When the Sooners take the field this Saturday, the defensive presence up front will be one OU’s opponents fear.

This year’s defensive line is expected to be the best in the Big 12 and one of OU’s best in recent memory.

“We feel like we have a chance to be as good as we have been up front since 2004, which was an awfully talented group with Dan Cody and Jonathan Jackson at end and then players inside like Lynn Mcgruder and Dusty Dvoracek,” said defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

With sophomore Gerald McCoy and junior DeMarcus Granger both in the middle up front, it should be extremely tough for teams to rush up the gut.

“The guys inside, we think that Gerald McCoy has a chance to be really special and hopefully he can beat the one-on-one with consistency and draw the double team and really free up DeMarcus Granger, Adrian Taylor and Cory Bennett,” Venables said.

McCoy and Granger combined for 54 tackles last season, 15 of which resulted in negative yardage. They also troubled opposing quarterbacks in the backfield, accumulating a combined 5.5 sacks.

On top of the dominating middle presence on the front line, teams will also have to fight the outside Sooner speed up front, which seems to figure a great part into junior defensive end Auston English’s success at rattling quarterbacks.

English, the leading tackler from the front line a year ago with 36, created havoc, sacking opposing quarterbacks 9.5 times — which ranked 15th in the nation — and accumulating 13 tackles for loss.

But one of the big questions the defense will face early in the season will be English’s health.

“It’s really just day-to-day and depends on how I’m feeling and on how our medical staff wants to do it,” English said. “Whatever they say is good to go and I’ll do,” English said.

English was forced to miss the last three games of the regular season last year because of a hairline fracture. Despite that, he was still named to the All-Big 12 team by the coaches and Associated Press.

The fact that English was hurt to end the season last year makes it all the more imperative that others rise to the occasion.

“Austin has been banged up and that has been well documented and we need a couple of other guys to step,” Venables said. “We have some guys that we are excited about but until they get in the game and do it we just don’t know where they are yet. Frank Alexander is one, John Williams is coming back and we will see what he can do when we go full speed and get the pads on.”

Williams won an NCAA appeal that will allow him a fifth year of eligibility. His career has been plagued by misfortune, as he tore his ACL in 2005 and his Achilles’ tendon in 2007.

But the coaching staff is confident he can make a significant contribution to this year’s squad, which has received widespread national attention.

Three of the four starters — English, Granger and McCoy — were named to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, which is given annually to the nation’s best defensive player.