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Oklahoma football: Need more proof that OU’s defense is good? Check this out

By Chip Rouse

Dec 30, 2020; Arlington, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey (8) rushes Florida Gators quarterback Emory Jones (5) in the fourth quarter at ATT Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2020; Arlington, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey (8) rushes Florida Gators quarterback Emory Jones (5) in the fourth quarter at ATT Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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For those folks out there who may question that the success of Oklahoma football this season will be driven by an even strong defensive unit than we’ve seen the past two seasons, I submit the 2021 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list as exhibit A.

Three Oklahoma defensive players are preseason candidates for the 2021 Nagurski Trophy, which every year honors the player believed to be the best defensive player in college football.

OU rush linebacker Nik Bonitto, who almost daily the past two weeks has been named to a national award watch list or preseason All-America Team for the 2021 season, is one of the three Sooners who are candidates for the Nagurski Trophy. He is also in consideration for a coupe other 2021 national awards honoring defensive players: the Bednarik Award and the Butkus Award.

Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey, the two other Sooners named to the Nagurski Trophy watch list, anchor an Oklahoma defensive line that is thought by many to be the strength of the Sooners’ defensive unit and one of the best in the country.

These three Sooners are pivotal players on an Oklahoma defensive unit that is expected to take things to another level in the 2021 season  after finishing 29th among FBS schools in total defense a year ago. Before defensive coordinator Alex Grinch arrived on the scene ahead of the 2019 season, Oklahoma ranked 114th out of 130 schools.

Two Oklahoma defensive players have won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in the past, both within two years of each other: Safety Roy Williams in 2001 and cornerback Derrick Strait in 2003.

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