Penn State Football: Two Key Players ‘Not Available Right Now’
Penn State Football is now in the second week of spring practices, getting ready for the 2025 season, where the Nittany Lions have sky-high expectations.
With a few key players to replace and starting positions to fill, Penn State faces a critical time to improve before the 2025 season begins. However, in the second week of spring practice, two key Nittany Lions were notably absent from the practice field Tuesday.
As the Nittany Lions took the practice field Tuesday, returning senior defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton and former Wisconsin transfer offensive tackle Nolan Rucci were not among the participants for the Nittany Lions.
After practice, Penn State head coach James Franklin noted that both were “not available right now” but did not elaborate further on their future availability.
Penn State Football Has High Expectations for Dani Dennis-Sutton
Dani Dennis-Sutton will be stepping into his second season starting at defensive end, after a strong first season starting in 2024.
Opposite superstar Abdul Carter, Dennis-Sutton also put on a show, racking up 42 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, 8.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception, and a fumble recovery. In Penn State’s three college football playoff games last season, Dennis-Sutton put on his best performances of the season, stepping up in a major way for the Nittany Lions.
Over the three games, Dennis-Sutton recorded 7 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception. Penn State’s Orange Bowl loss to Notre Dame was perhaps the best game of Dennis-Sutton’s career at Penn State, where he recorded two sacks, a forced fumble, and a clutch interception late in the fourth quarter.
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Nolan Rucci Aiming to Step Up for Penn State
On the other side of the line, Nolan Rucci also stepped up in a major way for the Nittany Lions during the playoff run last season.
After playing the role of Penn State’s third offensive tackle throughout most of the season, Rucci stepped into the starting lineup after a late season injury to starting right tackle Anthony Donkoh. Rucci went on to grade as one of the best offensive linemen for Penn State down the stretch and push his name into the conversation to start again at right tackle this fall.
It remains to be seen how long either Rucci or Dennis-Sutton will be out this spring.
Eyes will remain on both the offensive line and defensive line position groups as Penn State continues through spring practice as there will certainly be interest in the health of these two key contributors for Penn State.
Franklin will likely continue to be vague in discussing any injuries to players this spring so we will likely have to wait until both pop back up on the practice field to have any definitive answer on the severity of their injuries.
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