All Sooners

Oklahoma Spring Review: Defensive Line Could Now Be a Strength at Oklahoma

After an offseason in the portal and some good recruiting (including a late addition this week), the Sooners now appear loaded across the defensive front.

John E. Hoover

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With spring practice in the past and the NCAA Transfer Portal spring window now closed, it’s the ideal time to assess the Oklahoma roster heading into summer.

AllSooners has compiled a 10-part series, position by position, reviewing the Sooners’ spring and where that position goes from here.

Defensive Line

One thing seems certain from Oklahoma’s spring game last month: Brent Venables will continue to alternate between a 3-man defensive line and a 4-man setup.

Venables wants to remain multiple, versatile and adaptable.

Evidence from 2022 indicates the Sooner defense was more productive, especially against the run, with four big defensive linemen up front, rather than with three linemen and a stand-up end or outside linebacker.

This year, though, thanks to the NCAA Transfer Portal and some dynamic recruiting, Venables has more of his style of player manning the OU front.

There’s a transfer from Wake Forest, a transfer from Notre Dame, a transfer from Texas State and even a transfer from Oklahoma State playing d-line for the Sooners this year. There’s a 5-star freshman and two other rookies, a converted offensive lineman, three returning starters, one d-end moving inside and some very promising talent back.

There's even a brand new junior college transfer in the 2023 class, a verbal commitment made just Tuesday from Butler County College's Laine Jenkins. 

Simply put, Oklahoma seems to have more bodies and more talent on the defensive line in 2023 than the Sooners have had in a few years. By recent OU standards, it's almost an embarrassment of riches. Now they need to play like it.

“You’re going back to some competitive depth,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said, “where anytime you can have that, you build competition, that builds performance. Because they know that there’s somebody behind them that’s nipping at their heels, and if they don’t perform, they’ll lose the opportunities and the other guy will get more opportunities. That’s a back and forth that you hope happens throughout the course of the year because that makes everybody better.”

Coaches and players said after the Red/White Game that the defense overall and the defensive front in particular had a good spring — and obviously performed well in the scrimmage.

“Played a little more precise,” Venables said. “Physical, tough, confident. Structurally, pretty good.”

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“I think we started really well,” said transfer end Rondell Bothroyd, “dominating and not letting them get a first down. Offense found a rhythm a little bit. Overall, I think we played disruptive and got off the ball well and got off the field as well.”

There’s lots of experience back that hopes to blend well with some promising newcomers.

Defensive ends Ethan Downs (6-4, 270) and Reggie Grimes (6-4, 267) are both back and have had a full year now to settle into their roles as starters. So is defensive tackle Isaiah Coe (6-2, 308), who started six games last season — five after Venables settled more into a four-man front.

But newcomers this spring added competition all across the front, and everyone’s going to have to play better to keep their jobs.

“Really like the young guys up front,” Venables said.

That conversation starts with d-end P.J. Adebawore (6-4, 238), who played 25-30 snaps in the spring game. He’s a 5-star high school prospect from Kansas City, and after a dominant week at the Under Armour All-American Game, he transitioned nicely to college football this spring and looks ready to play.

“He’s got some mental toughness and some physical toughness along with a lot of physical ability,” Roof said. “He’s a guy that, for a young guy, really works, and has come in here and tries to establish himself in the right way with his work ethic and his commitment and his off-the-field stuff, and he’s done a nice job.”

“P.J. can really run,” Venables said.

Venables also likes the other two freshmen who enrolled early and played in the spring game.

“Ashton Sanders (6-1, 286) is super athletic inside guy, has a lot of bounce. He’s gonna be a really good player,” Venables said. “Derrick LeBlanc (6-5, 278) really understands football, just working on pad level.”

The class of 2023 only tells part of the story of OU’s defensive line changes this year. The Sooners could line up a four-man front just from the portal.

Bothroyd (6-3, 275) performed at an All-ACC level at Wake Forest, and he was one of the Sooners’ most impressive d-linemen in both open practices and in the spring game.

“He’s physical and experienced,” Venables said. “Definitely still working on learning everything, but he’s been really good.”

End Trace Ford (6-2, 251) was limited this spring after suffering a season-ending injury for the Cowboys last year, and he probably wouldn’t be utilized in a full capacity, but in pass-rush situations, he could provide a real punch in the pass rush.

“He’s been rehabbing, recovering,” said Roof. “We certainly don’t want to run somebody out there before they’re ready. We’re not going to do that but at the same point, it was good to see him get some reps toward the end of spring and did a nice job and again, he’s right in the mix and looking forward to seeing what happens this summer.”

“It’s a big competition,” Ford said. “We’ve got a lot of guys in our position, so I think if I’m playing good enough, I’ll play, and if I’m not playing good enough, I’ll get less snaps. It’s whoever’s being the best every week is gonna get more snaps, and whoever is not doing as good is gonna be in the back.”

Ford admits he needed a period to adjust to being on the other side of the Bedlam line.

“It feels normal,” he said. “The first couple of weeks, it was definitely weird. I didn’t really talk to anybody. I was kind of introverted, kind of staying away. But everyone’s welcomed me with open arms and everyone’s really nice. Everyone’s a big family here, so it’s been really nice. The culture is really great.”

Coaches and teammates say Davon Sears (6-2, 282) has been a pleasant surprise at defensive tackle since he arrived from Texas State.

“He's a guy that can get on top of the block,” said d-tackles coach Todd Bates. “Really can get off the ball and rush the passer. Learning to play the game in the run game and just to trying to get better every day in the run game at the point of attack.”

And tackle Jacob Lacey (6-2, 272), a Notre Dame transfer who entered the portal last fall, built a relationship with Venables and Bates as a high school recruit and has firmly established himself in the college game in South Bend.

“Man, he's a technician,” Bates said. “He really plays with good hands, good feet. And (he) has an understanding of the game.”

But the Sooners are way more than just newcomers up front. Those freshmen and transfers will have to out-scrap more established players like tackle Jordan Kelley (6-4, 295), a sixth-year senior, and fifth-year senior Marcus Hicks (6-6, 302), who shifted to offense last season but is back on defense, and sophomore Gracen Halton (6-2, 271), who had a strong offseason and collected two quarterback sacks in the spring game.

“The thing with Gracen, he’s got a lot of ability and can show out like that a little bit,” Roof said, “and from a consistency standpoint, just got to continue to be consistent. Because again, he’s a young guy, but he’s a guy with a bright future ahead of him too.”

OU coaches also expect more opportunities for sophomore R Mason Thomas (6-2, 239), who might have the highest motor of any player on defense, and senior Jonah Laulu (6-5, 277), who played defensive end last year after transferring from Hawaii but shifted this spring to the interior.

“Since January, thanks to Schmitty (Jerry Schmidt) and our nutritional staff, I've been able to gain like 15 or 16 pounds,” Laulu said. “I’m trying to keep gaining this offseason. By the season time, hopefully I'll be 290 or 290-plus.”

Senior Marcus Stripling and third-year sophomore Kelvin Gilliam also put in the work this offseason and made strides in the spring. Both could see more playing time in 2023.

“We have a bunch of guys who can get the job done,” Bothroyd said. “It’s just a matter of getting better, staying in playbook. We have the guys who can do it. We can be the best in the country.”

“We have a long way to go,” Roof said. “A course of a season will really tell the story. But we're making the improvement we need to make and there's still a lot that we have to continue to develop and improve at for sure. This (spring) was the step that was necessary to do so, though.”

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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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