NORMAN — OU’s 2025 football season is less than 100 days away from the Sooners’ Aug. 30 at home against Illinois State.
OU’s defense figures to be solid again with a plethora of experienced returners.
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Some of the returning production includes R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson, Kip Lewis, Kobie McKinzie, Damonic Williams and Robert Spears-Jennings.
OU beat writers Ryan Aber and Colton Sulley teamed up to offer up their feelings on the state of OU’s defense entering the summer, answering four questions about how the defense will look in the fall:
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Who will be OU’s leading tackler this season?
Colton Sulley: Give me Kip Lewis.
Lewis played in all 13 games last season, making 12 starts at weakside linebacker. He totaled 65 tackles and logged at least five tackles in 7 of 8 SEC games.
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“I left a lot of meat on the bone last year,” Lewis said in the spring. “I can prove I’m one of the best out there in the country.”
Lewis also flashed in the Sooners‘ bowl game, notching a team-high six tackles in the Armed Forces Bowl vs. Navy.
I could also get behind Robert Spears-Jennings.
Ryan Aber: I’m going with Kobie McKinzie.
Brent Venables’ defense is designed to funnel the ball toward linebackers and vice versa, and with Danny Stutsman gone, McKinzie figures to be the one right in the middle of all those plays.
He’s not going to finish more than 40 tackles ahead of everyone else on the team like Stutsman did last year, but McKinzie will be at the top of the heap.
What secondary players could become key pieces of the rotation this season?
Colton Sulley: Jacobe Johnson played in all 13 games last season but made only two starts. I expect him to take his game to the next level while competing for a starting cornerback spot.
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At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Johnson is long with speed. He was a consensus four-star and top-250 recruit out of Mustang High School but it’s taken time for him to learn how he fits in Brent Venables’ defense.
When he didn’t see a ton of action in the secondary early last season and with OU’s receiver position stricken with injuries, Johnson divided his reps in practice between corner and receiver.
Expect Johnson to have his best defensive season as a Sooner.
Ryan Aber: I think Jaydan Hardy will have a breakthrough season this year.
He played a lot of special teams last season but still saw the field on 58 defensive plays, according to Pro Football Focus, and graded out at 71.4 in coverage, which was better than Spears-Jennings and Peyton Bowen, among others.
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Hardy will get a chance to have a significantly expanded role, and I think he seizes that opportunity.
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Oklahoma defensive back Jaydan Hardy (14) celebrates with Oklahoma defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (2) in the second half of an NCAA football game between Oklahoma (OU) and Temple at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024.
Which defensive returner makes the biggest leap this season?
Colton Sulley: Taylor Wein’s name kept coming up throughout the spring as someone who could compete for a starting spot during preseason camp.
Given he only made two tackles in 2024, I’ll take a flyer on him as the defensive returner will make the biggest leap.
“I still have a lot to work on,” Wein said in the spring. “Going into this second portion of the offseason coming out of spring, just attacking my weaknesses and what I need to work on. Stacking days on days.”
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Ryan Aber: I’m going with Danny Okoye.
He played in just two games defensively last season but most people understood that he was going to be a player who was going to take some time to develop. He won’t fully reach his potential this season, but there will be a very significant leap and he’ll force his way into getting much more playing time.
He can be a player whom the Sooners can lean on in certain situations to take advantage of his skillset.
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How big of a role does David Stone play in the Sooners’ defensive front?
Colton Sulley: During winter workouts, former five-star defensive lineman David Stone found a new appreciation for the weight room.
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After recording six tackles and a sack last season, he put on 15-20 pounds while working closely with strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt. Stone said he was “killing it” this spring and the extra weight helped him hold onto blocks better.
Stone entered the transfer portal in the spring but ultimately decided to return. His ceiling remains sky high and I’d expect him to take a massive jump, potentially starting at the end of the year.
Ryan Aber: More than last year, but he’s still a year away from being at the center of what the Sooners are doing on the defensive front.
Jayden Jackson arrived in Norman as the much more polished player, but Stone still has the bigger upside. Much like Okoye, Stone begins to show that upside this season.
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He’ll be used situationally, especially early in the season. I’m not sure how much that role expands from there, though.
Stone’s ceiling still remains very high, but with the returners OU has on the defensive front, Stone will still be behind Jackson and Damonic Williams.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Who leads OU football in tackles in 2025? Examining Sooners’ defense
