ESPN ranked Oklahoma No. 17 in its 2022 Way-Too-Early top 25 rankings. Now, ESPN is digging into the biggest question marks for each of the teams listed within that top 25.
For Oklahoma, ESPN’s Chris Low identified “turnover on offense” as the Sooners’ biggest potential pitfall entering 2022.
The combination of the coaching staff overhaul and exodus of talented players on offense could make for a challenging transition for new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and his staff. With quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler both gone via the transfer portal, Lebby will reunite with UCF transfer Dillon Gabriel. Lebby coached Gabriel in 2019, when he passed for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns. Some of the biggest question marks for the Sooners will center around the players trying to make plays for Gabriel. Running back Kennedy Brooks is off to the NFL after rushing for 1,000 yards in three different seasons for OU. This is a big opportunity for Tennessee transfer Eric Gray to step up as the go-to running back. Leading receiver Marvin Mims returns, but Jadon Haselwood (Arkansas) and Mario Williams (USC) both transferred. Theo Wease is coming off a 2021 season in which he barely played after being injured in the preseason, and tight ends Jeremiah Hall (NFL draft) and Austin Stogner (transfer to South Carolina) have both moved on. – Low, ESPN.
There’s no arguing that Oklahoma will have a different signal-caller in 2022. The great news for the Sooners is it happens to be Gabriel who has thrown for over 8,000 passing yards and 70 touchdowns during his college career.
He’s also familiar with Lebby, which should help jumpstart Oklahoma’s transition into Lebby’s offensive system.
“I think that the great thing about him walking in the door right now…there’s a couple of things, but, one is the production. The guy’s averaging over 300 yards a game, three touchdowns a game in 26 starts, so you can’t argue that piece of it, but I think probably the thing that I’m most excited about is this guy knows how to operate. He knows how to walk in the building every single day have great ownership in how he’s going to operate, how he’s going to take command of the offense and what it means to be a quarterback. To me, that is huge and that is critical as we set the tone and the standard of how we’re going to do things,” Lebby said.
Oklahoma will be replacing a pair of starters on its offensive line as left guard Marquis Hayes and right tackle Tyrese Robinson both declared for the 2022 NFL Draft. OU added TCU transfer Tyler Guyton and Cal transfer McKade Mettauer to go along with four-star signees Jake Taylor and Jacob Sexton on its offensive line to help withstand those departures.
“I feel good about it. Those guys have really done a nice job as well. We’ve got two in, obviously midyear. Both those guys have been working their butt off, but when you look at it, we’ve got a talented group. We’ve got some guys that are young, that can’t be young anymore. Again, offensively, being a little new, being different than what they’ve been, looking for great maturity from the old guys, guys that have played a bunch of ball that continue to push that group, lead that group,” Lebby said.
At running back, it is a big opportunity year for Gray. Gray finished the 2021 season with 412 rushing yards on 78 carries and had 229 receiving yards on 23 receptions. Marcus Major will factor in at running back, too. Then, there’s the two four-star freshmen: Jovantae Barnes out of Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas and Gavin Sawchuk from Valor Christian High School in Littleton, Colo.
“I think the first thing that sticks out with both of those guys, Jovantae and Gavin, is they can flat run. Those guys have great top end speed. They’re guys that can figure out how to take it distance from anywhere they’re getting it on the field, so that’s exciting for us. Jovantae’s done a really nice job getting going here in the first two and a half, three weeks and then, obviously, really excited about Gavin’s spring track season that he’s having and then as he gets here in June to get him going. Those guys are going to get counted on. We’ve got two guys back, but we’ve only got two other guys on scholarship that are going to be with us. I do think both are incredibly capable and are going to have great careers for us,” Lebby said.
As for the pass-catching departures, OU has its No. 1 wide receiver back in Marvin Mims, returns Theo Wease from injury and saw the emergence of Jalil Farooq in its bowl game win over Oregon. Plus, Oklahoma signed two talented wide receivers in Jayden Gibson and Nicholas Anderson.
The loss of Jeremiah Hall might be what the Sooners feel the most. OU did get good news in the form of tight end Brayden Willis announcing his return and the Sooners added transfer tight end Daniel Parker Jr. from Missouri as well.
There’s no doubt that OU will look vastly different offensively, and, if you’re looking for a question mark, then offensive turnover is a fair question mark to have. Skill positions isn’t where the concerns should be, though.
If Oklahoma’s offensive line comes together, then it’s hard to envision offensive struggles being what holds the Sooners back in 2022.
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