Why Oklahoma's Defensive Line Could Shock the SEC

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s defensive line could be the talk of the team come the Sooners’ SEC arrival.

“We’ve had a lot of guys that have gotten better,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said after OU's Spring Game in April. “They’ve all made really great improvements. Davon Sears, we gave him the most improved award. Gracen (Halton's) made tremendous improvement, PJ (Adebawore), R Mason (Thomas), those guys have really gotten better.

“Ethan’s a better player than he was at the end of the season, had an all-conference type of season.”

Ethan Downs, the pack leader, was a second-team All-Big 12 selection last year and totaled a team-high 4.5 sacks with 6.5 tackles for loss. He said the unit “has to continue to grow,” but he likes where the defensive line is headed.

“Get stronger, bigger, faster. Our game has been looking a lot better — What I mean by game is our stunts,” Downs said. “We have real good chemistry along the D-Line. I’ve earned their trust and they look up to me, so a lot of that is going to be on my shoulders as far as how I hold them accountable, how we go into the offseason and our mentality, and how we lead, even in our sprints and summer working, taking initiative to take that step forward, just like we’re going to need to be during the season.”

One reason for the defensive line’s spring success has been a simplified scheme via OU’s newest coach. First-year co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley has already made a tremendous impression in the locker room, both for his leadership and for the implementation of his “vanilla,” but effective defense. Venables told Alley to keep it simple at the spring game.

“Defensively, I told (Alley) naked blitz, had one blitz, couple of coverages, and that was it,” Venables said. “Kept things vanilla, got guys to play hard and play with fundamentals, and guys got exposed and found some things that we’ve got to get better at from a fundamental standpoint. But overall, top-to-bottom, from beginning to end, since January, they’ve been fantastic.”

Linebacker and defensive focal point Danny Stutsman heaped similar praise onto Alley’s defense.

“At the end of the day, it takes the thinking out of it,” Stutsman said. “These are calls that are day one, so kind of just see what they can do, see if they can play some football for the defensive linemen, not any crazy stunts, see if you can go one-on-one and win.

“Man, those defensive ends are scary,” Stutsman said. “Those are some dudes all over the place. You know, DT (Terry), he’s going to another phenomenal piece for us. It’s hard losing a guy like (Jacob) Lacey, but the younger guys are ready to step up and fill in that role. I think we have a really sound squad.”

The D-Line room found an answer to its most crucial post-spring question in Damonic Williams.

The transfer from TCU will presumably assume Lacey’s role. Williams was a Big 12 honorable mention last year and registered 33 tackles and three sacks.

Lacey was forced to medically retire this spring after suffering recurring blood clots.

The youth of the group will keep the Sooners’ defensive linemen honest, competitive, and most importantly, rested. Five-star recruit David Stone and his four-star-plus counterpart, Jayden Jackson, both had impressive spring showings and both weighed in at over 300 pounds before the end of the semester.

“David Stone and Jayden Jackson — They’re on it,” Downs said. “Really talented and disciplined. Coming from IMG, they are very familiar with the schedule we have here at OU and the game plan, played at a high level there. They’ve adjusted really quickly, especially Jayden Jackson.”

Edge rushers Nigel Smith and Danny Okoye could both become fan favorites for their contributions. Both newcomers were four-star recruits.

“Danny’s had a really good spring and since he’s gotten here in January. Danny’s, again, a tremendous talent. Has great size and speed. Just learning how to play the game from a process standpoint. And doing all the little things right. He flashed nonstop throughout the course of the spring,” Venables said. “Still got a lot to improve like a lot of the young guys. A lot to learn in the course of a summer. But really excited about what he’s going to become over the course of the next few years. Hopefully, he’ll continue to make improvements where we can count on him to be a rotation guy. But he’s long, he’s fast, he’s explosive, he’s really competitive and he’s a really smart guy in terms of learning the defense and he has a lot of time to learn. So, it’ll pay off.”