Greg McElroy explains Oklahoma's ranking on Top 10 defenses in college football list

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy raised some eyebrows earlier this week among Sooner fans as he ranked the Oklahoma defense at No. 7 on his top 10 defenses in college football list heading into the upcoming season.

“Moving next to a team that I don’t think enough people are paying attention to with what they return, and that’s the Oklahoma Sooners,” McElroy said. “I think this group has a chance to be the most improved group in the country from where they were are year ago.”

McElroy continued to praise Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, who is entering his fourth season as the Sooner head coach. In that span, OU is 22-17 with losses in three consecutive bowl games. Their highest finish under Venables came in 2023 (No. 15).

“Part of why I’m so optimistic about Oklahoma, not just on offense, but also on defense, is because coach Brent Venables got the job at Oklahoma because of how good he is as a defensive play-caller,” McElroy continued. “Well he’s taking over as the primary play-caller. This was strategic to take over the duties and he’s widely been considered one of the best minds in college football for a really long time. He’s got two National Championships as a defensive coordinator at Clemson to show for it, and he’s also obviously had a great stint at Oklahoma as well. I think he’s gonna be just fine.”

As McElroy mentioned, Venables led an elite defense at Clemson which won two National Championships. He also won the Broyles Award in 2016, an award given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

McElroy high on Goodwin and Venables duo

“They’re going to attack, they’re going to be aggressive, and they’re going to have a great understanding of what the opponent’s offense is going to be doing from week-to-week,” McElroy said. “I also love the addition of Wes Goodwin. Wes Goodwin was at Clemson last year as their defensive coordinator. He’s now the assistant linebackers/OLB coach. Him working with Brent Venables… them being able to work together again should give you the warm fuzzies if you are an Oklahoma fan. I think that was a big addition. Clemson fans weren’t necessarily sorry to see Goodwin go, but I think he’s a really good football coach.”

Goodwin and Venables worked together on the Clemson defense from 2012-14 and again from 2018-21. Goodwin took over the defensive coordinator job at Clemson following Venables’ departure, but was fired this offseason after the Tigers posted the 69th ranked total defense in all of college football.

“I love their front along with their defensive line,” McElroy continued. “I think their defensive line is of the charts good. That might be their best asset with Damonic Williams and Gracen Halton back. They’re veterans, they’ve combined for a ton of sacks and tackles behind the ball. This is going to be a really solid unit, and then you’ve got Jayden Jackson (who was a Freshman All-American last year) who could take a significant step forward here in his second year. You also have a former five-star in David Stone, who decided briefly to enter the portal before deciding to return. Overall, hopefully his production can take a big step this year.”

Along with Williams, Halton, Jackson and Stone, the Sooners return 60% of last season’s defensive production.

“They’ve also got a couple of significant additions. Marvin Jones Jr. is a person who was not talked about an awful lot after he transferred from Georgia to Florida State. Last year, tough situation because it was a bad team. He is now expected in his senior year to take significant step forward in what might be his final opportunity to showcase his ability before he makes the move to the NFL. Him, along with R Mason Thomas, makes two guys that are very difficult to tame.”

McElroy’s entire list is below:

HM. Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee
10. Clemson
9. Oregon
8. Michigan
7. Oklahoma
6. Alabama
5. Notre Dame
4. Georgia
3. Penn State
2. Ohio State
1. Texas