You’ve heard about it all offseason if you’re an Oklahoma Sooners football fan. Can the offensive line mesh together well enough to get by in Year 1 in the brutal [autotag]SEC[/autotag]? Will the young players and [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] additions help or hurt OU in their pursuit of making the inaugural 12-team [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag]?
Elsewhere on the roster, Oklahoma looks pretty good on paper. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] takes the reins at quarterback, a moment OU fans have been eagerly anticipating for a long time. Arnold is inexperienced, yes, but his talent and upside are evident to anyone who has watched him play.
The Sooners have an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver, with no less than five players who fans would trust to be on the field in pressure-cooker moments.
Running back is solid, with leading rusher [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] returning. Health will be key in the backfield, but that position group should have the horses to get the job done.
The secondary is another position that must stay healthy, but there’s plenty of experience at most of the starting spots and plenty of young talent behind the starters. Safety [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag]’s return makes the defensive backfield a strength.
Another strength comes in the form of [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] and the linebacker group. Almost all of the key contributors from a year ago return and they complete a back seven that is seen by some as being among the best in the conference.
The defensive line is a bit more of a concern, but [autotag]Ethan Downs[/autotag] is back to lead the defense in the trenches. Oklahoma lost a lot of experience, talent and depth to graduation, the NFL and the portal, but they’ve worked hard to replace those exits. A major win in the spring portal window was the commitment of TCU transfer [autotag]Damonic Williams[/autotag]. He helps fortify one of the most important positions on the roster under Brent Venables’ vision and identity for the program.
The Sooners have other areas of concern. Tight end still needs to be sorted out. The same goes for the special teams. [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] is entering just his third season as the head coach in Norman and is breaking in brand-new coordinators on both sides of the ball. [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] comes over from Jacksonville State to lead the defense, while [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] were internal promotions who are now in charge of the offense.
But the biggest talking point this offseason, aside from OU’s brutal schedule in 2024’s journey to the SEC, has been that offensive line. Oklahoma had to replace the entire unit after last year and it’s one of the most valuable position groups on any football team. The performance of the o-line could literally make or break 2024 for the Sooners.
On his show, “The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell” On3’s college football expert J.D. PicKell gave his thoughts on Venables and the Sooners following [autotag]SEC media days[/autotag]. He laid out just how important one position group can be for the offense, and the entire Oklahoma team:
“I think the number one question we’ve all got to ask right now is can they protect Jackson Arnold because you bring in pretty much a whole new offensive line,” PicKell said. “Now I love (offensive line coach) [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag]. I think he’s going to be able to get the most out of whatever unit they have out there; I trust him. But at the same time if you can’t protect Jackson Arnold, in the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] that’s one thing, in the SEC that’s a completely other beast.”
PicKell also stated that it’s not all Arnold’s fault if the young quarterback struggles in the season’s early stages, while also laying out a path to early success.
“So if Jackson Arnold struggles early on in the year, make sure we evaluate the context for him,” PicKell said. “Make sure we’re assessing what he’s getting on that offensive line and how much time he has to deliver the football. Because if they can protect Jackson Arnold, if they do give him a chance to read the defense and feel comfortable confident back there in the pocket, they have, I believe, one of the most slept on wide receiver rooms in not just the SEC, in all of America. I’ll say it again. [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag], [autotag]Deion Burks[/autotag] … I love [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag] I love [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag] when he’s healthy, so all of those pieces I think make it very difficult as a defense to give the proper attention to all those weapons.”
PicKell went on to say that the offensive line’s success opening up running lanes will help take the pressure off Arnold and make OU’s offense more multi-faceted. He also highlighted the returning experience on Oklahoma’s defense and hypothesized that the Sooners could be in a few more low-scoring battles that fans are used to in Norman.
Simply put, the offensive line could be the reason that Oklahoma sinks or the reason the Sooners swim in 2024. The season is approaching quickly and Bedenbaugh will have fall camp to get his unit ready to gel together and compete in the SEC. The true mark of OU being an “SEC-ready” program would if the Sooners are able to overcome a weaker part of their roster by over-excelling at, perhaps, wide receiver or the defensive back seven.
The 2024 Oklahoma Sooners begin their season in less than six weeks. They’ll host the Temple Owls on Friday, August 30 at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN.