Oklahoma lands a game-changer in transfer DL Damonic Williams
The Sooners went big-game hunting when Damonic Williams hit the portal, and they're bringing the transfer market's prize buck home to Norman.
Williams, the 6-foot-2, 320-pound war daddy who spent his first two collegiate seasons as a Horned Frog, has committed to the Sooners after visits to Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and LSU. He was rather inarguably the best defensive tackle — and perhaps the best overall player — available in the spring portal window, and he'll provide a massive boost to Todd Bates' room as Oklahoma prepares for SEC trench fights.
An honorable mention All-Big 12 selection in 2023, Williams has started every game of his collegiate career to this point. As a freshman, he was a key cog in the Frogs' run to the CFP national championship game in 2022. After recording 33 tackles and three sacks in that remarkable freshman campaign, he followed it up with 27 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble in 2023.
Though it initially seemed apparent that OU had the inside track to land Williams' pledge, it wasn't a simple task to get him committed. Williams set his spring-game visit to Norman almost immediately upon entering the transfer portal, but the Sooners were unable to lock him down during the visit. He took a subsequent trip to Texas, then headed to Missouri and finished out the process with a visit to LSU. Through it all, no program publicly emerged as the leader in the clubhouse for his services, nor was any school eliminated from contention. The recruitment remained well-guarded until the moment of the announcement, but at the end of it all, the decision came down in Oklahoma's favor.
Williams will bring much-needed experience to a room that only features one returning starter in Da'Jon Terry. The Sooners are expecting breakout campaigns from freshman defensive tackles David Stone and Jayden Jackson, but the addition of Williams certainly relieves some of the pressure of immediate expectations for Stone and Jackson. Also in the mix for snaps are rising junior Gracen Halton, redshirt senior Davon Sears and redshirt freshman Markus Strong. The Sooners also added another transfer earlier in the spring window, bringing in former Arizona State and Louisville DT Jermayne Lole.
After Jacob Lacey's medical retirement earlier this spring, Oklahoma had an immediate need for another proven commodity on the interior defensive line, and it's hard to imagine a better outcome than the addition of Williams. He has two years of eligibility remaining, and projects as an immediate starter and impact player for the Sooners.
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