Packers Draft Report Card: Grade for Fourth-Round Pick Dani Dennis-Sutton

GREEN BAY – During the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday night, the Green Bay Packers traded up for defensive lineman Chris McClellan. With the round coming to a close, general manager Brian Gutekunst tried to trade back into the third round.

The bad news? Gutekunst couldn’t find a deal.

The good news? The prospect Gutekunst wanted on Friday night, Penn State edge defender Dennis-Sutton, was on the board in the fourth round on Saturday.

Gutekunst got his man.

Director of personnel John Wojciechowski was as surprised as anyone.

“For as productive as he was as a player in college, and his ability and he still has upside to go with it, yes, we were absolutely surprised,” Wojciechowski said after the pick.

A Lot to Like With Dani Dennis-Sutton

It’s easy to see why Gutekunst coveted Dennis-Sutton.

Production? He had 23.5 sacks, 34.5 tackles for losses and seven forced fumbles during his four-year career. During his two seasons as a starter, he had 17 sacks, 25 tackles for losses, five forced fumbles and seven pass deflections.

“Those are game-changing plays,” Dennis-Sutton said of the forced fumbles. “Sacks are great but strip-sacks are better, forced fumbles are better, and that’s the type of player I try to be. Just being conscious of that and making it part of muscle memory is how you really get at those things.”

Versatility? Dennis-Sutton isn’t just an edge rusher. He’s a well-rounded defender with an ability to stop the run on first down and sack the quarterback on third down. He even dropped into coverage 97 times in four seasons, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He stood up also, and that’s one of the things that was intriguing,” Wojciechowski said. “You got to see his athletic traits there to be able to do that, his flexibility and [ability] to get in passing lanes. I think it was against Michigan State (that) he had an interception.

Three-down defender? No. How about a four-down defender? He played 68 snaps on special teams in 2025 and blocked three kicks. In a crowded and powerful group of edge rushers, one of Dennis-Sutton’s selling points was his play on special teams.

“Coach (Justin) Lustig, the special teams coordinator at Penn State, does a great job of teaching me different techniques on how to get to the punter,” he said. “So, you just pass rush, beat my guy and then instead of sacking the quarterback, just put my hands on the foot, and that’s how I had multiple blocked kicks this year.”

Athleticism? Yeah, he’s pretty good there, too. He had the highest Relative Athletic Score among this year’s edge players.

Dani Dennis-Sutton was drafted in round 4 with pick 120 in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.96 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 9 out of 2257 DE from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/P8hlpVu0IO pic.twitter.com/GETVs1EQUW
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 25, 2026

With production and athleticism, the belief is that for as good as he is now, there is room to get better.

“Dani, first of all, his production is really, really good,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “His size, his speed, and I just think he’s got so much in front of him as far as his best football goes. He’s an elite athlete for a guy that’s almost 6-6 and played at around 265.

“His ability to come off the edge and rush the passer, affect the passer – he can bull rush, he can win with speed, his length affects the passer, he can set edges. So, I think he’s got a lot to offer and a lot of really good football in front of him.”

Grading Selection of Dani Dennis-Sutton

With Micah Parsons coming off a torn ACL and with no proven depth whatsoever, the Packers needed another player on the edge. They had a really good one fall into their laps in the fourth round.

Media draft boards might have no basis in NFL reality, but Dennis-Sutton expected to be drafted on Friday. Instead, he had to endure a longer wait than expected to be drafted.

“Obviously, I think everybody’s disappointed if you don’t go right away or when you’re expecting to go,” he said. “I’m a confident guy, so I felt as though I’m the best and deserved to be one of the best. But things didn’t go that way, and now I just have an opportunity.

“My biggest thing is just give me an opportunity and now I have an opportunity to play in the NFL and go to a great organization and things like that. So for me, I can’t control it, just sort of keep on moving and taking the energy I have, any type of anger, whatever it may be into next week and moving forward and using it to my benefit.”

Dennis-Sutton is big. He’s athletic. He’s productive.

And now he’s got an extra bit of motivation.

“It definitely leaves a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “Once again, I’m just happy to be a Packer. But, obviously, we all want to go pretty high and things like that, but I didn’t. But now I’m a Green Bay Packer, so I’m excited to get to work, man. I’m excited for next week.”

Oh, about that grade. To get a player at a position of need who was expected to be drafted much earlier – he was the No. 60 prospect, according to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler – at No. 120 is the steal of steals.

Grade: A-plus.

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