Taylor Wein Set to Lead as Oklahoma Turns the Page on Star Edge Rushers in 2026

A dejected Taylor Wein stood and answered questions following Oklahoma's loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff late Friday night. The edge rusher who came on big in 2025 finished the game with a sack and a tackle for loss to his name, but all he could register was disappointment.

The disappointment stems from the knowledge that no more games with senior teammates R Mason Thomas or Marvin Jones Jr. are on the horizon.

"I’ve been here with R Mason for three years," Wein said. "Marvin decided to come here and been a really big impact to the D-end group. Learned a lot from those boys and all the seniors too that left a great foundation. That’s the sad part, that we can’t play one more game with them."

With that great foundation, Wein now becomes the next in line to help continue the Sooners' defense resurgence under Brent Venables.

Wein played mostly on special teams and in a reserve role on defense in 2024. With a redshirt year in 2023, there was little expectation that Wein — a 247Sports three star recruit out Nolensville, TN — would become a force to be reckoned with in the SEC.

To his credit, Wein finished with 39 tackles, seven sacks, a forced fumble and even an interception. For his breakout year, the coaches voted him Second-team All-SEC.

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With Thomas off to the NFL, Wein will now be one of the faces of the Oklahoma defense in 2026 and be looked at to apply what he learned from the Sooners' best pass rusher.

"I think just how to be a leader, and then that’s something that I’m going to really embrace and really take on that role," Wein said. "Learning from R Mason and Marv how to play football and learning from the great ball and the great experience they’ve had over the years and trying to add that to my tool belt.”

The Sooners will definitely need Wein to improve on an already incredible talent base. In addition to losses at defensive end, Oklahoma will also be saying good-bye to interior linemen Gracen Halton and Damonic Williams. At linebacker, Kendal Daniels' is out of eligbility while OU waits for big decisions from Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie.

As consistent as the improvement the defense has seen year-to-year under Venables, Wein will factor in heavily to the Sooners' ability to maintain their standard.

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

"I think we just got to figure out a way to transfer what we’ve learned this year and keep that as a floor for us, not the ceiling," Wein said. "That’s something that we’re going to do, and being a leader, I’m going to help keep that same standard."

Wein will now look to lead and raise the floors of redshirt freshman Danny Okoye, Adepoju Adebawore and newcomers like four-star edge Jake Kreul from IMG Academy.

While it's never safe to assume that you can shrug-off talent departures, Wein and his coaching staff appear ready to answer a few offseason questions looking ahead to the 2026 season. His breakout example lies as the evidence for their faith in Oklahoma's talent and development.

"I spoke with (Miguel Chavis) about this a couple days ago," Wein said. "We actually had that same thing come up, and he was like, ‘If anyone would have asked me if I thought this is how this year would turn out, he said I wouldn’t be surprised at all how it did. It's just being bought-in and respecting the coaches, respecting my teammates."