Brent Venables 'excited to unleash' budding young defensive playmaker on the SEC in 2025

The buzz around Danny Okoye won't stop

Pass rusher Danny Okoye has enjoyed the full praise of the coaching staff, but didn't see much playing time in 2024 due to playing behind Thomas, Ethan Downs, and Trace Ford.

However, the defensive end rotation for 2025 is completely wide open, and has been a fierce competition. R Mason Thomas is a given starter, but Okoye, Marvin Jones Jr, Taylor Wein, and PJ Adebawore have been duking it out all summer to earn the starting job, and Okoye has performed amazingly.

So much so that Venables took the time to single him out on his coaching show that aired this week.

Venables stated that he's excited to "unleash" Okoye on the SEC this year, which should be a terrific sign for Okoye's chances to play a significant chunk of snaps, if not start, this season for the Sooners.

At SEC Media Days, Venables highlighted Okoye as "pound for pound the best athlete on the team".

If Oklahoma's offense can deliver on the hype and consistently force opposing teams to pass the ball to keep up with their scoring, Okoye is going to have more and more opportunities to hunt opposing quarterbacks and deliver on his immense potential.

We've seen similar development from this coaching staff at Okoye's position as well. After struggling with injuries in his first two seasons, R Mason Thomas exploded onto the scene last year as one of the best pass rushers in the country. Similarly, Ethan Downs continued to develop as a pass rusher every year and turned into one of the most complete players on Oklahoma's roster last year.

If Okoye has taken that next step physically and mentally, he's poised to be a dynamite pass-rushing threat that should frighten the rest of the SEC.