Oklahoma's Finest: LB Danny Stutsman Compiled Big Numbers on Defense

The Sooners' fast-rising sophomore chased consistency all season as he led the Big 12 in tackles but also led the team in missed tackles.

NOTE: Part 4 of a series spotlighting the Sooners' best performances of 2022.

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Nobody played more snaps at Oklahoma this year than Danny Stutsman. And certainly nobody made more tackles.

Stutsman led the Sooners — and the entire Big 12 Conference — with 119 tackles this season from his inside linebacker spot.

Not bad for a sophomore in his first season as a college starter.

“Danny leads the Big 12 in tackles per game,” head coach Brent Venables said recently. “So that's pretty good, right? I know some people think he stinks. But I'm pretty proud of him. He's gotten better.”

Stutsman’s tackle total ranks tied for 13th nationally. He’ll likely add to it in the Sooners’ bowl game, and that will give him the second-highest total by an OU player since Travis Lewis had 144 back in 2008. In that stretch, only Kenneth Murray’s total of 155 in 2018 was better.

Stutsman posted double-digit tackles in six games this year, and three of his last four. That included a career-high 18 tackles in the loss at Texas Tech.

But like Venables referenced, it wasn’t perfect. Stutsman also led the Sooners this year with 20 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. His overall grade of 57.9 ranked only 19th among his teammates in the regular rotation on defense.

“Like all growth patterns for young players,” Venables said, “there's gonna be some ebbs and flows. But I'm telling you, he's on his way to being an outstanding player.”

After the Sooners lost to Texas Tech and fell to 6-6 on the year, Stutsman got a lot of questions about disappointment and frustration. But his tone never changed.

“The process continues,” Stutsman said. “You just gotta get back up, get back on the saddle and keep fighting.”

The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Stutsman signed with the Sooners last year out of Foundation Academy in Windermere, FL. He was a 4-star prospect and the No. 180-ranked player in the country, according to 247 Sports. He finished his high school career with 333 total tackles, 47 tackles for loss and 20 quarterback sacks to go with eight forced fumbles. He also got plenty of action on offense, where he accounted for 3,252 all-purpose yards.

Stutsman was a backup linebacker last year as a freshman, and also lost three games with an elbow injury. He totaled 38 tackles, 1.5 TFLs and one sack while also forcing two fumbles. In 141 snaps, he missed only one tackle.

This year, learning from Venables and Ted Roof, was his breakout season.

He had nine tackles in the opener against UTEP, then compiled 12 against Kent State, including a sack. Against Nebraska, Stutsman had a season-low four stops, but then he made 10 against Kansas State.

Stutsman made seven tackles against TCU, then contributed 13 tackles and 1.5 TFLs in the blowout loss to Texas. Stutsman made seven stops against Kansas, then had five stops and a game-clinching interception (and a 37-yard runback) at Iowa State.

As the season went on, Stutsman’s numbers began to pile up: 10 stops against Baylor, 15 at West Virginia (with another INT), nine against Oklahoma State, and the 18 at Texas Tech.

Like enemy ballcarriers, consistency was something Stutsman chased all season — and often, he caught it.

“He’s finding the football,” Venables said. “He’s getting better. He’s really hard on himself. Great worker. He’s investing a lot of time into his craft, into this team. And he takes accountability when it’s not good. So he’s easy to coach.”

Most of Stutsman’s missed tackles came during a stretch from Week 2 to Week 10, when he missed 18 tackles total. In that stretch, the Sooners lost five games. There were plenty of times when it looked like Stutsman and several of his teammates were just trying to do too much — make plays happen that weren’t there, or make a big hit when a simple wrap-up would suffice. The losing likely created a desperation within the ranks.

In the Sooners’ final two games, he missed only two tackles combined.

“Murphy’s always gonna strike,” Stutsman said. “That’s something we’ve been taught since day one. There’s nothing we can do about that. We just gotta keep responding.

“We’re trying to build a culture here. We’re taking steps in the right direction. Obviously, there’s gonna be setbacks. But we just gotta keep getting better, keep moving forward.

“It takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“We stripped down to the studs. We’re starting from the very bottom — and I think that’s tough sometimes. But it’s gonna take time.“

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