Next Man Up: Even Without Da'Jon Terry, Oklahoma's Defensive Interior Looks Deep

The Sooners lost a big piece of their run defense, but OU appears equipped to again field difference makers up the middle.

Oklahoma Sooners defensive lineman Jayden Jackson / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The strength of Oklahoma’s 2024 defense was its ability to stop the run, and defensive tackle Da’Jon Terry played a big role in stonewalling offenses up the middle. 

He was a part of a large rotation on the interior of the Sooners’ line, but no OU defensive lineman graded out better against the run than Terry per Pro Football Focus. 

Terry finished 2024 with a career-high 22 tackles for five tackles for loss. He also added 0.5 sacks and finished the year with a grade of 82.5 against the run by PFF, as his importance stretched far beyond the stats found in the box score. 

He made the most of his senior season, and now OU will look to younger pieces to fill his role in Todd Bates’ defensive tackle rotation. 

Thankfully, youth up the middle does not mean inexperience for the Sooners. 

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Read More Next Man Up:

• Oklahoma's Defensive Line Will Lean on Youth Without Ethan Downs
• Oklahoma is Leaning on Experience to Replace Danny Stutsman
• How Oklahoma Plans to Replace Billy Bowman in 2025

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Jayden Jackson, last year’s freshman sensation, played so well that Terry often rotated in to stuff the run while Jackson started. 

He was named a Freshman All-American by both the FWAA and ESPN after Jackson finished with 30 tackles, three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. 

Jackson missed spring football after an offseason surgery, but he’s only expected to improve as a second year starter in 2025. 

Brent Venables and Bates were also able to bring Gracen Halton along last year. 

While Terry and Jackson leaned on size and power to anchor OU’s defensive line, Halton’s speed allowed him to shoot into the backfield. 

Halton posted career-highs across the board, finishing with 30 tackles, six tackles for loss, fie sacks, a pair of forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. 

And as good as he was in 2024, Halton believes there’s still plenty of room for improvement in 2025.

“I feel very comfortable,” Halton said. “I feel like it came through last year, like game four or five, getting comfortable in where I was playing. Now I’m just, you know what I’m saying, just getting better at it. All the mistakes I made, just getting better at those. 

“… The run game. Just staying in those double teams. Things that I watched film on myself from last year. Things I feel like I need to get better at.”

Damonic Williams is also back after recording 35 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack and forcing one fumble in his first season after transferring from TCU.

The Sooners also retained a key piece they hope to step into a much larger role this year in David Stone. 

Though Stone entered his name into the portal after spring football, he ultimately decided to withdraw from the portal and remain in Norman. 

Stone played in all 13 games last year, making six tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and also helping on special teams, but the loss of Terry’s snaps means there’s more opportunity for the former 5-star recruit to make an impact. 

“I feel like for myself, I had a big issue with being able to let my life outside of football affect my football,” Stone said last spring. “I dominated a lot of the team settings and stuff like that, but sometimes outside of that I could let my body language get bad because of stuff I had going on outside of football.

“… I feel like this year I made the jump as a player, being able to dominate this space, whether it's in life or football… On the field, I've been killing it this spring. Winter workouts was a fun time for me. I'm up like 15, 20 pounds, moving better than ever. So those things, making those small improvements all over has been a big part of my game so far."

Stone isn’t the only young piece who hopes to battle for time in 2025. 

Redshirt freshman Nigel Smith moved inside over the offseason and he’s up to 279 pounds, and true freshman Trent Wilson looks physical mature beyond his age.

"He's a hungry man… The way he plays, he's strong,” Stone said. “Seeing him work hard, it makes me feel proud because I'm able to put my arm around him — when he came around during the bowl game, I was out there coaching him. I was telling him everything to do. Now, I don't have to tell him anything. 

“He knows what to do. He's putting the extra work in off the field. You can definitely see it when he's on the field."

Venables and Bates have done a lot of work to change the face of Oklahoma’s defensive line over the past three years, and the Sooners hope the interior of the line will again be a strength in 2025.

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