Why Oklahoma DE Adepoju Adebawore Expects to Have a Breakout Season

NORMAN — Adepoju Adebawore showed flashes of his 5-star potential during the 2025 season.

An edge rusher, Adebawore was the No. 9 prospect from the Class of 2023, per 247Sports, which ranked him as a 5-star recruit. Despite his blue-chip status, Adebawore’s college career got off to a slow start, as he recorded only 10 tackles across 23 games in his first two seasons.

But Adebawore made the most of his role last year. He appeared on a career-high 283 snaps as a junior in 2025 and finished the season with 17 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Adebawore was particularly valuable late in the season when senior edge rusher R Mason Thomas suffered a quadriceps injury that forced him to miss multiple games. The defensive end combined for six tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack in OU’s wins against Tennessee and Missouri.

“For us, luckily we had a lot of depth — so one person down, next man up,” Adebawore said. “You never want to lose a guy like that, but it’s not a worry because we have guys who are ready to just step up and fill in.”

Adebawore was a key role player last year, and in 2026, he’s expected to take another step forward.

Thomas and Marvin Jones Jr. are now playing at the professional ranks, while defensive end Taylor Wein — who broke out in 2025 and earned All-SEC honors — will hold down one of the spots on the edges.

The other starting edge rusher spot, however, is up for grabs, and Adebawore and junior Danny Okoye seem like the most likely candidates.

Adebawore underwent a foot surgery before spring ball due to what OU coach Brent Venables called “wear and tear” from the 2025 season. Now, he’s fully healthy and ready to play his fourth college football season.

Though Adebawore wasn’t the immediate star that some expected him to be when he enrolled at OU, he’s always been one of the program’s best athletes. And according to him, the rehab process from his injury only made him more athletic.

“Just kind of movements and body functions and just a lot of mobility work… all those types of things where I can just be more of an athlete,” Adebawore said.

Last year, it was Wein who sort of came out of nowhere and became a defensive star. Wein registered 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks — both team highs — after logging only two tackles during his first two collegiate seasons.

It wouldn’t exactly be “out of nowhere” if Adebawore was similarly dominant in 2026.

Adebawore was once considered one of the nation’s top prospects. Plus, at 6-4 and 265 pounds, no one will overlook him because of his size.

But Adebawore plans to use Wein’s 2025 success as a blueprint for what he hopes to achieve in 2026.

“That’s always the goal — for everybody to have a big year,” Adebawore said. “I do see myself doing that.”

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