2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Danny Stutsman

Strengths

• Imposing Frame: Towering, athletic build at 6'4" with room to add muscle.
• Athleticism: Solid bend for a player of his size, allowing him to maneuver blocks.
• Thumper: An enthusiastic run defender who accelerates and shoots his gap.
• Coverage Skills: Plus balance for a bigger linebacker who can cover the flat and go stride-for-stride in the open field with larger tight ends in man coverage.
• Instinctual: Minimal wasted movement when breaking downhill into his gap.
• Intangibles: Passionate leader who plays with high intensity, regardless of the score.

Weaknesses

• Zone Coverage: He needs to improve at feeling routes developing behind him in zone coverage.
• Reading Keys: Can get caught with his eyes in the backfield, leaving the MOF open.
• Wiry Frame: He needs to add strength; he struggles to stack and shed.
• Handfighting: There is no plan to attack linemen at the LOS; he either barrels into them or tries to dip beneath them. He needs to refine his hand-fighting techniques.
• Tackling: Alarming missed tackle rate in 2024 (12.2%), 2023 (9.2%), and 2022 (14.8%).

Final Thoughts and Chicago Bears Fit for Danny Stutsman

Danny Stutsman is a high-trait linebacker who showed promising development at Oklahoma. At 6'4", it's hard not to see a little Brian Urlacher in his frame, but Stutsman will need to add muscle if he wants to be a three-down linebacker in the NFL. He struggles to shed blocks and relies more on going around a blocker than through them.

Athletically, he has all the tools to be elite at the next level. Oklahoma, at times, had him drop deep into coverage from the middle linebacker spot in Tampa-2 looks, and he can cover a tight end in the middle of the field or a running back in the flat. He needs to improve his feel for developing routes behind him in zone coverage, and at times, he seems awkward defending mesh routes, going so far as to bump into his teammates.

Stutsman would be an interesting backup to Tremaine Edmunds. If the Bears had the luxury of spending a third-round pick on him (perhaps if Ian Cunningham gets hired as a GM?), he could be a solid heir apparent. Stutsman needs a year to mature, and his eye discipline and reading of his run fits all could use some additional refinement, but he showed improvement from 2023 to 2024 in these areas.

Pro Comp: Eric Kendricks (but taller)