Oklahoma has spent months developing its defensive depth. Georgia week may require the Sooners to find out how much of that work is ready for one of the toughest assignments on the schedule.
With David Stone’s status unsettled after a knee injury at Monday’s practice, Brent Venables pointed to a group of interior defenders who would need to carry more responsibility if Stone is unavailable.
He did not present one player as a complete replacement. He described a rotation that has improved since camp and now has to show it can hold up against a physical, experienced offense.
“I feel better, three weeks going on game four, than I did coming out of camp,” Venables said Tuesday.
That confidence is encouraging. It will have to be matched by production.
Most of the interior options are already in the room
Jayden Jackson remains a central part of the defensive front, and Venables said he has been playing well. Jackson’s role becomes even more important if Oklahoma cannot pair him with a healthy Stone.
Venables also named Trent Wilson, Bishop Thomas and Nigel Smith II, along with Danny Saili and Braxton Fely, when discussing the group available to help inside.
For the most part, those are the names to watch as OU prepares its rotation. Don’t be surprised if you see a Taylor Wein or Kenny Ozowalu play some interior snaps as well for the Sooners. The one position that OU has some depth is as defensive end right now.
The question is, outside of POTENTIALLY Taylor Wein and Kenny Ozowal, in what I would deem minimal snaps, how much dependable work each can provide against Georgia’s line and its different personnel packages.
Thomas and Fely bring experience from previous stops. Thomas as a fifth-year player from Georgia State and Fely as a fifth-year player from Boise State. Wilson is still early in his development, but he is one of the players Venables specifically highlighted as making progress.
But there is a difference between having several options and knowing exactly how those options will perform when the opponent starts changing formations and leaning on the run. That is what the week’s practices has to address.
Venables credited Todd Bates and the work being done with the tackles to help players understand the defense in a way that lets them play faster. The goal is to get each player to the point where they can play without thinking and just react to things.
Still, if Stone cannot go, Oklahoma will need those players to perform and do what they do best — getting after the offense. There doesn’t need to be any pressing or Stone’s replacements trying to do more than what they are asked of when it comes to replacing Stone’s production. If they do that, and play within BV’s system, you would think things would work out for the defense as a whole.
Wilson provides a picture of the challenge
Venables spent part of Tuesday’s press conference explaining why he is encouraged by Wilson.
He pointed to a play from an overloaded front on which Wilson got off the ball and disrupted the backfield. To the head coach, it was evidence of what the young tackle can be when he puts it together.
“That’s what his best football looks like. And if you do it once, you can do it over and over and over,” Venables said. “And our job, his job and our job, is to get him to play that way consistently. And so I don’t ever look at what they ain’t doing. I know what they can do. And then let’s get him to do it, and let’s demand that.”
The next step is consistency. Venables said Wilson had been in his office that day discussing expectations and praised his willingness to receive coaching, accept responsibility and keep working.
“He’s not polished yet, but he’s going to be an excellent player. He really cares. He spends a lot of time in the building, and he’s super coachable,” Venables said. “He responds well. He takes responsibility. He’s not thin-skinned.”
That last part matters when a young player is being asked to grow up quickly. The staff can show Wilson what went wrong. He still has to take the correction into the next practice and the next game. Venables sees a player willing to do that.
That is the developmental side. There is also a recent example of what still has to improve.
After New Mexico, both Venables and Stone discussed Wilson’s costly eagerness before an offsides penalty. Stone described it as a learning opportunity. Venables emphasized the need to handle the situation with discipline.
Georgia will require both parts of the player: the explosiveness that gets him into the backfield and the discipline that keeps him from giving an offense free yards.
OU needs Wilson’s best plays to become repeatable. It cannot afford the avoidable mistakes to become repeatable too.
The linebackers have already shown what stepping up requires
The New Mexico game gave Oklahoma an example of depth being tested elsewhere.
With Kip Lewis out, James Nesta took on a major role beside Owen Heinecke. Heinecke praised Nesta’s first career start, saying he did not flinch and responded well to the demands of the game.
“He was kind of thrown into the fire a little bit, and he responded, and he had a great game, and he didn’t flinch at all,” Heinecke said. “So I’m really proud of James.”
Heinecke acknowledged giving Nesta some tough love. His younger teammate’s response was to accept it, move on and get ready for the next play. That is the kind of communication a depleted group needs. There is no time to carry a correction around for another series.
“Obviously, not having Kip is a huge loss. Kip is a great player, and he earned all the respect that he has on this team,” Heinecke said. “But the expectation is that there’s no drop-off. The standard doesn’t change, and Nesta did a great job tonight.”
That is the expectation the defensive line would carry into a game without Stone. It is demanding, but it is how the players described their responsibility to one another.
Reggie Powers III said watching the linebackers handle that workload made him want to play harder for them.
“I feel like it just made us want to play harder for them, knowing that they were cool with playing every snap,” Powers said. “They didn’t complain one time.”
P.J. Adebawore also pointed to the way the linebackers strained and played for the team.
“Those guys played hard. They played a lot of reps, and they played for the team,” Adebawore said. “They’re team players, and you can just see it. You can see it in the way that they strain and the way that they play. So I’m very, very happy to have them here.”
He said the group has to be ready for whatever snap count is necessary to win.
Those comments matter because depth concerns are not isolated to the name moving up on a chart. A thinner rotation can affect fatigue, which can lead to lapses in play or even injury at times. It can also affect communication, which can lead to mistakes and lapses, as noted above.
In the end, replacing production is a group task for Sooners on Saturday
The edges have a role in this too. Taylor Wein said Oklahoma’s standard is to be able to rush four and win individual matchups.
“We should be able to send and rush four guys and win,” Wein said. “And that’s the standard here.”
If OU can create pressure with its front, it gives the defense more flexibility behind it. If it has to send additional rushers to compensate, other matchups can become more exposed. That is why losing or limiting an interior disruptor can affect more than the runs coming directly at his position.
Venables made the assignment clear.
“If David is unavailable this week, you’re going to need some guys to step up and play big and play with heavy hands and great pad level and striking people,” he said. Against Georgia, those traits have to survive repeated snaps against blockers who are trying to move the line of scrimmage.
I think OU has enough options to put together a competitive rotation. The uncertainty is whether it can get the consistent, disruptive version of that group for four quarters.
The players have already shown they will respond to a teammate needing help. Saturday could demand that response again, this time from the heart of the defensive front.
