Defensive tackle David Stone having the breakout season OU needed
NORMAN — With Auburn facing first-and-20 early in the second quarter, David Stone went to work.
The sophomore tackle twisted to the inside, easily beating the Auburn right guard. By the time Auburn’s left guard came to help, it was too late. Stone easily made his way to quarterback Jackson Arnold, sacking him for an eight-yard loss.
The Tigers punted two plays later, and a special teams miscue led directly to an OU touchdown. It was a pivotal sequence in OU’s 24-17 win last month, and Stone’s play was a key part of it.
It was just the latest example that 2025 is trending to be the breakout year for Stone.
“I was just ready to go out there and execute,” Stone said last week. “That’s what I do, just go out there and do my job every play. That’s my goal. If a sack happens within me doing my job, god willing, I’m all for it. It was surreal hearing the crowd. I just wanted to soak it all in and enjoy it and be there in that moment. Be very present and enjoy it because you only get one of those games.”
Stone’s emergence has been a big reason why the Sooners’ defensive line — particularly the interior — has been one of the most dominant in the country. He’s tallied 13 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.
Most notably, he’s already logged 105 snaps, per Pro Football Focus. That’s 15 more than he played all of last season, and more than any OU defensive tackle outside of Damonic Williams.
The advanced stats show how impactful he’s been, too. Stone has the 15th-best defensive grade of any defensive tackle in the country (84.9) and the fourth-best run-defense grade (89.0)
“He’s been in the middle of a grind” OU coach Brent Venables said last month. “He comes to work every single day. He’s trained. He’s putting in a lot of extra work and he’s made tremendous improvement and (I’ve) been bragging on him since back in the winter. There’s a lot of hard labor and he’s not a guy that gets satisfied either.
“He’s got strong, calloused hands and great self-awareness and he’s very hungry and ambitious and driven and continues to show up. He put the extra time in every single day. It’s really been a big difference for us up front to have another big, strong, athletic, live body there.”
That’s been the biggest part for the Sooners. Stone has been both consistent and impactful, fortifying the depth on the interior. Jayden Jackson, Gracen Halton, Williams and Stone have all played between 96-115 snaps, giving the Sooners a true, interchangeable top four at defensive tackle with no drop off in production.
His growth has been obvious to his teammates.
“Every time I see that dude, man, I get a big smile on my face, because he’s grown so much,” Williams told OUInsider. “The freshman mentality is out of him. He’s staying focused. He knows the defense like the back of his hand. He’s going to be great, without a doubt. I’m so glad. I’m proud of him.”
Now, the Sooners just need Stone to keep it up. After this weekend’s game against Kent State (3 p.m. Saturday, SECN), the Sooners’ play the meat of their SEC schedule. Six of their final seven games are against opponents currently ranked inside the AP Top-20.
The mindset for Stone? Keep building.
“I feel like it just goes back to the commitment,” Stone said. “The coaches, everyone that stayed important to me and treated with me with such respect that — you like who you are as a player, but there’s work to be done. I’ve had that same mindset since I’ve been here. I gotta get better. I gotta get better daily. That’s been my focus. That’s been my drive.
“I want to do so much for the program. Just going back, building a legacy, that’s something I want to cement myself in. So having a game like that is good for me. It brings joy to me. Fort that legacy to be built, you’ve got to keep stacking daily, weeks, months, years and seasons.”
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