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How Oklahoma's Young, Twitchy, 'Freak' DEs Can Help Turn Things Around Immediately

Teammates say freshman P.J. Adebawore is "like the Avatar," while sophomore R Mason Thomas still plays like Taz.

John E. Hoover

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NORMAN — Opponents scouting Oklahoma’s young defensive ends this season might notice a problem trying to block freshman P.J. Adebawore.

“P.J. is a freak. He's built like the Avatar,” said junior Ethan Downs. “Like the blue Avatar. Lankiest dude. He's super strong. Super fast. Twitchy. He's a great player. Very smooth pass rusher. He's a beast.”

Adebawore is the Sooners’ 5-star freshman from Kansas City, a 6-foot-4, 241-pound edge rusher who might as well be animated for all he can do physically.

Miguel Chavis, Adebawore’s position coach, famously called him “longer than Monday afternoon” because of his tall frame and long arms — all the better to sack you with. He also plays with a youthfully high energy.

But during August training camp, his teammates noticed some of Adebawore’s other qualities.

“Not only his motor — his motor is great — but just the way he responds to things,” said senior d-end Reggie Grimes. “He's a freshman. There can be lofty goals and lofty expectations for a freshman, but he's still a freshman. Freshmen mess up. When he does mess up, I know for a fact that when he messes up he's going to come back and make a play. That's the kind of kid he is. That's just how he was raised, so I think that's the part that has impressed me the most about him.”

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Last year, R Mason Thomas made an impression on the position group as a true freshman. He played in 10 games, finished with seven tackles, one tackle for loss and half a quarterback sack.

“He's already an amazing athlete,” Downs said, “but as much as he keeps maturing and as strong as he keeps getting in the weight room — we'll be staring at each other and like, curling and bench pressing ... we're always challenging each other in the weight room. He's getting a lot stronger and more mass on him. As fast as he already is and how powerful and twitchy as he always is with more mass, he's going to be that much more difficult to play against.”

Thomas’ gift is a relentless energy, a Tasmania Devil mindset. Everyone agrees that Thomas will develop into a fine player at OU. But at 6-2, 239 pounds, he’s blessed physically with the different tools than Adebawore.

“Both very twitchy,” Downs said. “Lanky. Strong. Fast. Level-headed guys. They're about the right stuff. And that's the two best freshman — well, R Mason is a sophomore now — but that's some of the best guys I've ever seen come in a recruiting class.”

Adebawore’s arrival and Thomas’ continued growth are coming at the right time as Oklahoma’s defense is going to need more punch from its edge players this season. Downs and Grimes were co-leaders last year with 4.5 sacks each as the team managed just 28 — the Sooners’ fifth-lowest team total since 1999.

Experienced transfers like Rondell Bothroyd and Trace Ford should also help.

Combine them all, and the OU defensive ends should be significantly more productive this season.

“I would say our motor,” Grimes said. “It's relentless, relentless pursuit. And if we're tired, two more are coming right back in. We're not going to stop hounding you. I think that's the fun part. I love going out there and getting off a few plays.”

The season starts Saturday when No. 20 Oklahoma (a 34 1/2-point favorite) hosts Arkansas State. After a disappointing 6-7 campaign in 2022 and an offseason spent rebuilding the team’s psyche, everyone is finally ready to play a real game and prove something to themselves.

“We're really anxious,” Downs said. “We left a lot out there last year. It was a disappointing season. All of our fans felt it. We represent a whole lot more than just the 100-plus guys on the team. We're ready to get out there and set the name right, leave a legacy and put it all out there.”

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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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