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Oklahoma's Nik Bonitto tops PFF list

Pro Football Focus ranks Bonitto as college football's best returning defensive lineman in 2021

John E. Hoover

Pro Football Focus’ admiration of Oklahoma’s Nik Bonitto continued this week.

PFF’s Anthony Treash named Bonitto as college football’s No. 1 returning defensive lineman in 2021.

“Bonitto might be the most underrated player in all of college football,” Treash wrote. “The rush-end led all FBS edge defenders in pass-rush grade (93.6), pass-rush win rate (28%) and pressure rate generated (25.7%) in 2020. Among all Power Five edge defenders we have data on since we began grading college seven years ago, Bonitto ranks in the top five in all three metrics.”

SEE PFF's FULL LIST

Previously, Pro Football Focus rated OU quarterback Spencer Rattler as the No. 1 returning quarterback, wide receiver Marvin Mims as the No. 6 returning receiver, and running back Kennedy Brooks as the No. 3 returning running back.

As a third-year sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, FL, Bonitto was second among OU defenders last season with 10.5 tackles for loss and 8.0 quarterback sacks. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Bonitto had two sacks against Texas and three against Kansas. 

Playing OU's rush linebacker position (a stand-up defensive end), he had at least a half-sack in six of OU’s last seven games and last five in a row — every game after Ronnie Perkins’ return on the other edge of the line.

“Bonitto’s explosiveness and athleticism caused headaches for every offensive tackle he faced,” Treash wrote, “and no lineman succeeded in shutting him down in 2020. His lowest win rate in a single game this past year sat at 17.6% — a pretty solid day for most FBS edge rushers.”

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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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