Pro Football Focus makes blunder with their ranking of the Oklahoma Sooners defensive line among college football teams
While 2024 was a season to forget for the Oklahoma Sooners, it did prove several key building blocks for the team that they will need to turn things around in 2025. One of those blocks is their defensive line, which led the Sooners to an elite run defense last year. Oklahoma worked hard to return […]
While 2024 was a season to forget for the Oklahoma Sooners, it did prove several key building blocks for the team that they will need to turn things around in 2025. One of those blocks is their defensive line, which led the Sooners to an elite run defense last year.
Oklahoma worked hard to return their entire unit this season, with key returns from R Mason Thomas and Gracen Halton.
Despite all of their returning production and talent, it seems the Sooners are still getting rather disrespected in national rankings. Pro Football Focus ranked the top ten defensive lines in college football and placed Oklahoma ninth on the list.
"The Sooners have plenty of experienced players on their defensive line, returning four contributors who played at least 300 snaps last year. Gracen Halton is my No. 10 interior defender in the country. His 13.6% pressure rate since 2023 leads all returning FBS defensive tackles, while his 12.5% pass-rush win rate is the best among returning Power Four ones. R Mason Thomas is also a terrific pass-rusher, placing second among FBS edge defenders with a 93.2 pass-rush grade on true pass sets last season. Damonic Williams is also back at interior defender and was 14th in the SEC with a 77.3 run-defense grade in 2024. Marvin Jones Jr. will likely be the other starting edge rusher after playing 387 snaps for Florida State last year. Oklahoma also has a couple of former top-10 overall recruits in junior edge defender Adepoju Adebawore and sophomore defensive tackle David Stone."
Looking at the rest of the rankings, it is stunning to see the Sooners ranked so low. Clemson earning the top spot is understandable. Seeing Texas Tech and Michigan, who lost their best defensive linemen, ranked ahead of Oklahoma is baffling.
Just last week, SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic, who votes on key awards and is an expert on the trenches, ranked Oklahoma as the top defensive line in the SEC, citing their style of play, returning talent, and production. On PFF's list, the Sooners were fourth in the SEC.
"The easiest team on this list to select was #1, and that's Oklahoma. Folks, it ain't even close. I'm just gonna be honest with you, this was not a debate with Texas or with Florida or with Georgia in my head. Oklahoma by far has the best defensive line in the SEC and it is by a landslide. They literally have a 40-yard head start on everybody else. The defensive tackle depth is off the freakin charts with this group."
While in a vacuum, it's nice to see the Sooners on a list like this after years of poor defensive play, it's frustrating to see this unit fail to get the respect it deserves. Hopefully, they earn that in the upcoming season.
Elite Oklahoma Sooners leader projected to be first-round pick in latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft
The Oklahoma Sooners are an established NFL pipeline, with hundreds of drafted players over the program's history. In 2023 and 2024, the Sooners had back-to-back first-round offensive tackles in Anton Harrison and Tyler Guyton. However, if there's one area the Sooners haven't quite delivered on, it's putting defenders in the first round of the draft. […]
