Former Oklahoma All-American linebacker and NFL draft prospect Danny Stutsman had one of the more impressive combines of any player in Indianapolis this year.
The 22-year-old undoubtedly validated — if not raised — his draft stock during his Combine drills. Stutsman ran a 4.52 40-yard dash (third among linebackers) and registered a 34-inch vertical jump (10th among players at his position).
”I didn’t know what to expect,” says Stutsman in a one-on-one interview about what he expected entering the draft. “You hear a lot of stuff from people that have been there before and what to expect, and I don’t think that could have prepared me.”
Stutsman details his entire Combine experience — even leading into it — saying that the late nights and early mornings in Indianapolis put a toll on your body. However, he mentions he was able to put on the “best possible performance,” as his numbers appear to back that up.
“Everyone just sees kind of the numbers on that Thursday,” says Stutsman. “But not everyone knows the preparation that goes into the eight weeks before even before Indianapolis. You’re there four days before doing a lot of different medical stuff, staying up late and you have to be up early.
“It puts a lot of toll on your body,” Stutsman continues to say. “But to go out there and at the end of the day, be a fierce competitor no matter what the condition, you’re going to put on your best possible performance. I think I was able to do that.”
NFL Next Gen Stats registered his production score as 72 and his total score as 74, which ranks fourth in the first category and fifth in the second category among all linebackers.
When also factoring in his prolific career at Oklahoma and his ideal size and athleticism, Stutsman is projected as a Day 2 pick entering the draft, with the linebacker mentioning that seven teams formally met with him at the draft.
Stutsman acknowledges that he’s hearing from his agent that he’s projected as a Day 2 or Day 3 pick. He mentions just wanting to be drafted and living up to the commitment wherever he lands.
”I’ve heard that for sure,” says Stutsman about being a Day 2 or Day 3 pick. “I’ve heard that from my agent around there. Obviously at the end of the day, all it takes is one team that really wants you bad enough. Hopefully I’ll have the pleasure of going in between one to seven. At the end of the day, you have to be happy where you go. A team is taking a big commitment on you and just gotta be ready to make a name for yourself once you get on the lead.”
As mentioned before, Stutsman had a prolific career at Oklahoma. Outside of being named a Consensus All-American, he was a First-team All-SEC selection and First-Team All-Big 12 selection during the 2023 season before the Sooners made the transition from the Big 12 to the SEC.
Despite obviously seeing better competition during his senior season in 2024, Stutsman’s production never waned and he posted 110 tackles — his third consecutive season with at least 100 tackles. However, Oklahoma never quite reached expectations as a team during his tenure there.
The Sooners went 1-3 in their bowl games with Stutsman and never won the Big 12 with the prolific linebacker there. They had won six straight Big 12 Championships prior to Stutsman’s arrival in 2021.
Stutsman played his freshman season under Lincoln Riley before playing his last three under Brent Venables. Although the Sooners came up drastically short of expectations during his time in Norman, Oklahoma, Stutsman says he has no regrets. At one point in time, Stutsman considered transferring to USC to once again play under Riley.
However, he ultimately decided to stay at Oklahoma.
“No regrets at all,” says Stutsman. “Obviously, you talk about the standard of Oklahoma before I got there, we won six straight Big 12 Championships. That was challenging to be a part of a senior class that’s faced that adversity. At the end of the day, I loved the school, I loved the university. I have my degree from there. It’s definitely four years that I wouldn’t wish anything different.”
While the Coach Venables era hasn’t reached expectations from a team standpoint, Stutsman mentions how much he learned under his former head coach at Oklahoma, preaching consistency and having the “right attitude.”
”I really just grew up, I learned discipline,” says Stutsman of what he learned at Oklahoma playing under Venables. “I think accountability, consistency are kind of the three things I learned under Coach Venables and that system. You just gotta be the same person every single day. You can’t be a Jekyll and Hyde. You have to show up with the right attitude and just keep that every single day.”
Stutsman has high expectations for himself entering the draft, mentioning how he wants to be a Day 1 starter and be in the “Rookie of the Year” conversation. That means he’s not lowering his expectations as a Rookie — he’s aiming to be a starter.
”For sure,” says Stutsman of wanting to be a Day 1 starter. “I feel like not many people are just going to come in and say, ‘I’m cool with just being on the bench, not playing, not contributing.’ You’re kind of shortcoming yourself.”
“You obviously have to have those expectations,” Stutsman continues to say. “I know it’s not going to be easy. I know these guys are veterans who have been in the league, who have established themselves, that aren’t just going to give up their job. That’s kind of how it is. But you have to be out there and really contribute and be ready to compete.”
While Stutsman’s college career has wrapped up, one of his more notable partnerships is with JBL. Stutsman entered the collegiate ranks just as NIL became legal (in 2021). He explains why he partnered with the audio company and says music is a “big part” of his life.
”Music is something that’s a big part of my life and something that I use every day,” says Stutsman. “We’ve been with JBL for about a year now, and it’s been an incredible experience, man. They’ve been a joy to work with and they’ve been providing anything I need and for the locker room, They provided a huge speaker for us.”
Stutsman — who mentions that the Flip 7 is his favorite product from the company — says JBL provided headphones for the walk-ons at Oklahoma.
”I needed some headphones for some of the walk-ons,” says Stutsman. “I wanted to give them something and they were able to hook up a big group of those guys with some nice headphones and they’ve really just been able to do a lot for me.”
Stutsman has seen the growth of NIL from its beginnings and say the evolution has been “crazy” as far as how high school athletes are so knowledgeable when it comes to making money right out of the gates of entering college. While he’s happy to see his fellow athletes earn as much money as possible, he does acknowledge there needs to be some rules put in place moving forward.
”There needs to be some kind of rules, you know? Because there’s a lot of anarchy and a lot of chaos and you don’t want players to get distracted with the NIL,” says Stutsman. “At the end of the day, your focus has to be on football and the sport. I think there needs to be some rules put in place for sure. But it’s very challenging for me to decide on that.
“Obviously as a player, I want all the other players to capitalize as much as they can. They definitely deserve it. I think it’s great for the young guys because not everyone has a chance to go to the NFL. Only 2% of the college players have that opportunity to make some money. Some out players can use their name, image and likeness to really market themselves as huge at this level.”
