One of the issues the Oklahoma Sooners’ defense faced in 2022 was that the defense was on the field far too much. In particular, linebackers [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag], [autotag]DaShaun White,[/autotag] and [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag] played a ton of snaps for the Sooners.
One could argue they played too much.
As Oklahoma went 0-5 in games decided by one score or less, one could point to how much the Sooners’ trio of linebackers had to be on the field. Injuries to T.D. Roof and Shane Whitter forced the defensive staff’s hand to play that trio of backers as much as possible. They didn’t have much choice, feeling like their 2022 linebacker signees weren’t ready to play a significant amount of snaps. That left Stutsman, White, and Ugwoegbu to play over 900 snaps on the season. Stutsman was eight snaps away from an even 1,000.
According to Pro Football Focus, only 11 off-ball linebackers played more than 900 snaps in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and three of them were Oklahoma Sooners. Toledo was the only other team that had multiple linebackers with more than 900 snaps on the season.
Danny Stutsman tied for the FBS lead in snaps at linebacker with North Texas’ K.D. Davis at 992. Only two players in all of college football played more snaps than Stutsman; UNT safety Sean Thomas-Faulkner and Georgia Southern safety Anthony Wilson.
With opposing offenses averaging 80 plays a game and several of those games approaching 100, the Oklahoma Sooners needed more depth to help carry the burden that Stutsman, White, and Ugwoegbu faced.
Stutsman averaged 83 snaps a game in Big 12 play. Over the final five weeks of the conference schedule, when Oklahoma went 2-3 and were 0-3 in games decided by a field goal, Stutsman averaged 90.2 snaps a game. In those final five games, Oklahoma’s No. 4 linebacker, Jaren Kanak, played just 20 snaps, with zero defensive snaps against Iowa State and Texas Tech.
Now for more bad news. DaShaun White is off to the NFL. [autotag]David Ugwoegbu[/autotag]’s status remains unknown at the moment. He could follow White to the pros or choose to use his COVID year to play a fifth season for the Sooners.
If Ugwoegbu leaves, Stutsman is the only linebacker on the defense that has played a significant amount of snaps for the Sooners. [autotag]Shane Whitter[/autotag] will be back, providing a bit of experience, but he has fewer than 300 snaps to his ledger through three seasons.
For reference, Clemson’s top linebacker, Barrett Carter played 835 snaps in 2022, but the Tigers had four other linebackers with at least 600 snaps, according to PFF.
Now, they’ve added some talented players to the linebacker depth chart in the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes, but aside from [autotag]Jaren Kanak[/autotag], there isn’t much to go off of right now.
Kanak, [autotag]Kobie McKinzie[/autotag], and [autotag]Kip Lewis[/autotag] were highly-regarded 2022 signees, but aside from Kanak in limited runs, the staff didn’t feel comfortable putting them out there as true freshmen.
It’s understandable. There’s a lot that goes into playing linebacker at the collegiate level. From pre-snap reads to understanding adjustments before the snap to executing their responsibilities within the scheme post-snap, there’s a lot to take into consideration. For those same reasons, the 2023 guys may not be ready to be day-one contributors. So, Oklahoma needs its 2022 signees to be ready to contribute significantly in 2023.
Getting off the field on third and fourth down will help limit the snaps of their linebackers, but perhaps having better depth at the position would help a guy like Danny Stutsman play at max efficiency in the fourth quarter. If he’s not having to play every snap of every game because the Sooners have a guy they feel like they can put out there for a series or two earlier in the game, it would only benefit the ascending Stutsman.
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