Oklahoma’s defensive line is about to look different, but Brent Venables isn’t treating that as a warning sign. He’s treating it like the next opportunity for somebody to step forward.
The Sooners are moving on without several major pieces from their 2025 front. R Mason Thomas, Marvin Jones Jr., Gracen Halton and Damonic Williams all played their final college games on Dec. 19, when Oklahoma fell to Alabama in the College Football Playoff.
Even with those departures, the top of the depth chart still looks strong. Rising juniors David Stone and Jayden Jackson are set to anchor the interior, while Taylor Wein and either Danny Okoye or Adepoju Adebawore project as the starters on the edge.
The question is what comes after that. Oklahoma’s reserves up front are much less proven, with defensive tackles Nigel Smith II, Trent Wilson and Bishop Thomas and edge rushers Kenny Ozowalu and Wyatt Gilmore all carrying limited experience in Norman.
That’s where Venables’ track record comes in. Year after year, somebody on his defensive line has found another gear.
“Every year there's a new storyline when it comes to players emerging, players coming out of nowhere,” Venables said at SEC Media Days in Tampa, FL, on Monday.
He pointed first to Stone and Wein as the latest examples.
Stone, a former 5-star recruit, put together a major jump in 2025 with 42 total tackles, 16 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup. That came after a freshman season in which he managed only six tackles. Now he’s being mentioned as a preseason All-American by multiple outlets and is Oklahoma’s highest-rated player in EA College Football 27.
Venables didn’t forget how different the conversation around Stone sounded a year ago.
“A year ago at this time David Stone, very highly recruited guy coming out of high school, top guy in the country, stories written about him, might be a bust, things of that nature,” Venables said. “He didn't listen to any of that. He just put his head down and worked and had an outstanding sophomore year.”
Wein’s rise was even less expected. He had only two tackles across his first two seasons in Norman, then exploded in 2025 to lead the Sooners with 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks. He added an interception, a forced fumble and 39 total tackles.
Venables also used Wein to make his point about how unpredictable development can be.
“Coming into the (2025) summer, he comes to see me, one of the lowest paid guys on our roster… he asked me if he could get some incentives,” Venables said. “I said, ‘Why don't you worry about playing first before we worry about that?’ All he did was become an all SEC player and lead our team - seven sacks, 15 tackles for loss.”
There are more names in the mix for a jump this fall. Adebawore isn’t really a classic breakout candidate after playing 283 snaps last season and arriving as a former 5-star prospect, but his workload should grow with Thomas and Jones gone. Okoye, who played a little over 100 snaps and appeared in 11 games last year, also looks set for a bigger role after posting two sacks.
Smith and Wilson barely saw the field in 2025, yet both drew strong reviews from coaches and teammates during spring ball. Ozowalu and Thomas also arrive with productive Group of Five seasons already on their résumés.
Venables keeps coming back to the same idea: in the SEC, the line of scrimmage decides everything.
“The margins are incredibly small,” Venables said. “I would argue that if you lose the line of scrimmage in any particular game, most of the time you're going to lose the game.
Not just if you're going to lose, it's by how much you're going to lose. That’s where it starts for us.”
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Kalen DeBoer Just Said What SEC Coaches Know About Brent Venables
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Venables is 2-1 against DeBoer in their three matchups over the last two years, with Oklahomas defense carrying the day in Norman and then again in Tuscaloosa before Alabama finally answered in the postseason rematch. DeBoer said he was relieved not to have to deal with that defense again in the 2026 regular season, which is about as clear a sign as any that Venables still has a reputation for making life miserable, even when everyone in the stadium knows what he is trying to do. [Read more 🡒]
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The challenge now is less about talent than tone. Oklahoma has to fill the leadership void left by Febechi Nwaiwu, and Pierre-Louis has already acknowledged that his role has to grow beyond just his own play. For a line that should have experience, the next step is getting the room to match that on-field stability with the kind of leadership that keeps everyone aligned when the season starts to get difficult. [Read more 🡒]