Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman Named Preseason All-American

The preseason praise for senior linebacker Danny Stutsman has started to roll in with the 2024 season around the corner.

Oklahoma's Danny Stutsman (28) celebrates a play in the first half of the college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Central Florida Knights at Gaylord Family Oklahoma-Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct., 21, 2023. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

With the college football season looming around the corner, preseason honors have started to roll in ahead of Oklahoma’s inaugural season in the Southeastern Conference. 

Naturally, linebacker Danny Stutsman would lead the charge for the Sooners. 

Stutsman was named a Preseason First Team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. 

The veteran linebacker took another leap forward in 2023 as he became not only the leader of Oklahoma’s improved defense, but the heartbeat of Brent Venables’ second team in Norman. 

He finished 2023 with 104 total tackles, including three sacks, while also forcing a pair of fumbles and turning in a pick six. 

Stutsman only missed time in two games last year — the second half against Kansas and the entirety of Bedlam — due to an injury, and those were the only two games the Sooners dropped throughout the regular season. 

As Stutsman’s play improved, as did the entire defense — especially on the ground. 

OU’s rushing defense went from 106th in the country in 2022 to 44th a year ago. The Sooners even showed the toughness to repel teams at the goal line in multiple games, though none was more important than stonewalling Texas four times from inside the 5-yard line in Oklahoma’s dramatic 34-30 win over the Longhorns. 

With Stutsman returning, as well as veteran defensive backs Billy Bowman and Woodi Washington as well as defensive lineman Da’Jon Terry, the expectations for Venables’ defense will be to evolve again as the Sooners take on the rigor of the SEC in 2024.