With Added Weight, Oklahoma's R Mason Thomas Feels New Speed and Power

The Sooners' defensive line is relying on the talented youngster to take the next step in his development.

As Brent Venables tries to restore Oklahoma’s defense during his second year in charge, sophomore defensive lineman R Mason Thomas certainly hopes to be a big piece of the puzzle.

The defensive staff couldn’t keep Thomas off the field despite being undersized as a true freshman. Last fall, he was playing on the line at around 220 pounds, moving bodies by speed and finesse. 

He got busy in his first spring with strength coach Jerry Schmidt, enough to earn early playing time. But after another offseason focused on adding weight and power, Thomas’s true potential can start to shine.

“The power you can generate,” Thomas began after practice Thursday. “I’m not like 260, but that speed and power at the same time, you generate a lot of force. It’s easier to have feel. At 220, I wasn’t knocking people back like that as much. Now at like 240, you get that punch, that power. It’s a lot better.”

The Fort Lauderdale, FL, product appeared in 10 games a season ago, and totaled seven tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, 0.5 sacks and one QB hurry. He was a camp standout, impressing both the coaching staff and his teammates leading up to the first week of the season. Thomas’ raw talent has never been a question.

With an experienced mindset and an advanced offseason of progression, he could be looking at a breakout year for the Sooners. What has he learned the most to this point?

“I think to really just take it all in,” Thomas said. “Like, get that experience and not be so hard on yourself. You come in, you always want to be that dude. You just came from being that dude, you want to be that dude quick. You want to know all the plays, and when you mess up, it’s kind of frustrating. But just telling yourself, ‘Trust the process. Keep doing what you’re doing.’ I think that’s the biggest lesson from freshman year.”

It was a rocky first season in Norman for all of Oklahoma’s newcomers, which ended up being nearly the entire team. A 6-7 campaign certainly isn’t what Thomas envisioned when committing to the Sooners.

Oklahoma’s setbacks, however, easily could’ve gone the other way. Five of the Sooners’ losses were a one-score game, and four out of the five Oklahoma dropped by three points. Ironing out the small details will be crucial for the entire team, but especially for Thomas, who said it's the details that matter.

“It really does,” Thomas said. “You don’t think of it. Before, you don’t think the details really matter like that. Inches like that left on the field, how they were telling us. But the coaches know, they have experience. They’ve been through losing games by three or winning by seven. All those inches add up as you watch film. Now, really taking it all in.”

Thomas is leaning into Venables’ detailed mentality and has obviously spent extra time in the weight room this offseason. Trusting in Schmidt and Oklahoma’s offseason program paid dividends for the talented defensive lineman, who looks noticeably bigger this fall as he plays 20 pounds heavier. 

That commitment to Schmidt's program could help him become one of the Sooners’ most versatile playmakers on the defensive line this season.

“He’s always trying to get us better and he made sure he put that weight on me, and it feels good,” Thomas said of Schmidt “Maybe even faster, to be honest. It just feels good. He don’t want to put on that bad weight, that junk-food weight. He wants to get us lean, muscle mass, you see it. It feels like when you put on that muscle mass, you feel like you’re even faster and explosive.”

A faster, more explosive version of Thomas would be huge for Oklahoma's defense, and his breakout season would speed up Venables' rebuild.