In the first couple of years of Brent Venables tenure with the Oklahoma Sooners, the safety position was one of the areas of the defense that lacked depth.
After [autotag]Delarrin Turner-Yell[/autotag] left for the NFL and [autotag]Patrick Field[/autotag]s for Stanford after the 2021 season, the Sooners were left with just two guys, [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] and [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag], that had played significant snaps for the Sooners. Both guys served as utility pieces, playing some corner during that 2021 season.
In 2022, safety was ravaged by injury early in the season, most evident in their blowout loss to TCU.
In 2023, the position had more depth with the All-American season from [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag], the improved play from Key Lawrence, the emergence of [autotag]Robert Spears-Jennings[/autotag], and the additions of [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] and [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag].
The depth chart took a bit of a hit this offseason with the departures of Lawrence (Ole Miss) and Pearson (eligibility), but safety looks to be in great shape as the Sooners go through winter workouts.
Bowman is back for his fourth season, looking to build off of his incredible 2023. So are Bowen and Spears-Jennings, two guys who will vie for starter snaps in the secondary.
Oklahoma will get [autotag]Erik McCarty[/autotag] back after he took a redshirt year in 2023 after suffering an injury in the Oklahoma 4A state title game at the end of 2022.
The Sooners also welcomed a deep recruiting class at safety, welcoming [autotag]Reggie Powers[/autotag], Jaydan Hardy, [autotag]Michael Boganowski[/autotag], and [autotag]Mykel Patterson-McDonald[/autotag] to the program. It’s an incredibly fast and athletic group that adds more talent and playmaking ability to the roster as they head into the SEC.
By all accounts, the 2024 safety additions have been standouts of winter workouts with their athleticism and strength.
Those new additions will need to prove what they’re capable of this offseason, we’ve seen [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Hall[/autotag] utilize their young safeties.
Hall and Venables’ success on the recruiting trail has strengthened the safety group and it’s the deepest it has been in years.
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