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More Preseason Accolades Roll in for Four Oklahoma Players

Sooners linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman, defensive tackle Jayden Jackson and offensive guard Eugene Brooks all received All-America recognition on Monday.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma DL Jayden Jackson
Oklahoma DL Jayden Jackson / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI
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Four Oklahoma players received All-America recognition on Monday — three on the Sooners’ defense and one on offense.

Linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman both landed on the 2024 Associated Press preseason All-America team, while defensive tackle Jayden Jackson and offensive guard Eugene Brooks was named by ESPN’s Tom Luginbill as a preseason Freshman All-American.

Stutsman, a 6-foot-2, 241-pound senior from Windermere, FL, is up for six individual preseason award watch lists, while Bowman, a 5-10, 200-pound senior from Denton, TX, is up for three. Both have been nominated for multiple national defensive player of the year awards.

"It's been good," said cornerback Gentry Williams. We got a lot of leaders back in Billy and Danny and Woodi (Washington) and all them guys being back and being able to build off of what we did last year going into a new conference. I'm excited for what this group is gonna do on the defensive side. It's been really good."

Jackson is a 6-3, 300-pound freshman from Indianapolis via Florida’s IMG Academy, where he played two seasons with OU teammate and Oklahoma native David Stone. Jackson was voted the IMG’s Defensive Player of the Year and has been projected by insiders as a possible starter on the Sooners’ defensive interior.

Brooks is a 6-3, 336-pound freshman from Las Vegas via Sierra Canyon High School in California, where he was the Mission League Most Valuable Lineman and earned Max Preps second-team California All-State honors while also winning the district title in shot put and also throwing teh javelin.

Stutsman led the Sooners in tackles and was among the national leaders each of the last two seasons (125 and 104, respectively). With 267 career stops in his 35 games (25 starts), he’s on the verge of cracking the school’s all-time top 10 (Kevin Murphy is No. 10 at 353). He also has 28.0 tackles for loss (Dan Cody and Scott Evans are tied at No. 10 with 41), with three career interceptions, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, eight passes defensed and seven quarterback sacks.

Stutsman received second-team All-America honors and first-team All-Big 12 last year. He also landed on the preseason All-SEC first team this year.

Stutsman played 722 snaps last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and his overall defensive grade of 71.8 from PFF ranked 29th among Power 5 linebackers nationally. He played 992 defensive snaps as a sophomore and has 1,855 career snaps to his credit, according to PFF.

Bowman was an All-Big 12 First Team selection and a CBS Sports All-American pick in 2023. He started all 13 games for the Sooners and picked off six passes last year, tied for second in the nation, and led all of college football with three runbacks for touchdowns, as well as in return yardage (238) — both school records.

He has started 29 of his 35 games at OU, including all 13 last season, when he made a career-high 63 tackles, three tackles for loss and four passes defensed.

According to Pro Football Focus, Bowman posted a 54.1 overall defensive grade as a true freshman in 2021, a 73.3 as a sophomore and a 68.2 last year. His 2022 coverage grade of 82.3 ranked 39th among Power 5 defensive backs. He played 781 total snaps last year, per PFF, which ranked second on the defense behind cornerback Woodi Washington’s 851.

Jackson enrolled at OU in January as a 4-star prospect by 247Sports and Rivals and a 3-star recruit by ESPN and On3. Rivals ranked him as the nation’s No. 189 overall prospect, while 247 Sports had him at No. 190 overall.

Jackson was selected for the 2024 Polynesian Bowl after helping lead IMG Academy to an unbeaten season. He was credited with 17 tackles, 6.0 TFLs and a QB hurry in the first four games of 2022 and chose OU over Florida, Miami-FL, Ohio State, Texas and others.

"Jackson started in the Oklahoma spring game but likely will be in the rotation at defensive tackle with fellow freshman David Stone, among others," Luginbill writes. With the move to the SEC, Oklahoma needs upgraded defensive front personnel, and Jackson has impressed. He will need to grow up quickly as the rise in the level of competition in the trenches from the Big 12 to the SEC will be steep."

Brooks also enrolled at OU in January as a consensus 4-star and top-185 national prospect. He was rated the No. 73 overall recruit in the nation by 247Sports, who had him as the No. 3 interior o-lineman, and was ranked No. 134 overall by Rivals, who ranked him No. 5 nationally among offensive guards.

Brooks was a 2023 Under Armour All-American, an All-State nominee by CalHiSports and helped lead his team to two straight Mission League championships after transferring from Desert Pines in Las Vegas. Brooks chose Oklahoma over Georgia, Oregon, Texas, Texas A&M, USC and others.

"Brooks is currently running with the second team in camp at guard," Luginbill writes. "The former Under Armour All-American has had his ups and downs during training camp, but he has also shed close to 60 pounds off his frame to help aid his quickness and agility. With that type of discipline and work ethic, clearly Brooks is serious about getting on the field this fall."

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John E. Hoover

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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