Bowl opt-outs have become the norm for college football as players look to preserve their health ahead of NFL draft preparations. One bowl opt-out is another man’s opportunity. For the Oklahoma Sooners, that man is true freshman offensive tackle, Jacob Sexton.
Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris are headed to the league and will not be playing in the bowl game for the Sooners. So Oklahoma will have a new tandem at offensive tackle, Tyler Guyton and Sexton. Guyton will make his fifth start for the Oklahoma Sooners this season. He filled in for Morris and Harrison throughout the season. He may not have been a starter all year, but Guyton was a pivotal part of the Sooners’ offensive tackle rotation, playing 311 snaps after transferring from TCU.
Sexton, on the other hand, will get a big bump in playing time this week when the Sooners face the Florida State Seminoles. Sexton played in seven games for the Sooners but hasn’t played double-digit snaps since the loss to TCU in Week 5.
Stepping into the starting lineup, Sexton will get all he can handle facing a top-20 Florida State defense and first-round NFL draft prospect Jared Verse.
Verse was arguably the highest-regarded defensive player in the transfer portal a year ago, and he lived up to that billing after a 7.5 sack season for the Seminoles. Though Verse will line up on both sides of the Florida State defensive front, he spent most of his time on the right side, which will likely be where the Seminoles put him early and often to test Sexton to start the game.
Sexton, a former four-star player in the 2022 recruiting class, is a highly-regarded player in his own right. He was the No. 20 offensive tackle in the class and held offers from big-time Power Five programs Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Michigan, Notre Dame and Tennessee.
This is a challenge for Sexton and the Sooners offensive line. Regardless of how he performs, it will provide valuable teaching tape for the true freshman as he looks to lock down a starting role at left tackle as a true sophomore in 2023.
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