Analyzing Oklahoma's defensive line depth, why it remains a serious question mark

Spring practice concludes for Oklahoma this Saturday when their spring football game kicks off in Norman as the Sooners ramp up for their first season in the SEC.

For quite some time success in the SEC has been predicated by dominance in the trenches with a premium on elite play along the defensive line. An area that remains as a question mark for the Sooners especially in regards to their depth, which Sooner Scoop‘s Eddie Radosevich and Georgia Stoia discussed on Andy Staples On3 Wednesday.

“Yeah, and I think that’s gonna be the biggest question mark and especially in terms of guys that enter the portal here over the next 14-15 days. If you have experience, if you fit kind of a mold of a roster of obviously over 300 pounds, I think Oklahoma’s probably going to take a look at you,” Radosevich said. “I think that they feel pretty good about the depth that they’ve been able to build. But once again, it’s a bunch of guys that have simply not played a whole lot of college football.”

Depth versus proven depth are two completely different things, as highly touted freshman additions like David Stone and Jayden Jackson have shown promise during practice but have never played in a college game. An area the Sooners can either address in the transfer portal window or trust with their current roster.

“We’ve heard some good things about the Davon Sears who returns to Oklahoma this next season. We’ve heard good things about Gracen Halton, but they haven’t really been able to really take that next step on the field. And I think that there is a big question mark in terms of what is behind some of these frontline guys that Oklahoma’s going to throw out. Because everywhere else on the defense, every level it seems, George, is really really good from a depth perspective,” Radosevich explained.

Defensive line was a primary calling card for head coach Brent Venables‘ defenses during his time as Clemson‘s defensive coordinator. A unit that’s improved during his two seasons at Oklahoma, but may be tested more than ever before this upcoming season.

“I think the biggest thing Andy is right now they want to have a six-man rotation on that defensive line and you have DJ Terry who played a lot of snaps last year up front and you feel really good about him,” Stoia said. “But they lose Jacob Lacey for the season due to blood clots. He’s going to be out they were really counting on him starting next year and being that guy, I mean, he played the most snaps of any defensive tackle last year for Oklahoma.”

“So I think Oklahoma looks at the portal and says if we can go out and get a guy that’s been a two-year starter has played some quality snaps, whether that’s at the Power Five level or the Group of Five level, they just need somebody that has some football experience. Because you’re talking about guys that they like, they think they have good potential, but no one’s really played that much football,” Stoia concluded.

It will be fascinating to see if Sooners reshape or add experience to their defensive line this offseason, and even more fascinating to see how their unit holds up as they debut in the trenches of the Southeastern Conference.