Oklahoma's Defensive Ends Were Among the Best in the Country in 2025

The OU edge rushers earned an outstanding grade for Sooners on SI's 2025 report card.

Oklahoma defensive end R Mason Thomas makes a tackle against Alabama in the CFP. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

With Oklahoma’s 2025 season fully in the rearview, Sooners on SI is handing out position-by-position grades for every area of the team, continuing today with the defensive ends.

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The play of Miguel Chavis’ defensive ends played a huge role in Oklahoma’s defensive success in 2025.

R Mason Thomas returned to Norman for his senior season and delivered, and the Sooners also developed a future star in Taylor Wein. 

Both Thomas and Wein finished in the top 10 in the SEC in tackles for loss (Thomas finished with 9.5 and Wein totaled 15) and sacks (seven for Wein and 6.5 for Thomas), and Thomas wasn’t even able to play the entire season due to the injury he sustained against Tennessee. 

Behind Thomas and Wein, transfer Marvin Jones Jr. and depth pieces Adepoju Adebawore and Danny Okoye all ensured that there would be little dropoff throughout the long season, even when Thomas was sidelined for much of November’s run. 

The OU defensive ends didn’t just beat up on the softest portion of Oklahoma’s schedule, either. 

All but one of Thomas’ sacks came in SEC play, and his scoop-and-score against Tennessee helped flip the contest at Neyland Stadium. 

Wein added sacks against Missouri, Auburn and in both of the Sooners’ games against Alabama, including a strip sack on Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson in Tuscaloosa to set OU’s offense up for a crucial field goal that ensured Oklahoma would hold on for the regular season victory. 

Oklahoma defensive end Taylor Wein logs a sack against Alabama in the CFP. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Jones Jr. stepped up in Thomas’ absence, adding a pair of tackles against Alabama and a trio against Missouri, and Okoye chipped in a sack against Tennessee as well. 

The unit paired with the interior of OU’s defensive line to help Brent Venables’ side of the ball dictate games, and the mere threat of Thomas and Wein wrecking games in the backfield made opposing offenses pick and choose the moments they tried to attack downfield as opposed to teeing off on the backend of the Sooner defense repeatedly. 

The only real issue OU’s defensive ends faced was health. 

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Read More 2025 OU Report Cards

• Offensive Line

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The quad injury Thomas sustained in Knoxville held him out of contests against Alabama, Missouri and LSU. Not an injury, but Thomas was also ejected in the second half of Oklahoma’s win over Temple for targeting, which denied him the chance to further stuff the box score in the first half against Auburn.

Despite missing three and a half games, Thomas still earned First Team All-SEC recognition for his body of work. 

In all, the year was a positive for Chavis, and the projected NFL Draft position of Thomas, plus the development success of Wein, will bolster the OU defensive ends coach’s pitch to high school prospects on the recruiting trail for cycles to come.