Taylor Wein

Taylor Wein went from a bit player to Oklahoma's most productive front-seven piece in a single season, playing fewer than 40 defensive snaps across his first two years before taking over as a starter in 2025. The redshirt junior out of Nolensville High in Brentwood, Tennessee, a former four-star recruit, led the Sooners in both sacks and tackles for loss and paced a defensive front stocked with NFL talent, generating 36 pressures on 504 snaps and pressuring the quarterback on 14.1% of his rushes. Chiefs Wire's report credits him with heavy hands and genuine power into contact, plus a rush menu of long-arms, rips, spins and two-handed swipes, with his chops timed well enough to strip the tackle's outside hand and open the edge. He lacks elite bend but plays low enough to flatten his angle around the corner, and when a tackle oversets he counters back into the B-gap with powerful strides. Bucs Wire's summer scouting write-up frames him as an effort-and-intelligence winner rather than a traits monster, praising his block shedding, edge discipline, backside contain and short-yardage disruption. CBS Sports' Mike Renner listed him as a name to watch in the 2027 edge class, calling him a tweener at 6-4 and 270 whose best reps came rushing from the interior thanks to lateral agility. Oklahoma moved him around at 4-tech, 4i and even 3-tech, and while he handled the physicality inside, his mass points him toward a 5-tech role unless he keeps adding weight. Evaluators see a high-floor every-down defensive end with second-round upside if the pass-rush plan catches up to the hands.