interview with RG on behalf of his partnership with JBL. “You have to have the highest standards for yourself. I want to go out there, I want to contribute, I want to become a starter right away. I know it’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort, but obviously I see myself being in Rookie of the Year watch.”
While a lot certainly hinges on where Stutsman ends up landing, he says setting “huge” goals for himself early is key if he’s ever going to achieve them.
“Those are huge goals for a linebacker coming in early,” says Stutsman. “But if you’re not going to set those standards, you’re not going to shoot for the moon, it’s never going to happen if you’re not saying it right now.”
NFL Meetings and Family Ties
The Windermere, Florida, product—it’s in the Orlando area—mentions how he met with seven different teams at the Combine, including the likes of the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers.
“I met with seven teams, kind of a good range,” says Stutsman.
“I met with the Cowboys, the Bengals, the Ravens, the Giants, the Rams and the Steelers. My kind of experience with that, it’s really high tense. You go into those rooms, you have a wide group of executives and people that are in high-power positions, and they just want to see you, put you on the spot and see how you react in a tense moment like that.”
Stutsman mentions how the meeting with the Cowboys stood out to him because all of his family are Dallas fans. He says his dad is actually from Texas. However, Stutsman himself—a Florida native—is actually a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. The Buccaneers were not one of the teams that Stutsman mentioned meeting with, but playing for Tampa Bay would mean playing with fellow Sooners alum Baker Mayfield.
“My dad’s from Texas, so I grew up watching the Cowboys,” says Stutsman. “To be able to go in that room and just chop it up with all those guys and they know that connection, it was really exciting. All my family is a huge fan of the Cowboys, so it’s kind of a surreal experience in itself.”
College Success and Team Struggles
There’s little doubt that Stutsman was one of the most statistically prolific linebackers during his career at Oklahoma, but the team never reached expectations during his tenure there. The Sooners had won six consecutive Big 12 championships prior to Stutsman’s arrival. However, they didn’t win a single conference championship during his four years there.
Stutsman played his freshman season under Lincoln Riley before he took the USC Trojans job, then played his final three years under Brent Venables. The Sooners have been a mixed bag under Venables, turning in two 6–7 seasons with a 10–3 season sandwiched in between. While Oklahoma is still looking to achieve success under the 54-year-old head coach, Stutsman mentions what a positive influence Venables has been on him as a player.
The high-ranking linebacker prospect acknowledges that he needs to be better in man coverage and be better with his tackling at the next level.
“First thing I need to do is my tackling needs to be more consistent,” Stutsman admits. “I feel like at the next level, there’s a lot of times in college I can get away with some of the angles and tackle pursuits that I made. At the next level, it’s not going to happen. Just gotta work on that. I feel like my man coverage needs to improve a bit. In our defense back at Oklahoma, it was a lot of zone premise and so I’d like to be able to get more comfortable in man technique.”
Modeling His Game After Fred Warner
When asked which linebacker he would compare himself to, Stutsman names another fellow middle linebacker in the San Francisco 49ers’ Fred Warner. The 6-foot-3 Warner is considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL as a four-time All-Pro and Pro Bowl linebacker selection.
“At the end of the day, I am my own type of player,” says Stutsman. “But someone I kind of admired and I still admire is Fred Warner. The way he plays at such a high level is someone I try to emulate, he’s probably the pinnacle of linebackers right now in the NFL. To be able to watch him, watch his tape and hopefully try to imitate how he plays on the field.”
Stutsman mentions the similar stature between the two and the fact that they make similar calls as inside linebackers.
“In their scheme, what they do are similar calls that we had at Oklahoma,” says Stutsman. “He’s a taller dude at 6-foot-3. His stature’s kind of similar to mine. To watch his technique at that height, I think it helps me prepare better.”
We’ll see where Stutsman ends up landing during the 2025 NFL Draft in April, but there’s certainly no shortage of teams that will be interested in the All-American linebacker.
DJ Siddiqi
