Taylor Tatum, RB
The nation’s No. 1 running back coming out of the high school ranks last year, Taylor Tatum, is trending to be ready to play on Saturday after missing the Auburn game due to a concussion. If he’s healthy, he’ll be a part of the offensive game plan. Expect some good things from the talented two-sport athlete.
Tatum is the best back on the team based on raw talent alone. He can run and catch and was willing to block even if he wasn’t great at it. That can be worked on in due time, but this Oklahoma offense is so devoid of playmakers that they need Tatum’s ability on Saturday.
Finding some semblance of a running game to help limit the time the Longhorns’ offense sees the field is a sound strategy that Oklahoma should try and deploy to maximize their chances of beating the nation’s No. 1 team.
Jayden Jackson, DT
Jayden Jackson has been a mainstay up front for the Sooners’ defensive line after earning a starting role at nose tackle. He’s been a big part of the Oklahoma defensive tackle rotation along with veterans Da’Jon Terry and Damonic Williams.
There’s an off chance Oklahoma may deploy a different defensive look on Saturday to throw off Steve Sarkisian and the Texas offense. We’ve seen both three and four-man fronts and could see defensive coordinator Zac Alley deploy a 3-3-5 in an attempt to show Texas something they haven’t seen on film much this year.
If so, it may lower his impact, but in regular base packages, the Sooners need Jackson to be a disruptor in the middle of this defense. Texas has two first-round capable offensive tackles, so generating pressure up the middle and collapsing the pocket may be the Sooners’ best path to getting pressure on Ewers.
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