Brent Venables Sees Freshman All-American Traits in Oklahoma’s Tank Carrington

NORMAN — With each passing day, it's becoming more difficult to not get excited for first-year defensive lineman Tank Carrington.

Jayden Jackson and David Stone praised him. They used words like “special” and lauded his block recognition, which appears to be advanced for his age.

In an offseason where much of the conversation surrounding the defense focuses on depth and inexperienced players seizing opportunities, Brent Venables did little calm down the Carrington hype by comparing him to Jackson in his freshman season.

"Very consistent for a young guy," Venables said Friday after practice. "He's got good block rec, which is a kind of a foundational thing for defensive linemen. Jayden was fantastic (with block rec). That's why he became a freshman All-American. It started with that."

To provide more context, Venables even reminisced on Jackson and Stone's differences during their freshman seasons in 2024. Jackson, as Venables mentioned, played a lot in his first year — 387 snaps with eight starts per Pro Football Focus — due in part to his technique maturity.

Stone's career got off to a slower start, playing just under 100 snaps in 2024. He needed a year in the system to learn the finer details that Jackson already had and, apparently, Carrington has now.

"Jayden Jackson had it and David didn't," Venables said. "David was really powerful and was a pretty good pass rusher and he did some things naturally, but the fundamentals of block rec weren't quite there yet for him, which is more normal than not."

This wasn't a knock on Stone or the countless number of defensive linemen who come to college not playing like a seasoned-veteran on day one. Some of it comes from a lack of competition in high school and is simply apart of the maturation process according to Venables.

"They get away with it going against, you know, 200-pound, 225-pound offensive linemen," he said. "Not that all high school offensive linemen are that, but a lot of times from one week to the next, you might face some undersized guys that can't fight back and get away with some bad habits and so you kind of got to start over."

Carrington has already made physical jumps in one offseason to pair with his technique strengths. Venables praised his 45-pound growth from the winter to Fall Camp — Carrington is now listed at 295 on the Sooners' roster.

Now with two weeks remaining of preseason, Venables knows his young lineman must make the most of this time before the journey begins in September.

"His fundamentals are pretty good. His ability to hold a gap, his point of attack power and strength have been really good," Venables added. "And it's still he's a work-in-progress. But he's done some really good things. He's got a chance to be a really good player in the future.

"And hopefully he'll continue to earn the trust of the coaches and be a part of this year's team where he can get in and help and learn and be part of that competitive depth that we've been talking about."

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