Oklahoma star Danny Stutsman teases teammate Jaren Kanak over snap with GF Mykala Olmstead: "Hard launch"

Oklahoma Sooners star linebacker Danny Stutsman has lit up preseason watchlists, landing on six ahead of the upcoming college football season. Stutsman is expected to be one of the leaders of coach Brent Venables' dressing room.

The jovial Stutsman showed his funny side off the gridiron when he teased his teammate linebacker, Jaren Kanak, by reposting a picture of Kanak with his girlfriend, Mykala Olmstead, on his Instagram stories with the caption:

"Hard launch."

Stutsman's IG stories

Olmstead is a cheerleader majoring in Business Management and Marketing at The University of Oklahoma.

Danny Stutsman: The bedrock of Brent Venables' Oklahoma

With the Oklahoma Sooners' move to perhaps the country's most intense conference in the SEC (Southeastern Conference) during conference realignment and expansion, there is barely room for slip-ups.

With the departure of quarterback Dillon Gabriel to the Oregon Ducks via the transfer portal, coach Brent Venables has had to find new leaders in the dressing room and linebacker Danny Stutsman emerged as such.

Stutsman took preseason watchlists by storm and has been named to the Vince Lombardi Trophy watchlist (best lineman & linebacker), the Dick Butkus Award (top linebacker), Chuck Bednarik Award (top overall defender), Walter Camp Award (top overall player), Bronko Nagurski Trophy (top overall defender) and Ronnie Lott IMPACT Trophy (character and performance).

His recognition is warranted after he registered 125 tackles; up from 104 the season before, trending him among the highest in the nation. He is also on the verge of entering the Sooners' top 10 for tackles made (267).

For his efforts, he earned first-team All-Big 12 and second-team All-America honors last season. This year, he has been named to the preseason All-SEC first team during Oklahoma's first season in the conference.

Danny Stutsman could have declared for the 2024 NFL Draft where his grades were favorable, but he opted to return to Oklahoma to work on his game before going pro.

“Obviously with Coach V and me coming back, we had a plan going into it, what I needed to improve upon. Obviously, block destruction is a huge one. Improving in man-zone coverage is something I’ve worked on a ton.

"Really, just leadership overall. Just coming in every day as the same person, helping the other guys to improve and just be one percent better,” Danny Stutsman said.

With his light pre-season teasing of his Sooners teammates, Danny Stutsman is already showing the leadership qualities that will serve coach Brent Venables well in the SEC.