The Oklahoma Sooners are building for what will be a defining 2024 college football season. In their first season in the SEC, the Sooners will have to adapt to the conference’s play style while proving their ability to compete in the toughest league in college football.
This offseason, the Sooners have been preparing for such, building through spring football and establishing the roster for the upcoming season. Among the moves made, returning star linebacker Danny Stutsman might be among the most impactful Brent Venables and his staff made.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports broke down college football’s most “ferocious” linebackers for the upcoming season. Stutsman was not only ranked on the listing — compiled of the top ten most ferocious at the position — but he was ranked No. 3. Stutsman was slotted behind LSU’s Harold Perkins and Clemson’s Barrett Carter.
“This defender’s decision to skip the NFL Draft early-entry opportunity for a return to the Sooners was Oklahoma’s biggest offseason win. Per Sooners Illustrated, Stutsman has been the backbone of Oklahoma’s defense the last two years, both on and off the field, since Brent Venables took over as Sooners head coach. The 6-foot-4, 236-pounder out of Windermere, Fla., has led Oklahoma in tackles each of the last two seasons, with 125 total tackles as a sophomore — tops in the Big 12 — followed by 99 total stops as a junior this fall, despite missing one-and-a-half games due to an ankle injury,” Crawford wrote.
All last season, Stutsman anchored an improved Sooners defense. Under Venables’ defense, he was able to breakout as one of the sports’ top linebackers, and he could have very well entered the NFL draft and made his jump to the pro level. Instead, he opted to stay in Norman to help transition the program into the new conference, which will have to see Oklahoma play stout defense to compete at the highest level.
It’s no surprise Stutsman, one of the Sooners’ most consistent defensive playmakers, is getting respect among the best at his position across the sport.
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