INDIANAPOLIS — While his 6-foot-5 frame and high-level athleticism certainly did not hurt, that wasn’t all Dani Dennis-Sutton had going for him in posting 17 sacks over the past two seasons for Penn State.
A two-time team captain and part of the Nittany Lions’ run to the College Football Playoffs last year, Dennis-Sutton takes a cerebral approach to pass rushing, even as he makes it sound as if he does anything but.
“Pass rush,” Dennis-Sutton said Wednesday from the site of the NFL combine, “is really simple.”
Please explain, Dani.
“‘Get off’ is the key,” he said. “I think you ask any pass rusher that if you can get off the ball quicker than the offensive lineman and beat him to the spot, nine out of 10 times you’re going to get a sack or you’re going to get that pressure. So it starts with the get-off. But for me, I’m a big guy, so I like to use my speed and power. And then off of that, I like to use my (‘bull rush’), ‘stub club’ (moves), and just work off of that.”
A five-star recruit, Dennis-Sutton was a freshman All-American and two-time team captain at Penn State. He impressed coaches and teammates by choosing to play in the Nittany Lions’ Pinstripe Bowl win during an era when many draft prospects skip out on non-playoff bowls.
The 268-pound Dennis-Sutton is projected as a Day 2 selection.
Rooting for Artie
After being let go as Steelers offensive coordinator after the resignation of coach Mike Tomlin, Arthur Smith’s newest gig is at the college level. Smith was hired as coordinator at Ohio State.
Smith’s first coordinator job was with the Tennessee Titans in 2019, when then-head coach Mike Vrabel promoted him from tight ends coach. Vrabel this past season led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl in his first season as their head coach.
An Ohio State alum and former Steelers player, Vrabel on Wednesday said he has plenty of respect for Smith as a coach and as a man.
Patriots coach, former Steeler and Ohio State alum Mike Vrabel said he’s a close friend of former Steelers OC Arthur Smith and has great respect for his abilities as a playcaller. He’s rooting for him to succeed in his new role as Ohio State OC. pic.twitter.com/Z2xfstfVzO
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) February 25, 2026
“For all the Ohio State fans, I guess we have somebody there to complain to if they don’t score 50 points a game like every other Buckeye fan does,” Vrabel said with a smile. “I’m excited for him to be in Columbus.”
Smith, who spent three seasons as the Atlanta Falcons head coach, was the Steelers coordinator in 2024 and 2025.
Praise for new Steelers assistant
Texas Tech defensive end prospect Skyler Gill-Howard said of new Steelers outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You: “He was one of my favorite coaches of all time.”
Ah You is a full-time NFL assistant coach for the first time, joining new head coach Mike McCarthy’s staff after spending the past four seasons as the OLB coach at Texas Tech.
Ah You, 43, appeared in 33 NFL regular-season games between 2009-2011 and has nine years of college assistant experience.
“He’s a coach that is going to challenge you,” Gill-Howard told reporters, “but also make fun of you at the same time in a positive way. I’m super excited that he got the job with the Steelers.
“His big thing was, ‘Stop playing catch-up.’ He would text us at 6 a.m. that he’s in the sauna or getting a workout in. He would tell us to stop playing catch-up. I told him (Wednesday over text message), ‘You’ve got to stop playing catch-up now that we’re about to be in the league.’ I talk to him all the time.”
Gil-Howard is projected as a Day 2 draft pick. He was one of five players from Texas Tech’s front seven on defense who were invited to the combine.