Dani Dennis-Sutton impressing James Franklin, Penn State early in Fall Camp

Arguably Penn State football’s top prospect from the class of 2022, On3 consensus 5-star freshman Dani Dennis-Sutton is already impressing head coach James Franklin early on in the Nittany Lions fall camp. The 6-foot-5, 255 pound edge rusher out of Maryland is set to make an impact for Penn State this season, Franklin said.

That is all the more impressive when you consider the context Franklin added: Dennis-Sutton didn’t enroll early and join the team in the spring or for early summer workouts. He’s simply showed up to campus for the second half of summer and fall camp and started leaving a mark. Franklin, just a handful of days into fall camp, said he expects Dennis-Sutton to play a role for Penn State at some point this season.

“So he’s playing a little catch up right now,” Franklin said, “but there’s excitement for him. Whether it’s game one or game four, we’ll see, but I think he’s trending in the right direction and obviously somebody that we’re talking a lot about, probably going to factor in for us.”

A big reason for Dennis-Sutton’s immediate impact is that he showed up to Penn State physically ready, based on what Franklin said.

“He’s just so much more physical than most guys,” Franklin said. “He benches 400 pounds, he’s 255 pounds. Physical. Comes from a great program that we’ve had a lot of success.”

How Penn State’s other 5-star freshmen might factor in

Dennis-Sutton is one of the three On3 consensus 5-star freshmen on Penn State’s roster, with the other two being quarterback Drew Allar and running back Nick Singleton.

Singleton seemingly has a path to get on the field as a true freshman if he can distinguish himself amidst a young group of running backs. Franklin was generally high on Singleton when speaking after practice this week.

“They’ve been really good. Really, both of them have been,” Franklin said. “Obviously, there have been a lot of conversations about Nick Singleton, but him and Kaytron [Allen], there is a buzz within our program about those two guys and what they’re doing. I know Sean [Clifford]’s really excited about it. I know the young quarterbacks are really excited because they’re gonna have more time with them.”

As for the “young quarterbacks” — including Allar — they will likely need to wait at least a year for their turn at the helm with Clifford and his 38 career appearances locked in as the starter for Penn State in 2022.