NORMAN — After his best college season yet, Gracen Halton returns to Oklahoma as one of the leaders on a veteran defensive line.

Halton, a 6-foot-2, 284-pound defensive tackle entering his senior year, played all of the Sooners’ 13 games in 2024 and started three of them. 

With several other veterans in OU’s front seven, Halton’s primary goal for 2025 is simple: be a major factor in one of the Sooners’ most experienced position groups.

“It’s great to have that experience, you know what I’m saying?” Halton said during a post-practice media in the spring. “Guys that know what to do, those guys can coach up the younger guys so that when we’re not here, the younger guys can take it to another level.”

Halton’s production in his first three seasons at OU was linear.

As a true freshman in 2022, he played in 10 games, finishing the season with 10 total tackles, with tackle for loss. Halton played 11 games in 2023 — zero starts — and ended the season with 3.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.

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And last year, Halton played a key role on the Sooners’ defensive line.

Halton finished the 2024 campaign with 30 tackles, six TFLs, five quarterback sacks, three hurries, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a safety. Halton earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors in the Sooners’ Week 2 win against Houston, logging two tackles for loss and the game-clinching safety.

Halton finished the 2024 season with a Pro Football Focus defensive grade of 75.4. That grade was second among OU interior defensive lineman who played more than 10 games, behind only David Stone (75.7).

Still, even after such a stellar season, Halton isn’t content. He used spring ball to improve both as a player and as a leader.

“I’ve been through it before,” Halton said. “So just taking it day by day, just really getting better at the things I need to. Knowing what I need to get better and just taking it and applying it on the field.”

Halton sees his run-stopping abilities as an area where he can get better. While Halton’s pass rush grade was 76.7 in 2024, his run defense grade was a bit lower at 71.3, fourth-best among Sooner defensive tackles.

“Just staying in those double teams,” Halton said. “Things that I watched film on myself from last year (in run defense). Things I feel like I need to get better at.”

OU’s defensive line is loaded with players who have played hundreds of snaps for the Sooners, including senior tackle Damonic Williams, senior defensive end R Mason Thomas, sophomore tackle Jayden Jackson and Stone, a sophomore. The Sooners also picked up former Florida State and Georgia defensive end Marvin Jones Jr. from the transfer portal.

In a defensive line group filled with talented, experienced players, cornerback Gentry Williams believes Halton will be a centerpiece again in 2025.

“Gracen Halton had an excellent season,” Williams said. “I think G-baby has done a really good job (in spring practice).”

Oklahoma also signed two defensive linemen — tackle Trent Wilson and defensive end Alex Shieldnight — in its 2025 recruiting class. 247Sports rated both Wilson and Shieldnight as 3-star prospects.

With an array of old and new talent up front for OU’s defense, it’s hard to predict what the Sooners’ defensive two-deep will look like. But it’s safe to assume Halton will be a key piece for OU’s d-line, no matter where he lines up.

“I feel very comfortable,” Halton said. “I feel like it came through last year like game four or five, getting comfortable in where I was playing. Now I’m just getting better at it. All the mistakes I made, just getting better at those.”