Thinking all the way back to April feels a bit odd, as we enter week 7 of the NFL season. But recently, I've been thinking back on some of the dialogue about the Green Bay Packers' 2026 draft class. Despite being so widely lauded within Packers circles, it was treated as a rather pedestrian haul of rookies overall by the national media. Not having a first-round pick is probably the main reason for this, but as I read through article after article, I started to notice something.
Whether a "draft pundit" liked or disliked the Packers' draft class this year largely depended on their thought about edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton, the team's fourth-round selection.
And that's no surprise, because DDS was a polarizing prospect. On the one hand, his physical traits jump off the page. He's listed at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, with good length (33.5-inch arms). At the annual scouting combine, DDS tested as one of the most athletic edge rushers to ever enter the league. He ended his evaluation with a 9.96 relative athletic score.
In college, DDS was a productive member of a good Penn State defense, with 8.5 sacks in each of his last two years. His snap counts went up every year he played, and so did his pressure totals and run stops. He had an impressive pass rush tool bag, played well against the run, and all against great competition. So what's the catch?
DDS could be defined as a "nearly" kind of player. Nearly affected the QB on one play. Nearly made the stop on another. He could make a splash play, but then disappear for long stretches at a time. But the biggest head-scratcher for evaluators was why his athleticism didn't quite show up on the film.
Seven weeks into his rookie season, though, DDS has been busy proving his doubters wrong.
Packers' Dani Dennis-Sutton is already erasing draft narratives and looking like a value pick
While Packers fans loved their own draft, a couple of notable draft analysts were pessimistic about their approach. The Athletic's Dane Brugler ranked it 26th out of 32, and Lance Zierlein of NFL Media gave Green Bay a C-minus. Here's what they said about Dennis-Sutton specifically in their respective scouting reports:
"Dennis-Sutton will find sack production harder to come by against NFL blocking, but he is a commanding presence and has the size, strength and quickness to be a force player on the edge. He will be more appealing to teams looking for a 'high-floor' role player, as opposed to a 'high-ceiling' pass rusher."Dane Brugler, The Athletic
"Dennis-Sutton is a base defensive end with toughness. He’s effective against the run, but he has limited pass-rushing upside. ... Dennis-Sutton is equipped to muddy running lanes but might not make many impact plays. He has average upside as an odd- or even-front end."Lance Zierlein, NFL Media
Meanwhile, Next Gen Stats has Dennis-Sutton with 21 total pressures, second among rookies this season and 24th among all players. But more impressively, 21 of these pressures have come from only 97 pass-rushing snaps, equaling a pressure rate of ... 21.6 percent. That's the third-highest rate in the entire league, behind only the Minnesota Vikings' Dallas Turner and Baltimore Ravens star Trey Hendrickson. For additional context, that's a higher clip than All-Pro Micah Parsons recorded last season!
Dennis-Sutton has been a major part of Green Bay's defense's ability to not only get by in Parsons' absence, but also flourish. He, Lukas Van Ness and others such as Brenton Cox Jr. and Barryn Sorrell have formed a pass rush that has not been a detriment to the Packers' success. On the ground, he's second among the team's edge rushers with a (per PFF) 70.5 run defense grade, two run stops and an average depth of tackle of -0.7 yards. His average run tackle is in the backfield. That's incredible production for a rookie!
But the thing that has impressed me most about DDS has been the very thing that was such a detriment to his pre-draft standing: his consistency. While his fellow young edge rushers, Cox and Sorrell, have flashed upside on occasion, DDS is making an impact constantly. It seems like every drive, he's in the backfield making a tackle or applying pressure to the QB. That kind of consistency is exactly what DDS needed to add to his game, and in doing so, he has quietly become one of the most underrated Packers on the roster so far this season.
If he continues to play at this level, Dennis-Sutton would join a long line of successful fourth round picks made by Brian Gutekunst over the years. Evan Williams, Zach Bako-Bewele, and Romeo Doubs were all selected there as well. The mark of a good general manager (and a championship team) is being able to pull value out of those mid-round draft selections, especially in a year without a first-rounder.
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