Oklahoma football: Nik Bonitto ‘most feared’ on a more-feared OU defense
By Chip Rouse
To put it bluntly, the Oklahoma football defense was not a respected or relevant group before Alex Grinch came to the rescue.
Since Grinch took over the defensive coordinator responsibilities at Oklahoma prior to the 2019 season, the Sooners have returned to respectability on the defensive side of the ball. Grinch inherited a defense 114th out of 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. After his second season as the Oklahoma DC in 2020, the Sooners ranked 29th in total defense.
With seven starters returning, including 75 percent of the defensive production, 2021 could be the payoff year in Grinch’s defensive overhaul.
The Sooners are deep and talented at all three levels of the defense for 2021, and the best among them may be junior linebacker Nik Bonitto, one of 10 players Brad Crawford of 247Sports calls out as the most feared defense players in college football.
Bonitto, a second-team Associated Press All-America selection, recorded 32 tackles a year ago in 10 games coming off the edge. He led the nation in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, including 10.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and 11 quarterback hurries.
“He established himself as one of the most disruptive pass rushers in college football,” writes Crawford.
“And if you’ve watched him pursue a ball carrier or quarterback, you’ll notice there are few players who hit harder than No. 11 for the Sooners.”
Pro Football Focus also ranked the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native No. 1 in the country last season among 257 edge rushers in pass-rush grade (93.5 percent) and pass-rush win rate (28.5 percent).
On Thursday this week, Bonitto was named to the Walter Camp Preseason All-America Team. Sooner offensive stars, quarterback Spencer Rattler and wide-receiver Marvin Mims. were also named Walter Camp preseason All-Americans.