2. Offensive Line Comes Together
You can’t discount the turnover the Oklahoma Sooners are facing along the offensive line. Every team experiences turnover, but it’s rare to see a team lose the five guys up front that started most of the season. But that’s what Oklahoma and offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh are up against.
Cayden Green left for Missouri in the transfer portal. He was a coveted player after a freshman All-American season at left guard. [autotag]Walter Rouse[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag], [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag], and [autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag] are on NFL rosters preparing for their first training camp.
You can’t overlook Oklahoma’s losses up front, but with Bedenbaugh’s track record, there’s reason for optimism.
No school features more offensive linemen on NFL rosters at the moment than the Oklahoma Sooners, with 14.
Bedenbaugh and the Sooners staff have shown a proclivity for finding transfer portal offensive linemen and making it work with Oklahoma’s homegrown talent. They’ll do it again this year.
Oklahoma has blue-chip offensive linemen [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag], [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag], [autotag]Heath Ozaeta[/autotag] and [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag] who have been in the program for multiple years. They added highly regarded offensive linemen Eddy Pierre-Louis and Eugene Brooks, who could compete for time inside this summer.
But it’s the transfer portal acquisitions that will tell the tale of the 2024 season. Oklahoma brought in [autotag]Michael Tarquin[/autotag], [autotag]Febechi Nwaiwu[/autotag], [autotag]Branson Hickman[/autotag], [autotag]Spencer Brown[/autotag] and [autotag]Geirean Hatchett[/autotag] via the portal. Tarquin, Nwaiwu, Hickman and Brown have a wealth of experience and along with Oklahoma’s young offensive linemen will compete for starting roles on Bedenbaugh’s offensive line.
It feels like it’s been a regular occurrence over the last several years: We wonder how the offensive line comes together and each season and it does. There’s little reason to believe the guys at the point of attack will not be ready to protect Jackson Arnold and pave roads for Gavin Sawchuk