Latest news with #RMasonThomas
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chiefs scouting report: Iowa Hawkeyes DE Max Llewellyn
The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best collections of power rushers in the NFL. It's time for the team to diversify some of the body types in its defensive end room. Several 2026 NFL draft prospects, including Texas Tech's David Bailey, Iowa's Max Llewellyn and Oklahoma's R Mason Thomas, offer the explosiveness to electrify Kansas City's pass rush. Llewellyn is a quick pass rusher with the immediate burst to stress offensive tackles vertically. Many offensive linemen break out of their usual pass set form and chase or overextend to match Llewellyn's speed. This leaves the linemen off balance and vulnerable to counters or line games. Llewellyn sets offensive tackles up with his speed rush early in games before attacking the B-gap later on. He's a fluid athlete who counters inside without sacrificing any momentum. While he sometimes attacks the B-gap with a speed rush off the line, he also works across the offensive tackle's face mid-play when he feels his outside rush won't get home. Llewellyn's pass rush plan includes chops, club-swims, long-arms, rips, swipe-rips, two-handed swipes and one of the best spin moves in the class. Llewellyn has mastered every element of the spin. He sets up offensive linemen for his best move with long strides that force them to overset, creating room in the B-gap for an inside spin. He also uses head fakes and some hip movement to manipulate the offensive tackle's leverage. It might sound like Llewellyn's pass rush plan is complete, but it's still a developmental part of his game. He relies too much on his spin move. He posts several wins per game with the spin, but offensive linemen eventually adjust and counter its effectiveness. Once this happens, Llewellyn doesn't have other polished, NFL-caliber moves that he feels comfortable deploying. Llewellyn currently projects as a late top 100 selection but could elevate into the second round if he refines his pass rush plan and unlocks his bend more often. He shows flashes of playing low to flatten his rush angle and beat the offensive tackle around their outside shoulder. However, his high pad level makes it difficult for him to bend around the corner consistently. Llewellyn's value in run defense is questionable, at best. He shows good effort but lacks the mass to anchor at the point of attack. Iowa doesn't play him in goal line situations because he lacks the play strength to consistently stack blocks and pinch run lanes. These concerns make Llewellyn a candidate to serve as a designated pass rusher early in his career. This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: 2026 NFL draft scouting report: Iowa Hawkeyes DE Max Llewellyn
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma Sooners among PFF's best defensive lines in 2025
If there was one position group that was a clear strength of the Oklahoma Sooners in 2024, it was the defensive line. Led by breakout seasons from R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton, and true freshman Jayden Jackson, the Sooners' defensive line was a game-changer to Oklahoma's fortunes last year. The addition of Damonic Williams via the transfer portal, along with the steady performance of Ethan Downs at the defensive end spot opposite of Thomas, made Oklahoma's defensive front difficult to run the football against. The Sooners allowed just 3.1 yards per carry and less than a touchdown rushing per game on the season. Though Oklahoma lost Downs and senior defensive tackle Da'Jon Terry, the Sooners are still among the best defensive lines in college football, according to Pro Football Focus' Max Chadwick. Chadwick included the Sooners among his top 10 DL units for 2025, coming in at No. 9, just one spot ahead of Texas. The Sooners have plenty of experienced players on their defensive line, returning four contributors who played at least 300 snaps last year. Gracen Halton is my No. 10 interior defender in the country. His 13.6% pressure rate since 2023 leads all returning FBS defensive tackles, while his 12.5% pass-rush win rate is the best among returning Power Four ones. R Mason Thomas is also a terrific pass-rusher, placing second among FBS edge defenders with a 93.2 pass-rush grade on true pass sets last season. - Chadwick, PFF The Sooners have a chance to be even better this year with another year of development for Thomas, Halton, Jackson, Williams, and former five-star defensive tackle David Stone. The addition of Marvin Jones Jr. at defensive end gives the unit potentially more pass-rush off the edge. If they can be as good along the interior as they were in their debut year in the SEC, the sky is the limit for the Oklahoma defense this year because of the defensive front. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
USA Today
30-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where did R Mason Thomas land among College Sports Wire's top 50 players?
