While the Sooners may have lost some key pieces on defense from 2025, this is a side of the ball Sooner fans shouldn't worry about
It is no doubt that quite a few of Oklahoma's wins from last season came from the defensive side of the football. The Sooners lost some major guys from that squad from both the transfer portal and the NFL. Notable guys on defense who transferred out include Kendel Dolby to Mississippi State, Kobie McKinzie to Northwestern, Gentry Williams to Georgia and Samuel Omosigho to UCLA. You also have the defensive stars that got drafted in this year's NFL draft and rightfully so. R Mason Thomas (drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs), Gracen Halton (drafted by the San Francisco 49ers), Kendal Daniels (drafted by the Atlanta Falcons) and Robert-Spears Jennings (drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers) contributed massively in Oklahoma's path to the College Football Playoff in 2025.
What will ultimately make this defense elite this season will be the returning production. According to Bill Connelly of ESPN, the Sooners are tied for 12th in the country in overall returning production. There will be big-time leaders in the returning production with a ton of SEC experience. You have the athleticism of Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke in the linebacker room. It wouldn't be a surprise if both of these stars earned All-SEC honors or even entered the All-American conversation.
The defensive line room looks even scarier. To many insiders, David Stone could very well be one of the best college football players in 2026 which could easily give him a chance to be an All-American. We also can't forget the rest of the room with Nigel Smith, Jayden Jackson, Danny Okoye and Taylor Wein. It might be one of the most stacked groups of defensive linemen we've seen in Norman in a long time.
Of course, we can't forget the Bowen brothers leading the Sooner secondary. Last season, Peyton Bowen was selected All-SEC Second Team and had a total of 47 tackles. His younger brother, Eli, may be just as talented as he was selected 2025 All-SEC Third Team even after missing the first four games of the season due to an injury. To top it all off, Eli made the huge pick six in Oklahoma's 23-21 road win at Alabama. Other key returners in this room include Michael Boganowski, Courtland Guillory, Jacobe Johnson and Reggie Powers III.
Not only that, but you have arguably one of the most underrated defensive transfers in the country in Cole Sullivan. While he may not start, he brings a ton of value in the depth chart with his experience with Michigan. Despite only starting in three of the 11 games he played in, he is already familiar with how Oklahoma operates its defense since Michigan faced the Sooners in 2025. In 2024, Sullivan was named Michigan's special teams rookie of the year as well as its co-most improved player on defense in 2025.
The experience coming back and transferring in will be a major help in yet another brutal schedule for Oklahoma. In the last five games of the 2025 season (excluding Alabama's pick six in the playoff game), the Sooners' defense gave up an average of 18.8 points per game. If Oklahoma can get close to that number again in 2026, this could easily be back-to-back playoff appearances. Plus, if the Sooners get the right draw in the bracket, it could give their defense an even bigger advantage.
