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Nik Bonitto earns All-America honors

Pro Football Focus named Oklahoma sophomore to its PFF All-America team; Ronnie Perkins gets honorable mention
John E. Hoover|
Nik Bonitto earns All-America honors
Nik Bonitto earns All-America honors

Oklahoma linebacker Nik Bonitto on Monday was named first-team All-American at edge defender by Pro Football Focus.

Bonitto, a 6-foot-3, 238-pound rush linebacker from Fort Lauderdale, FL, has been noted all season by PFF as one of its highest-graded defensive players.

Bonitto, a third-year sophomore, ranks second on the Sooners with 10.0 tackles for loss and 7.5 quarterback sacks. He also leads the team with 10 QB hurries and has 29 total tackles.

“Bonitto was a true hybrid backer in 2019, [playing almost as many coverage snaps (171) as pass-rush snaps,” PFF writes. “However, Bonitto saw more pass-rush opportunities in 2020, and the transition paid dividends. The Oklahoma edge rusher was a force in every single game this season, finishing first among qualifying FBS edge defenders in pass-rush grade win rate and pressure rate generated.”

In just nine games, Bonitto ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference in sacks per game (0.83) and eighth in tackles for loss per game (1.11).

OU defensive end Ronnie Perkins was awarded honorable mention All-American accolades as an edge defender. Perkins only played five games but finished the season with 21 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks to go with six QB hurries.

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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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