NFL scouts rave about key position room that will help the Oklahoma Sooners return to the College Football Playoff next season
The Sooners’ defensive line will be the lynchpin of the team’s success in 2026.
With Brent Venables at the helm, the Oklahoma Sooners have built a dominant defense that kept them afloat in 2024 and vaulted them into the College Football Playoff in 2025. A key cog in that defensive dominance was the play of their defensive line, which thoroughly dismantled every opponent on the Sooners’ schedule.
NFL scouts are taking notice of the Sooners’ play up front. Pass rusher R Mason Thomas is already getting buzz to be selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, but the train of potential first rounders might not slow down for Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s defensive dominance turning into NFL pipeline
David Stone will headline the defensive line as the key star of the room. The former five-star is fresh off of a dominant season and the sky is the limit for his upside. I think he’s a no-doubt about it lock for the first round next season as one of the top underclassmen in the class. Stone is a tremendous athlete who is equally as accomplished as a run defender as a pass rusher on the inside.
Both Jayden Jackson and Taylor Wein are interesting names to throw into the first round conversations. Jackson is a traditional nose tackle, but he’s an ox at the point of attack and is very difficult to move. Elite nose tackles are a premium, and we’ve seen quite a few end up in the first round over the years as run defense has shifted back to becoming a priority. If Jackson stays healthy this season, I wouldn’t be shocked if he is viewed as a first rounder, even if nose tackles don’t tend to declare early.
Wein is the most interesting name as the Sooners’ biggest breakout star from last season. When R Mason Thomas missed time, Wein took over as the main pass rusher and produced several big time moments, including his strip sack of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson that helped the Sooners clinch the win in Tuscaloosa. It’s an encouraging sign that his name is already being talked about this high despite his relatively small runway of in-game action.
If R Mason Thomas does end up in the first round, he would be Oklahoma’s first defensive first rounder since Kenneth Murray in the 2020 NFL Draft. They had back-to-back first-round selections in Anton Harrison and Tyler Guyton, but have not had back-to-back first round picks on defense since Andre Woolfolk and Tommie Harris in 2003-04. If the Sooners have two first-rounders in next year’s draft on the DL, that would be the first time they’ve had two first-round defenders since the 1984 draft with Rick Bryan and Jackie Shipp.
Either way, what Brent Venables is building defensively has the Sooners’ defense back in its glory days, and finally has Oklahoma taken seriously as a defensive pipeline again. If this group stays healthy, they have the ability to be the best group in the country and help deliver another playoff appearance
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