Oklahoma's defensive players deserve more credit, ESPN analyst says

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables is one of the best defensive minds in the sport. He constantly confuses opposing teams with his exotic looks and disguises.

The Sooners finished as a top 10 defense in college football last season. That played a big role in the Sooners returning to the College Football Playoff. While Venables gets a lot of the credit, rightfully so, for his great scheme, the players sometimes get overlooked. That's likely why Oklahoma didn't have any first-team preseason All-SEC defenders despite being arguably the best unit in the conference. Instead, the group earned five second-team honors: defensive linemen Taylor Wein and David Stone, linebacker Kip Lewis and defensive backs Peyton and Eli Bowen.