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Penn State's Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant Light Up NFL Combine

Dennis-Sutton's combine performance ranked top-20 among defensive ends since 1987.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton runs drills at the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Penn State defensive lineman Dani Dennis-Sutton runs drills at the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Penn State defensive linemen have made a lot of money at the NFL Scouting Combine. Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton likely joined them Thursday in Indianapolis.

Durant ran the fastest 40-yard dash time among defensive tackles, while Dennis-Sutton turned in one of the top-20 overall combine performances among defensive ends over the past 39 years. It was an impressive start for Penn State at the combine, which nine Nittany Lions are attending this week.

According to RAS, whose Relative Athletic Score is a key composite metric for NFL prospects, Dennis-Sutton graded at 9.93 on its 10-point scale. The site ranked his performance as 15th among more than 2,000 defensive ends who have tested at the combine since 1987. RAS' lofty comps for Dennis-Sutton were Maxx Crosby, Jevon Kearse and Jaelan Phillips.

RAS graded Dennis-Sutton in testing (including his elite explosion) while assessing his size as "good." Dennis-Sutton measured 6-5.5, 255 pounds at the combine. The defensive end ran the fifth-fastest time at his position (4.63 seconds), produced the best broad jump (10-11) and was fourth in the vertical jump (39-5).

Dennis-Sutton also brought a strong story to his interview process at the combine. The defensive end was among Penn State's feel-good stories of the Pinstripe Bowl, playing in a game that saw 11 Nittany Lions' starters opt out. Dennis-Sutton played all four quarters, making two sacks, in Penn State's 22-10 win over Clemson.

"I don't really comprehend not playing in a game," Dennis-Sutton said at Yankee Stadium. "It's an opportunity to go out there with my boys one last time, and it was a privilege. We worked hard to get into the bowl game. Things didn't go our way in the beginning, but we worked hard to get in this position, so I was just going to go out there and take advantage of it."

Durant, Dennis-Sutton's roommate, said before testing that the defensive end would "give y'all a show." In fact, they both did.

Durant ran the fastest 40-yard dash time of any defensive tackle Thursday at the combine in Lucas Oil Stadium, a 4.75 that dropped jaws in the scouting community. NFL personnel knew Durant was fast but didn't expect him to approach Aaron Donald's combine speed.

Durant's time tied for the fourth fastest in combine history among defensive tackles, according to NFL data, and was barely a breath behind Donald's time of 4.68 seconds in 2014. Durant also recorded the fastest 10-yard split time (1.66 seconds) and finished top-5 in the vertical and broad jumps.

Durant was asked at the NFL Scouting Combine to describe his game using an emoji. "I'd probably use the fast emoji, the lightning bolt," Durant responded. Then he proved it.

As expected, it was a phenomenal combine performance for the Penn State defensive tackle, who measured 6-1, 290 pounds in Indianapolis. This is what Durant sought to prove at the combine, and he did. According to RAS, Durant graded as "elite" in his speed and explosive metrics. His size, though, didn't rate highly among tackles.

Durant has more to prove than playing on the interior at his size. He admitted in Indianapolis that 2025 was a "down" year for him. Durant made 4.5 tackles for loss (down from 11 the previous season) and was uneven against the run. He was not the dominant interior force he expected to be.

"It was really just to stay relevant and show who I really am," Durant told reporters in Indianapolis about his goals for the Senior Bowl and the combine. "I had a down year last year, not to my expectations, but [it's just kind of reminding them of who I am and what my assets are and using them to the best of my ability."

Speed and explosiveness always have been Durant's leading assets. Though he often labored against bigger interior lineman, Durant could surprise them with his first step.

"My get-off is the first thing they talk about," Durant said of NFL feedback. "My motor, they said it could be better, but they said everything that I play with, the fight that I play with, how fun I play and the intensity that I play with, is something they’re excited about."

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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