CFB Zeitgeist
KLKip Lewis

Kip Lewis

Kip Lewis led Oklahoma in tackles, calls the defense, and wears the captain's stripe. He's back for a final season to anchor a Sooners defense built to make noise in the SEC.

LB · Oklahoma · Cl 3 · #10

CFB Zeitgeist 91

Kip Lewis led Oklahoma in tackles, calls the defense, and wears the captain's stripe. He's back for a final season to anchor a Sooners defense built to make noise in the SEC.

Lewis was the heartbeat of Oklahoma's defense in 2025 -- a team-leading 76 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and five pass breakups, the every-down signal-caller and captain who's started since the middle of 2024. He returns for a final season already on the Bronko Nagurski preseason watch list. The forward stakes ride with the program's: Oklahoma enters its second SEC year with a defense built to contend, and Lewis is the experienced voice in the middle who sets the front and makes the calls. He's not the flashiest name, but he's the kind of veteran anchor good defenses are organized around.

PLAY STYLE

Lewis is a balanced, do-everything middle linebacker -- the on-field quarterback of the defense. The stat line is well-rounded rather than spiky: a team-leading tackle count, 10.5 tackles for loss as a downhill run defender, four sacks on timed pressures, and five pass breakups that show real range in coverage. As a captain and multi-year starter, his value is as much in the pre-snap communication and alignment as in the production. He's a steady, instinctive, every-down linebacker who diagnoses plays quickly and is rarely out of position -- the reliable core a contending defense leans on.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#253 national
CFB
College
Oklahoma
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Brent Venables
Oklahoma
2023
Brent Venables
Oklahoma
2024
Brent Venables
Oklahoma
2025
Brent Venables
Oklahoma

Played his entire career under Brent Venables.

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Oklahoma6-7HC: Brent Venables · Run-leaning, fast tempo
2023Oklahoma10-3HC: Brent Venables · Balanced
2024Oklahoma6-7HC: Brent Venables · Run-leaning
2025Oklahoma10-3HC: Brent Venables · Balanced

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

91Elite
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (96th). Strength: tackles (93rd).

Tackles for loss#91 / 2975 · 97th pct
10.5defe
Tackles#192 / 2975 · 93rd pct
76defe
Sacks#169 / 2975 · 93rd pct
4.0defe
Solo tackles#271 / 2975 · 90th pct
38defe
QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct
4defe
Passes defended#340 / 2975 · 86th pct
4defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Career stats

Defense

Season-by-season defensive box score for disruption and splash plays.

Season Team TOTSOLOTFLSACKPDINTFF
2025 OklahomaFinal snapshot 763810.54.04----
2024 OklahomaFinal snapshot 63334.00.012--
2023 OklahomaFinal snapshot 57343.51.0------
2022 OklahomaFinal snapshot 210.50.0------
Career 4 loaded seasonsCareer row reflects the stat seasons currently loaded in this database. 19810618.55.052--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2025

W 33–27

at Tennessee

10 TOT  ·  4 SOLO  ·  0 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 6 on the road.

Game log

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 35-3vs Illinois State420.00.01
Wk 2W 24-13vs Michigan620.00.00
Wk 3W 42-3@ Temple321.00.00
Wk 4W 24-17vs Auburn1031.00.50
Wk 6W 44-0vs Kent State200.00.00
Wk 7L 6-23@ Texas430.00.00
Wk 8W 26-7@ South Carolina221.00.00
Wk 9L 26-34vs Ole Miss1281.50.00Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 10W 33-27@ Tennessee1041.50.51
Wk 12W 23-21@ Alabama772.02.002 sacks
Wk 13W 17-6vs Missouri810.50.01
Wk 14W 17-13vs LSU410.00.01
BowlL 24-34vs Alabama432.01.00
Total763810.54.04

How he plays

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

91Elite
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (96th). Strength: tackles (93rd).

