Who Will be Oklahoma's Defensive Leaders with Danny Stutsman, Others Gone?

Oklahoma’s defense is expected to be a strength in 2025, but the Sooners will have to lean on new leaders.

The Sooners saw several of their best players graduate from the program after the 2024 season.

Linebacker Danny Stutsman, a consensus All-American last year, was selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, while safety Billy Bowman Jr. went a few picks later to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Sooners also lost starters in defensive end Ethan Downs, defensive tackle Da’Jon Terry and cornerback Woodi Washington, all of whom went undrafted and were invited to NFL mini-camps.

Even with those former stars now gone, Sooners defensive end R Mason Thomas said the defense hasn’t taken a step backwards in terms of leadership.

“There’s no drop off,” Thomas said. “When we were freshmen, they were sophomores so we’ve been with them for three years.”

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Thomas broke out last season, appearing in all 13 games for OU and finishing the year with 12.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a defensive touchdown. He likely would have been selected in the 2025 NFL Draft but opted to put his professional plans on hold.

He is one of many established returners on OU’s roster, along with safeties Peyton Bowen and Robert Spears-Jennings, defensive tackles Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson and Damonic Williams, linebackers Kobie McKinzie and Kip Lewis and cornerbacks Eli Bowen, Gentry Williams and Jacobe Johnson.

The Sooners also reinforced some of the gaps left by Stutsman and company’s departures, adding linebacker/safety Kendal Daniels (Oklahoma State) and defensive end Marvin Jones Jr. (Florida State) from the transfer portal.

Between OU’s returning starters and the Sooners’ two experienced transfers, Thomas knows that the defense’s ceiling is high. The defensive end has made it his goal to lead like Downs, who he learned from during his first three years in Norman.

“When Ethan does that, I can show the younger guys what it will look like when I step into that role that I'm doing this year,” Thomas said. “So I'm putting my spin on it, but for me to be under him for three years and for my time to kind of lead in my own way, it's been really good."

Spears-Jennings is entering his senior year at OU. In 2024, his best season yet, Spears-Jennings notched 66 tackles, five tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and an interceptions.

With so much top-talent and vocal leadership now gone, Spears-Jennings knows that it will have to be a collective effort when the 2025 season begins — and that’s what it has been throughout the offseason.

“I feel like we have a whole bunch of leaders now,” Spears-Jennings said. “I feel like this year we have R. Mason Thomas, we have Gracen Halton, Damonic Williams. We have Kip Lewis, Kobie, me, Gentry’s coming back. Eli's a leader as well. So I feel all of us... I feel like we're like the new leaders, and we're the glue guys that bring everybody up together.”