There were few bright spots from the Oklahoma Sooners in 2024. One of them was a breakout season from one of the members of the 2022 recruiting class, R Mason Thomas. Thomas, who battled injuries his first two seasons in Norman, flashed his enormous potential when he was able to get on the field. The only problem was he wasn't able to stay healthy enough to get on the field consistently. That was until 2024, when he became one of Oklahoma's best players, producing a nine sack season, six of which came in SEC play. His return for the 2025 season garnered a lot of excitement from Sooner Nation and gave Brent Venables' defense one of the game's best pass rushers for one more year. Heading into 2025, Thomas ranked No. 39 among College Sports Wire's top 50 players in college football. The rankings were voted on by lead writers from across College Sports Wires team sites, covering more than 30 teams around college football. Every player has a role on a team. R Mason Thomas' role at Oklahoma is to get the quarterback. He is a sackmaster. That's what he does. That's what he excels at. He will be on the field in pass-rushing situations, a regular third-down disruptor for opposing defenses. He probably won't be involved in short-yardage situations, but the point stands that even though he's a pass-rushing demon, Thomas will obviously need to prove himself in run containment to show more to NFL scouts and give Oklahoma's defense added dimensions in 2025. - Matt Zemek, College Sports Wire What was impressive about Thomas' production in 2024 is that he didn't get a lot of opportunities to rush the passer with a lead. Thomas was No. 21 in the SEC among edge players in pass rush snaps in 2024 while finishing tied for fifth in sacks with nine. If you include interior defensive linemen, Thomas was No. 37 among SEC defensive linemen in pass rush snaps last year. He has an impressive ability to win off the edge and can get to the quarterback quickly. If the Sooners can provide the defense with a lead in the second half of games with more regularity, teams will be forced to throw more against the Sooners, giving Thomas an opportunity to do what he does best: go get the quarterback. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oklahoma Sooners R Mason Thomas one of the best players in college football
Oklahoma Sooners R Mason Thomas one of the best players in college football The Oklahoma Sooners may have gone 6-7 last season, but the defense was a shining light on an otherwise depressing first season in the SEC. The defense gave the Sooners a chance, but it didn't get much help from the other side of the ball. Much of the discussion about the Oklahoma Sooners this offseason centers on the changes on offense, but a lot of the optimism rests on the defense as well. A defense that allowed just 21.5 points per game last season returns a bevy of key players like Robert Spears-Jennings, Gracen Halton, Jayden Jackson, Damonic Williams, Eli Bowen, Kip Lewis, and R Mason Thomas. There are high expectations for the Oklahoma defense, particularly for Thomas, whom head coach Brent Venables has seen take strides this offseason. 'I thought R Mason Thomas had his best couple months of ball and leadership – all of it, you know, combined.' Venables said in a press conference back in April. 'You know he's a quiet guy by nature, but I think he took a real step forward … to get out of his comfort zone and raise the level of the players around him.' ESPN's Adam Rittenberg included Thomas among the top non-quarterback playmakers for 2025. Although Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman Jr. are off to the NFL, coach Brent Venables can build around players such as Thomas, who showed premier pass-rushing skills last fall. More than half of his total tackles came for losses, and he earned second-team All-SEC honors in his first season as a starter. Thomas became the first Oklahoma player to record three sacks in a game since 2020, and got better as games went along, recording six of his sacks in the fourth quarter. He also had a fumble return for a touchdown and recorded a forced fumble and a sack against LSU. - Rittenberg, ESPN Thomas came up huge in crunch time for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2024, providing an elite pass rushing threat for the OU defense. Returning for his senior season, he's hoping to get the opportunity to play with a lead more frequently as the Sooners offense expects to be significantly better. He had a nine-sack season in 2024, including six in SEC play, but he had far fewer pass rush snaps than other SEC edge rushers. Arkansas' Landon Jackson led SEC edge rushers in pass rush snaps with 362 in 12 games. Texas' Barryn Sorrell also had 362 pass rush snaps, but he played in 16 games for the Longhorns. Compare that to Thomas, who had just 243 pass rush snaps last season. He finished the season with the same amount of total pressures as Jackson, according to Pro Football Focus, on 119 fewer pass rush snaps. If the Sooners' offense can play more neutral script football, where teams are forced to pass more to beat them, then Thomas should get more opportunities to rush the passer and build off of his production from the 2024 season. And if Oklahoma finds itself playing with a lead more in 2025, then Thomas is set to have a massive season for Brent Venables and the OU defense. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
