(Editor's note: With the 2024 season in the books, OUInsider will review the performance of every position group this season. The series will include individual stats, snap counts and performance grades via Pro Football Focus and analysis. This installment focuses on the linebackers).

Brent Venables has always been the hardest on his linebackers. Fortunately, it was a good year for that group.

Danny Stutsman again posted another standout season and was named a Butkus Award finalist. Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie took steps forward in their third seasons, and for Lewis in particular it was a breakout year. Others like Kendel Dolby (before his injury) and Samuel Omosigho proved to be good fits at cheetah, a hybrid position including linebacker and defensive back responsibilities.

Here's an overview of how the position group performed in 2024:

* Danny Stutsman — 709 (77.7)

Kip Lewis — 470 (70.0)

Kobie McKinzie — 337 (65.9)

Samuel Omosigho — 301 (77.0)

** Lewis Carter — 126 (78.6)

** Dasan McCullough — 160 (64.4)

Kendel Dolby — 94 (79.3)

Jaren Kanak — 92 (66.5)

This list does not include players who logged fewer than 40 snaps

* exhausted eligibility

** entered NCAA Transfer Portal

* Danny Stutsman — 110 tackles, 8 TFL, 1 sack

Kip Lewis — 63 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 INT

Sammy Omosigho — 40 tackles, 5 TFL, 1 forced fumble

Kobie McKinzie – 30 tackles, 3 TFL, 1.5 sacks

** Lewis Carter — 23 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

** Dasan McCullough — 17 tackles, 2.5 TFL

Jaren Kanak — 17 tackles, 1 fumble recovery

Kendel Dolby — 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack

— Danny Stutsman ended his career with 376 tackles, 37 TFLs, 8 sacks, 3 INTs and four forced fumbles. He was also a consensus All-American and a Butkus Award finalist.

The defense can, and likely will, be good again next season, but there's no doubt that the Sooners will miss Stutsman. Here's to hoping he has a good career in the NFL.

— Lewis took the leap that the Sooners needed him to take. His pick-six against Auburn was arguably the highlight of the year.

But it wasn't just that play or the pick-six against Alabama that made this his breakout year. Lewis proved he could play heavy snaps while also still maintaining efficiency and productivity. He started every SEC game and played at least 30 snaps in every conference contest.

There's still some room for improvement. He missed 13 tackles this season, the most behind Stutsman and Billy Bowman. But the Sooners can feel good about Lewis being the leader of the defense next season.

— It was a solid year for Kobie McKinzie, who saw a step up in both snaps and responsibilities. He's likely done enough to handle the starting linebacker spot alongside Lewis next season.

But there's a reason the Sooners have added Kendal Daniels and (likely) Jeff Roberson out of the portal, and it's not just because depth was going to be an issue heading into next season. McKinzie has had good moments, but the Sooners could use some competition in that room. Maybe that brings out the best in McKinzie during the spring and offseason.

— There's no sense in talking much about Dasan McCullough and Lewis Carter, who have already committed elsewhere. McCullough was a starter when healthy, but he missed nine games in his two seasons at Oklahoma. Carter hadn't done much (yet) as a Sooner, but there's clear potential there. He was in line for a bigger role next season, and his departure hurts.

— The other reason the Sooners are adding linebacker depth is... there's enough evidence to suggest that Jaren Kanak isn't going to a big part of the defense. He played 92 snaps this season. 24 of them came against Maine. There were five games where he didn't play a single snap.

Even with Stutsman and McCullough gone, Kanak still played just five snaps against Navy. On one of those snaps, he was a primary reason why Blake Horvath scored on one of the slowest 95-yard touchdowns you'll ever see.

Nothing about that play was any good, and Kanak wasn't the only issue. But he completely whiffed on his read, and that opened the running lane for Horvath.

It's a little wild to think about Kanak's career path. He played 596 snaps last season and was seen as the co-leader of the defense alongside Stutsman. He started the first nine games of 2023. Since then, he's basically been an afterthought.

He's just a weird fit in the defense. He's a little undersized to be an effective linebacker in Venables' scheme, and he just doesn't have the vision or IQ to make up for it. Considering he didn't begin playing linebacker until very late in his career, it makes sense.

— It really is a shame that Dolby was injured so early in the season. He was arguably OU's most consistent and productive defender through the first four weeks. He's a perfect fit at cheetah, and if he makes a full recovery, he should slide right back in as the starting cheetah.

— This was a nice sophomore season for Sammy Omosigho, who played in every game and took a larger role after Dolby's injury. The coaching staff moved him around quite a bit. In his 301 snaps, he lined up the most in the slot (129) and even logged 60 snaps on the defensive line.

There's still some room for growth, but at minimum, the Sooners can feel confident that Omosigho can be a 25-snaps-per-game guy with upside. It'll be interesting to see if they keep Omosigho at cheetah or if they move him around a bit more.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

Defensive ends

Tight ends

Defensive tackles

Running backs

Linebackers/Cheetah

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