Who does ESPN think is OU's breakout player in 2026?
Who does ESPN think is the under-the-radar player for the Sooners this season?
When the Oklahoma Sooners saw four-star edge-rusher Colton Vasek flip his commitment to Texas in November of 2022, it meant OU needed to scramble to find another player in the 2023 recruiting class that could play the defensive end spot in head coach Brent Venables' defense. That player ended up being Taylor Wein, now a redshirt-junior defensive lineman for the Sooners. Wein was offered by Oklahoma the day after Vasek's decommitment, and he committed to OU a couple of weeks later, signing as an unheralded part of a '23 class that was headlined by five-star QB Jackson Arnold.
Now, Wein enters his fourth season in Norman, and he enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2025. He posted 39 total tackles, one interception, one forced fumble (a pivotal one in the win over Alabama), and seven sacks, as he got his first real collegiate action. While Vasek (10 total tackles and two sacks combined over the last two seasons) watched from afar in Austin, Wein became a starter at DE for the Sooners, and became one of the key cogs of an excellent defense.
While Wein's story is one of the latest examples of OU's defensive coaching staff being able to identify, recruit, sign, and develop under-appreciated talent, it's also a testament to Wein's growth and hard work since he enrolled at Oklahoma less than three years ago. Now, many believe another big jump could be coming for the former three-star prospect. ESPN took a look at every team in their way-too-early top 25 rankings, and identified one player for each school that is currently flying under the national radar .
Wein was the pick for the 13th-ranked Sooners, as he looks to become one of the faces of OU's defense in 2026. "A second-team All-SEC selection last fall, Wein still might not be the first face you think of within a defensive core that returns veterans like Peyton Bowen, Jayden Jackson and Kip Lewis. But the redshirt junior is no secret around Norman after his breakout campaign on one of the nation's top defenses a year ago.