Pair of Oklahoma Sooners standout defenders land on Butkus Award watchlist as defensive confidence for Sooners climbs originally appeared on A to Z Sports.

It has been a long time since the excitement surrounding the Oklahoma Sooners‘ defense has been at the level it is heading into the 2025 season. National and local media are turning their eyes to Norman, Oklahoma to see the defense instead of the offense for the first time in decades.

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Part of this excitement is based on the return of several defensive leaders for the Sooners, including linebacker Kip Lewis.

Brent Venables has done a tremendous job rebuilding the linebacker corps for Oklahoma, and it shows with the Sooners placing two linebackers on the Butkus Award watchlist ahead of the season. Lewis, as well as Samuel Omosigho, were nominated for the prestigious award, which is handed out to the best linebacker in college football.

Despite Danny Stutsman’s impact week in and week out throughout his career, there’s a strong case to be had that Lewis was Oklahoma’s best linebacker throughout last season. He made several game-winning plays for the Sooners with his pair of “Kip-Sixes” against Auburn and Alabama, and his impact showed up beyond the stat sheet with his tremendous coverage ability.

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It’s a little surprising to see Omosigho on the watchlist, considering he’s still technically in a battle with Kobie McKinzie for the starting MIKE linebacker spot for the Sooners, but it speaks to his overall talent level. I’ve written multiple times that I expected it would only be a matter of time before “Sammy O” won the job, and it seems like national consensus is reaching the same conclusion.

Danny Stutsman was nominated for the Butkus Award his last two seasons, but it has been over twenty years since the Sooners have had anyone win the prestigious award. Teddy Lehman was the last Sooner to win, nabbing the Butkus in 2003. If one of these two wins the award, they would be just the fourth winner in Sooners history, joining Lehman, Rocky Calmus, and Brian Bosworth (who won it twice in a row).

For now though, the Sooners are preparing for this season and stacking wins before they start thinking about individual awards.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.