Tackles for loss#91 / 2975 · 97th pct
10.5defe
Tackles#192 / 2975 · 93rd pct
76defe
Sacks#169 / 2975 · 93rd pct
4.0defe
Solo tackles#271 / 2975 · 90th pct
38defe
QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct
4defe
Passes defended#340 / 2975 · 86th pct
4defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

PLAY STYLE

Lewis is a balanced, do-everything middle linebacker -- the on-field quarterback of the defense. The stat line is well-rounded rather than spiky: a team-leading tackle count, 10.5 tackles for loss as a downhill run defender, four sacks on timed pressures, and five pass breakups that show real range in coverage. As a captain and multi-year starter, his value is as much in the pre-snap communication and alignment as in the production. He's a steady, instinctive, every-down linebacker who diagnoses plays quickly and is rarely out of position -- the reliable core a contending defense leans on.

2026 Outlook

Returning to Oklahoma for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Oklahoma

Returning around him

  • 53% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 7 Oklahoma players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -13 net (16 in / 29 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Oklahoma · Last season: 10-3 (AP #8) · Talent rank #14 · 2026 recruiting class #17

Perception vs tape

Kip Lewis led Oklahoma in tackles, calls the defense, and wears the captain's stripe. He's back for a final season to anchor a Sooners defense built to make noise in the SEC.

Lewis was the heartbeat of Oklahoma's defense in 2025 — a team-leading 76 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and five pass breakups, the every-down signal-caller and captain who's started since the middle of 2024. He returns for a final season already on the Bronko Nagurski preseason watch list. The forward stakes ride with the program's: Oklahoma enters its second SEC year with a defense built to contend, and Lewis is the experienced voice in the middle who sets the front and makes the calls. He's not the flashiest name, but he's the kind of veteran anchor good defenses are organized around.

How he plays

Lewis is a balanced, do-everything middle linebacker — the on-field quarterback of the defense. The stat line is well-rounded rather than spiky: a team-leading tackle count, 10.5 tackles for loss as a downhill run defender, four sacks on timed pressures, and five pass breakups that show real range in coverage. As a captain and multi-year starter, his value is as much in the pre-snap communication and alignment as in the production. He's a steady, instinctive, every-down linebacker who diagnoses plays quickly and is rarely out of position — the reliable core a contending defense leans on.

2026 outlook · as of 2026-06-13

DNA match

Player DNA

The Coverage 'Backer

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Owen Heinecke’s 2025 season.

Owen Heinecke

87%match

Oklahoma · 2025

#2

Darius Muasau

UCLA · 2023

86%
#3

Amari Burney

Florida · 2022

NFL Rd 6
82%
#4

JoJo Domann

Nebraska · 2021

All-Big Ten
81%
#5

Santrell Latham

Southern Miss · 2022

All-Sun Belt
80%

Matches Owen on

Class year
PD rate
Tackle volume

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Kamari Wilson's senior season at Memphis (2025).

Kamari Wilson

72%match

Memphis · 2025

#2

Trey Lathan

Kansas · 2025

71%
#3

Harold Perkins

LSU · 2025

All-SEC
68%
#4

Jahleel Culbreath

Old Dominion · 2025

65%
#5

Stone Combs

Nevada · 2025

64%

Matches Kamari on

PD rate
Tackle volume
Weight

Differs from Kamari on

Sack rate (higher)
TFL rate (higher)

Peer comparator

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 6 metrics
Kip LewisOklahomaRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 98% simCade UluaveCalifornia· 97% simRolijah HardyIndiana· 95% sim
Tackles for loss
97
Lewis
100
Biles
98
Uluave
99
Hardy
Tackles
93
Lewis
98
Biles
98
Uluave
99
Hardy
Sacks
93
Lewis
95
Biles
89
Uluave
99
Hardy
Solo tackles
90
Lewis
91
Biles
94
Uluave
97
Hardy
QB hurries
88
Lewis
88
Biles
88
Uluave
88
Hardy
Passes defended
86
Lewis
86
Biles
86
Uluave
91
Hardy

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.