Spring Preview: Once a Blemish, DL Among Oklahoma's Most Promising Position Groups

Sooners fans should be thrilled for newcomers like Stone, Okoye and Smith to join returners like Downs, Adeboware, Terry and Lacey.

NORMAN — A position group that, in past preseasons, has made Oklahoma football fans sweat, could begin this spring to develop into its most exciting defensive unit. 

Miguel Chavis and Todd Bates should be licking their chops for 2024 — and patting themselves on the back for the signees they’ve spent the past couple years securing.

Oklahoma’s defensive line returns a wealth of experience, loses little and brings in one of the most ambitious position groups in a class since (ahem) OU’s 2019 wide receiver class. That signing class is headlined by day-one ready defensive tackle David Stone, a 5-plus-star who may be one of the most equipped newcomers in the Southeastern Conference.

He’s wearing No. 0.

Stone, who grew up in nearby Del City, has wowed in the national recruiting scene since his early prep days at IMG Academy in Florida. The prodigy pass-rusher played in the Under Armour All-American Game and earned Polynesian Bowl MVP. He was widely considered the nation’s top recruit at the position before he made his commitment last August to return home and play for Brent Venables.

The born-and-bred Oklahoman has that much in common with the unit’s most significant returning player, Ethan Downs. Downs, whom OU enrolled as a 4-star steal from Weatherford, OK, in 2021, started every game for the Sooners as a junior and made 29 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He was the sixth highest-rated edge rusher by Pro Football Focus.

Downs announced in December he’d return to play his senior season in Norman after earning his second All-Big 12 second-team selection. He’ll have his work cut out for him against SEC pass protectors.

He’s not the only one making a big return in 2024.

Journeyman Da’Jon Terry joined the Sooners from Tennessee via Kansas last year and made an immediate impact, registering 16 tackles 3.5 TFLs and 2.0 sacks. The 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive tackle announced his return to Venables’ defense in December. He could also be the best candidate to mentor Stone’s transition to the collegiate game with his size and style of play.

Jacob Lacey will return for his sixth college season after starting every game in 2023. He transferred to OU in 2023 after playing four seasons at Notre Dame and, according to Pro Football Focus, played more snaps than any other Sooners defensive tackle last year while contributing 2.5 TFLs and a sack.

The Sooners took a hit losing popular edge Reggie Grimes II to the transfer portal. Before taking announcing his candidacy in the transfer portal, Grimes fell down the depth chart after suffering an early-season injury last year, but before that, he started 10 games in 2022 and tied Downs for a team-high 4.5 sacks.

Another Sooner looking to have a big spring is d-end R Mason Thomas, who was in line to start last season before a training camp ankle injury derailed him and limited him to 175 total defensive snaps in just nine games. Now fully healthy, Thomas can spend this spring refining his technique and his pass-rush skills and regaining his spot atop the depth chart. 

OU has finally established the kind of depth at edge rusher where players like former 5-star recruit P.J. Adebawore and former Oklahoma State transfer Trace Ford can make an impact coming off the bench — if Thomas and Downs can hold down starting spots.

As for the recruits; Stone likely won’t be the only player making an immediate impact. The Sooners have a slew of exceptional recruits at the position who will get snaps against SEC competition, starting with Danny Okoye.

Okoye, the No. 1 recruit in Oklahoma out of Tulsa NOAH (a nationally renowned home school program), will wear No. 16 as an edge rusher for the Sooners. Even if the Sooners hadn’t landed Stone, getting the 4-star Okoye would be a successful pulls for the team’s future.

Then there’s Nigel Smith II (6-5, 260), a consensus 4-star defensive end from Melissa, TX, who landed within 247 Sports' top 100 for the 2024 class. Like Okoye, he could have played just about anywhere in the country. Four-stars Wyatt Gilmore and Stone’s prep teammate, Jayden Jackson, round out the compelling class of freshman newcomers. All the freshmen d-linemen have enrolled and are prepping for their first spring practice.

Another spring arrival who will be under the microscope this spring is Caiden Woullard, who had an exceptional early career at Miami-OH, where he started 14 games last year and registered a Mid-America Conference-high 9.5 sacks to go with 41 tackles and 12 TFLs. He’s joining the Sooners in the portal this year and is among the team’s most promising defensive transfers.

Junior Gracen Halton was once a 4-star recruit for the Sooners and had a promising year in the rotation at defensive end, making 3.5 TFLs. More snaps could be in his future, but he'll need to have a big spring like he did last year to keep trending up. 

It's also a big spring — because it's his first spring — for 2023 Nashville 4-star Taylor Wein, who didn't arrive last year until summer and played in just one game last fall.

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