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Oklahoma Lands Yet Another Defensive Lineman Via the Transfer Portal

The Sooners need immediate help across the defensive front, and have now dipped into the transfer portal four times to bring in experienced players.

John E. Hoover

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Brent Venables said weeks ago that Oklahoma needed help on the defensive line. For the second day in a row, he got it.

Davon Sears, a transfer defensive tackle from Texas State, announced Monday he was committing to Oklahoma over Penn State, Tennessee and others.

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Venables noted on Dec. 21, while addressing the 2023 recruiting class, that OU would lose nine total defensive linemen from this season. 

In addition to the five incoming freshmen, Sears is the Sooners’ fourth defensive line transfer this offseason, as he joins Notre Dame d-tackle Jacob Lacey, Oklahoma State d-end Trace Ford and Wake Forest d-end Rondell Bothroyd, who announced his decision Sunday to become a Sooner.

Sears was originally committed to Houston in 2020 but instead went to junior college out of Centerline High School in Detroit, a 3-star prospect, according to 247 Sports, when he landed at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa. But he earned All-ICCAC and first-team All Region in 2020 with 15 tackles, two sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.

The 6-foot-2, 290-pound Sears transferred to Texas State in 2021 but didn’t play in any games. In 2022, he played in 12 games, finished with 15 tackles, one sack and 3.5 TFLs.

According to Pro Football Focus, Sears is "one of only 11 Group of Five interior defensive linemen to rank inside the top 25 in both pass-rushing and run-defense grades." 

Per PFF, Sears played 355 snaps this season, which was third among the Bobcats' interior d-linemen. He graded at 78.3 overall, 78.1 against the run and 75.5 against the pass. He had 15 total pressures this season, including 10 QB hurries, and was credited with only one missed tackle all season.

He played one game against a Power 5 opponent this season — Baylor in Week 3 — and logged 41 total defensive snaps while grading out at 64.2, including 75.5 in pass rush situations. 

Sears entered the transfer portal on Dec. 17 and arrives in Norman with three years of eligibility.

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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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