Former Oklahoma Sooners player takes home MVP honors at Senior Bowl

On3 imageby:Justin Rudolph•02/05/22

Over this offseason, there has been a series of highs and lows for the Oklahoma Sooners football program. And on Saturday, the Sooners, and former defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey ended the season and the Reese’s Senior Bowl on a high note.

Winfrey was awarded the senior bowl MVP award after a solid performance on Saturday. The former Oklahoma defensive lineman was filled with plenty of emotion after winning the award and had this to say about his performance.

“I mean, man, I just wanted to show I was one of the most dominant defensive players in the country man. And I just thank Jim Nagy for giving me the opportunity just come out there and show my talents to the world,” said Winfrey.

Winfrey finished the game recording two sacks and three tackles for a loss.

Venables describes his vision for Sooners D-line

Brent Venables knows winning football begins at the defensive line. A defensive coordinator for more than 20 seasons, the new Oklahoma coach has big plans for the Sooners up front.

In his National Signing Day press conference, Venables laid out his expectations for the program going forward.

“I’ve had the good fortune to coach in eight national championship games,” he said. “I say that not in a braggadocious way, but in a humbling way that I recognize how hard it is to get there. You better believe it starts at the line of scrimmage. Watching that game with Georgia and Alabama a few weeks ago, that’s what jumped out to me. The decade I was at Clemson we had the most sacks in college football, the most tackles for loss in college football and the most defensive lineman drafted in college football. Certainly it takes having a great playmaker at quarterback. But you better believe you need to play great defense.”

Venables signed the No. 8 overall recruiting class in 2022 according to On3’s Consensus Team Rankings. That includes four-star defensive lineman Gracen Halton, the No. 30 overall player at his position according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. OU also added Tulane transfer Jeffery Johnson to its defensive line.

The Sooners lost several key players up front this offseason, including Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey. Knowing this, Venables made it a point to recruit players to fill those gaps.