Last year the Oklahoma Sooners lacked depth at numerous positions. One of them is most important spot on the field; quarterback.
We saw when [autotag]Dillon Gabriel [/autotag] went down versus the [autotag]TCU Horned Frogs[/autotag], the offense couldn’t function as a unit. And it was even worse against Texas.
In comes true freshman and five-star [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].
The [autotag]Denton Guyer[/autotag] native came as an early enrollee and provided a glimpse of what the future may hold in the spring game. Arnold spoke to reporters following Monday’s practice and said Gabriel has helped him tremendously this offseason.
“Just learning from him and watching his game has helped me a ton,” Arnold said. “Just the little things that he does, whether it’s footwork or his reads. I can ask him, ‘What did you see there? Why did you do this? Why did you do that?’ It’s helped me out a lot so far.”
That’s what this season is about for Arnold. In an ideal scenario, he’ll never take a meaningful snap in 2023, taking advantage of the opportunity to sit back and learns. But as we saw just two years ago, the ideal plan doesn’t always work out. Sometimes you have a guy who is just too good to keep off the field.
Arnold feels like things are starting to come around for him after a hectic spring learning the playbook.
“I noticed it even today, from the scrimmage yesterday, I felt like I was really comfortable in the pocket,” Arnold said.
That comfortability is huge for incoming players. Most importantly, the quarterback of the future. The OU coaching staff hasn’t been shy about Arnold being the future of the program. 2023 is the first step in getting him ready to take on that mantle.
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