Where Does Oklahoma’s Pass Rush Stand Without R Mason Thomas?

The Sooners won't have R Mason Thomas to disrupt opposing quarterbacks, but several other defenders are primed to keep the pass-rush effective.

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

The Sooners will have to deal with life after R Mason Thomas in the fall.

Thomas, an edge rusher who spent all four of his collegiate seasons at Oklahoma, played his final game in Norman on Dec. 19, when OU lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff. The Kansas City Chiefs picked Thomas in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Thomas was OU’s most feared pass rusher in each of the last two seasons. In 2025, he logged a stellar 90.4 Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass-rushing grade, which led the team by a wide margin.

Though Thomas is now out of the picture, several other Sooners are also effective in pass-rushing situations.

Here are a few players who could become even more disruptive in 2026:

DE Taylor Wein

Taylor Wein’s pass-rush grade (75.4) wasn’t as high as Thomas’ last year, but he was arguably OU’s most consistent defensive player.

Wein led Oklahoma with 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks. His breakout campaign followed his first two seasons in which he recorded only two assisted tackles.

For his outstanding season, Wein earned Second Team All-SEC honors in 2025. He enters 2026 with similarly high expectations, as the media named him to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team last week.

The 6-4, 270-pound edge rusher has one of the defensive end spots nailed down, and with Thomas no longer on the roster, his presence will be massive.

LB James Nesta

In a rather small sample size, linebacker James Nesta looked like an effective pass rusher last year.

Nesta logged only 40 defensive snaps during his redshirt freshman season in 2025, but he made the most of them. The linebacker ended the year with four tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Nesta’s 83.7 pass-rushing grade trailed only Thomas. 

With Kip Lewis, Owen Heinecke and Cole Sullivan in the linebacker room, the Sooners won’t need Nesta to be an every-down player in 2026. But he is someone who seems primed for a larger role.

DE Danny Okoye

Edge rusher Danny Okoye made 11 appearances and showed flashes of why OU coach Brent Venables calls him “the best pound-for-pound athlete” on the roster.

Okoye appeared on 107 defensive snaps and finished the year with two tackles for loss, both of which were sacks. Though he wasn’t a starter, Okoye made the most of his playing time and recorded an impressive 74 PFF pass-rush grade.

Wein has one of the defensive end spots cemented. But Okoye and rising senior Adepoju Adebawore will battle for playing time on the other side.

Even if Okoye and Adebawore roughly split the snap count down the middle, Okoye will have plenty of time to build on his promising redshirt freshman season.

DB Michael Boganowski

Okoye may have the “best athlete” title, but safety Michael Boganowski has been called OU’s hardest hitter by his teammates and coaches.

Boganowski was a sophomore in 2025 and registered 31 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He finished the year with a 68.9 PFF pass-rush grade.

The safety from Junction City, KS, played 245 defensive snaps last year while backing up Robert Spears-Jennings. Now that Spears-Jennings is in the NFL, Boganowski’s role will expand in the fall.

Boganowski notched a sack in OU’s spring game in April, and his athleticism and hard-hitting abilities make him someone who the Sooners can count on in defensive-back blitz situations.