If Monday is any indication, Oklahoma Linebacker Danny Stutsman can probably expect a busy senior year.
Stutsman was named second-team All-American by ESPN on senior writer Chris Low’s “Way-Too-Early” All-America team.
Stutsman, a rising senior from Windemere, FL, will be a three-year starter in 2024 and has compiled 266 career tackles, including 28 tackles for loss, seven sacks and three interceptions as well as five takeaways via fumble.
Alabama’s Deontae Lawson, Clemson’s Barrett Carter and LSU’s Harold Perkins were named first-team linebackers.
Perkins had 75 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 quarterback sacks last year, Lawson totaled 67 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and three sacks, and Carter had 62 tackles, 9.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks.
Stutsman’s numbers in 2023 were better than any of them: 104 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and three sacks, plus an interception he returned for a touchdown, three passes defensed, one fumble recovery and two fumbles forced — despite missing 1 1/2 games with an ankle injury. This, after a sophomore year in which he made 125 tackles to rank 14th nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12.
Stutsman was named National Defensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Foundation after his performance against SMU last season, in which he made 17 tackles, a sack, a QB hurry and a fumble recovery.
Another legitimate Oklahoma All-America candidate was left off of Monday’s list entirely.
Safety Billy Bowman, a rising senior from Denton, TX, didn’t garner first- or second-team accolades from Low despite a phenomenal junior season in which he ranked tied for third in the nation with six interceptions and returned three of those for touchdowns — most TDs among all college football defenders. He also led the nation with 238 interception return yards and finished with a career-best 63 tackles.
If Bowman and Stutsman can put up those kind of numbers in 2024 as the Sooners launch their first season in the Southeastern Conference, maybe they’ll finally earn the respect of All-America voters.
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