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Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Transfer Talk: What Oklahoma is Getting in DE Caiden Woullard

Originally posted on Oklahoma Sooners on SI
By Ryan Chapman | Last updated Feb 1, 2024 7:00 AM ET

Brent Venables loves mining for diamonds.

After losing Rondell Bothroyd and Marcus Stripling to graduation, Venables and Oklahoma defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis went searching for experienced depth in the transfer portal, and found a gem in Ohio.

Caiden Woullard, who played three years for the Miami (OH) RedHawks committed to OU this offseason after terrorizing the MAC.

As a junior in 2023, Woullard finished the year with 9.5 quarterback sacks and 12.0 tackles for loss, tallying 41 total tackles and two forced fumbles which were all career highs.

Woullard’s season last year wasn’t a surprise, however. He stood out as a sophomore, totaling four sacks, five tackles for loss, 29 tackles and three tipped passes.

“The coaches, they kind of knew from the jump that he could be someone, be an impactful player,” Peter Holland Jr., who saw Woullard play for the Canton Repository, told AllSooners. “… It started coming together in his sophomore year when he started making plays left and right.”

The RedHawks were battle tested in the 2022 non-conference, taking on Power 5 competition in Kentucky and Northwestern as well as Cincinnati.

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In the season opener, Woullard dragged down Wildcat quarterback Will Levis for a sack in 37-13 defeat, but it was just the beginning for the Miami (OH) defensive end.

Woullard doubled his output against Cincinnati, adding two sacks and a forced fumble, but he helped the RedHawks pull the upset over Northwestern with a punt block on special teams.

“That punt block he made against Northwestern,” Holland Jr. said, “… they knew then and there that they had something.”

Despite the strong non-conference showing, Woullard finished MAC play with just two sacks, leaving plenty of room for improvement heading into his junior season.

Throughout the offseason, he worked to add to his arsenal as a pass rusher.

“He just continued to grow,” Holland Jr. said, “and get better the more he got comfortable with his position and technique-wise at defensive end.”

The work translated, as Woullard logged sacks in eight different games in 2023.

He was graded as the seventh-overall edge defender in the MAC by Pro Football Focus, earning a 68.4 rushing defense grade and a 78.9 pass rushing grade for the year.

Oklahoma’s defensive ends held up against the run last year, but the Sooners struggled to generate consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks without dialing up blitzes.

Those struggles will only be magnified as OU moves to the Southeastern Conference, which is where Woullard could slot in to help Venables’ defense take another step forward in 2024.

Woullard won’t be solely relied upon, either.

R Mason Thomas, who is often labeled Oklahoma’s most physically gifted pass rusher by his teammates, was hobbled most of the year in 2023 and former 5-star defensive end Adepoju Adebawore will have had another year of development with Chavis come fall of 2024.

The additions on the defensive interior in OU’s talented freshman class could ease the load on for the Sooners’ defensive ends as well.

The physicality of the SEC will be an adjustment, but Woullard’s work ethic off the field has him equipped to make the transition.

“He’s basically how you would describe any Ohio player,” Holland Jr. said. “(They’re) more blue collar and don’t really talk much. They just let their work do the talking.”

The task ahead won’t be a total unknown to Woullard, however.

He’s experienced Power 5 football throughout Miami (OH)’s non-conference the past three years, but now he’ll have to find that consistency every week at Oklahoma.

“He went toe-to-toe with some pretty good teams and he flourished throughout his career at Miami,” Holland Jr. said.