Vili Leveni Injury Guts Interior Defense of Oklahoma State

During the Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday, Mike Gundy confirmed the Oklahoma State Cowboys would be without the services of defensive tackle Vili Leveni for the 2015 season. Leveni, a redshirt sophomore, underwent season-ending Achilles surgery this offseason, dealing a massive blow to an already thin position group for the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State was looking thin to begin with at defensive tackle before this news and were counting on Leveni to play a major role in 2015. He was projected to be a starter this fall after posting 16 tackles last season, including 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack. The team was counting on him to be the most experienced member of a very green group of interior defensive linemen and will now rely on a rotation of Ben Hughes, Vincent Taylor, and true freshman Darrion Daniels to hold up in the middle.

Finding contributors on the inside of the defensive line is a major point of emphasis for Oklahoma State to help support the great returning talent the defense has at defensive end. With 2014 Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year Emmanuel Ogbah and three-year starter Jimmy Bean, the Cowboys have tremendous talent and experience coming off the edge. That is in even starker contrast now to the inexperience that will be playing next to them on the defensive line with the loss of Leveni for the season.

As of now, the prognosis for Leveni making a comeback possibly in 2016 looks good and his return then will help boost the Oklahoma State defensive line considerably. In the meantime, however, the Cowboys must find fresh faces to step up into larger roles more quickly than anticipated.

You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.