Tag: Aaryn Parks

Oklahoma offensive lineman Aaryn Parks enters the transfer portal

Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman Aaryn Parks enters the transfer portal. Parks was a four-star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class.

The Oklahoma Sooners lost some of the depth to their offensive line on Wednesday morning. Per a report from Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, Aaryn Parks is entering the transfer portal.

Parks was the No. 12 guard in the 2020 recruiting class and was a four-star prospect according to 247Sports and the No. 205 player in the 247Sports composite rankings.

Recruited by Bill Bedenbaugh and Shane Beamer, Parks hadn’t broken into the lineup until 2022, when he played 107 snaps along the offensive line. His most significant run came in the Sooners’ Cheez-It Bowl loss to Florida State, where he played 87 snaps, filling in for Jacob Sexton, who was injured after just three snaps.

Parks played well in the run game, but Dillon Gabriel was under siege from Florida State’s defensive front. Parks surrendered six pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, twice as many as Savion Byrd, who allowed three in the game.

The Sooners added Walter Rouse, Caleb Shaffer, and Troy Everett to go along with promising players at offensive tackle and guard in their 2023 recruiting class, including Cayden Green.

It’s possible Parks felt the roster squeeze, but provides a little more clarity at the guard and tackles spot moving forward.

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Don’t forget about these Oklahoma Sooners for 2023

Though the Oklahoma Sooners have added a lot of talent this offseason, there are several Sooners we shouldn’t overlook for 2023.

The Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff has been hard at work this offseason to retool and upgrade the roster. Through a transfer portal class ESPN ranked No. 4 and a recruiting class ranked No. 4 by 247Sports, the Oklahoma Sooners have brought in a ton of talent to compete for jobs in 2023.

And it’s a roster that needed it, considering they are ninth in the Big 12 in returning production for 2023, and they’re heading to the SEC in 2024.

At the same time, the talent they’re bringing back is young and unproven. In particular, the 2022 recruiting class and transfer portal additions. While they didn’t play a ton last year, they’ve now spent a year with Brent Venables and this coaching staff and will have an opportunity to earn some significant playing time.

Despite the additions, there are several returning Sooners we shouldn’t forget about for 2023.

Oklahoma Sooners land Stanford offensive tackle transfer Walter Rouse

Oklahoma beefs up its offensive line with Stanford transfer offensive tackle Walter Rouse.

Oklahoma has been hot in the transfer portal. That didn’t stop Saturday afternoon when transfer offensive tackle Walter Rose, a former member of the Stanford Cardinal, committed to the Sooners.

Rouse, a seasoned collegiate tackle, has one year of eligibility remaining and fits a need for Oklahoma’s offensive line in the wake it losing both tackles to the NFL draft. Tyler Guyton looks set to replace Wanya Morris at right tackle. The left tackle spot vacated by Anton Harrison could be a battle between the incoming Rouse, Jacob Sexton, Savion Byrd or Aaryn Parks.

 

Rouse was committed to Nebraska and looked set to enroll at mid-year, but Bill Bedenbaugh flipped the offensive tackle to the Sooners. Rouse started 39 games with over 2,552 snaps at left tackle in David Shaw’s run-heavy offense. Rouse also tied for 12th in fewest pressures allowed in the Pac-12 last season and allowed five sacks. He was penalized once in 2022.

Rouse’s commitment gives the Sooners their 11th portal commitment of the offseason. With Rouse and Caleb Shaffer on the way, the Sooners have stabilized the two spots along the offensive line that desperately needed a veteran presence.

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Stanford transfer offensive tackle Walter Rouse to visit with Oklahoma

Looking to add another Pac-12 offensive lineman, the Sooners are expected to host Stanford transfer offensive tackle Walter Rouse.

The Oklahoma Sooners have struck gold going out west in the offensive line transfer portal in recent years. Offensive line coach [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag] helped bring [autotag]Chris Murray[/autotag] from UCLA and[autotag] McKade Mettauer[/autotag] from Cal. In the 2022-2023 transfer portal, it appears that Bedenbaugh has his sights set on another Pac-12 offensive lineman, Stanford offensive tackle [autotag]Walter Rouse[/autotag].

According to Josh Edwards of CBS Sports and 247Sports, Rouse intends to visit with the Sooners, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. A former three-star offensive tackle in the 2019 class, Rouse was considered a top 500 player in the country and the No. 5 player in Washington D.C.

Rouse was Stanford’s sixth-highest-graded player on offense in 2022 and has played more than 2,500 snaps in his four-year collegiate career. Per Edwards’ report on Twitter, Rouse has started 39 games at left tackle.

The Oklahoma Sooners are losing starting offensive tackles [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] and [autotag]Wanya Morris[/autotag] to the NFL draft. [autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag], who started when Morris was out due to injury, looks to be in line for one of the tackle spots in 2023. Left tackle, however, is up for grabs.

[autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag] had the first shot at it, but an injury suffered early in the Cheez-It Bowl loss forced him to miss most of the game. [autotag]Aaryn Parks[/autotag] entered in relief and helped the Sooners have a nice day running the ball.

With the Sooners needing to replace three starters on the offensive line, finding someone with the experience of Walter Rouse could prove invaluable. Rouse’s four years of experience would aid an offensive line that will be young at right guard and one or both of the tackle spots.

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Report Card: Young linemen, running backs stood out for the Sooners

With the final report card of the year, the Sooners’ young offensive linemen and running backs offer hope for the future.

Just like that, season 128 of Oklahoma football is done. By record, they were the worst Oklahoma team since 1998, finishing under .500 (6-7) on the season. However, after the Sooners’ performance against the No. 13 Seminoles, it’s hard to suggest they were as bad as that 1998 team.

Their performance against a good Florida State team offered hope. It provided encouraging signs as we head into the offseason.

Before doing so, we take a look at each position group and grade Oklahoma’s performance from the 35-32 loss to the Seminoles in the Cheez-It Bowl.

‘They played physical’: Offensive line provides a lift in the Sooners run game

Oklahoma’s offensive line has a strong showing, helping the Sooners rack up more than 250 yards rushing in the loss to Florida State.

Oklahoma’s matchup with Florida State was going to be a difficult one upfront. The Seminoles came into the Cheez-It Bowl with a top-20 defense and boasted a really good group up front.

With [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag] and [autotag]Chris Murray[/autotag] out due to injury and [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] and [autotag]Wanya Morris[/autotag] opting out, the Sooners started several players that were backups for much of the season in their 35-32 loss to the Seminoles.

Making their first starts were [autotag]Jacob Sexton[/autotag] and [autotag]Savion Byrd[/autotag]. [autotag]Aaryn Parks[/autotag] took over for Sexton, who was injured on the first drive of the game, and received his first extended action in a Sooners uniform. [autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag] made just the fifth start of his career. [autotag]Robert Congel[/autotag] and [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] were the only players up front that had started more than Guyton’s five games coming into 2022. Congel, who’d been a backup to Raym for most of the season, was starting his third straight game to close 2022.

It wasn’t always pretty. Oklahoma struggled in pass protection at times, but the Sooners’ offensive line helped OU have a great day on the ground, rushing for more than 250 yards. True freshmen Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk each ran for more than 100 yards. It was the first time since 1985 that the Sooners had a pair of freshmen run for more than 100 yards in a game.

The Seminoles came into the game allowing only 148 rushing yards per game at 3.9 yards per carry. Against a tough Florida State team, the offensive line rose to the occasion.

“The guys up front, they played physical, they played with purpose,” coach Brent Venables said after the loss. “The players played with a tremendous amount of physicality and toughness that we’ve asked from them. Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh did a great job getting these guys ready. … I love the sense of desperation they played with up front.”

The Sooners received a sneak peek of what the future holds at offensive line in 2023. Certainly, there will be questions about how they performed in pass protection, but their work in the ground game was fantastic.

Take the sacks out of the equation, and the Sooners rushed for 289 yards at 5.9 yards per attempt.

It was a strong showing for guys getting their first extended playing time at the college level. With three starting jobs up for grabs as Harrison, Morris, and Murray head to the NFL, the offensive line’s efforts in the Cheez-It Bowl provided the start to the retooling process upfront.

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5 takeaways from Oklahoma’s 35-32 loss to Florida State

Oklahoma loses a nail-biter to Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl. Here are five takeaways from the game.

Oklahoma’s season ended on Thursday night with a 35-32 loss to the No. 13 Florida State Seminoles in the Cheez-It Bowl — yet another one-possession loss this season.

While the final result is far from desirable, the performance the Sooners put forth, given the circumstances, was very commendable.

The Sooners started fast, going up 14-3 in the second quarter. Their fast starts have been a consistent theme this season. The Seminoles responded with a strong second-half push. Oklahoma answered after falling behind 32-25 to give themselves a chance, but it couldn’t put anything together on its final drive as it tried to earn a last-second field goal try.

With the loss, Oklahoma finished under .500 for the first time since 1998. Here are five takeaways from the Sooners’ performance.

Cheez-It Bowl viewed as one of the best matchups by College Football News

The Cheez-It Bowl looks like one of the better matchups this bowl season, landing inside the top 10 of College Football News bowl rankings.

When the Cheez-It Bowl kicks off, college football fans should be in for a high-scoring affair. The matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida State Seminoles on Dec. 29 will serve as an appetizer to the College Football Playoff.

Florida State had a resurgent season, finishing 9-3, and it had a top-20 offense and defense this season. Led by Jordan Travis and Jared Verse, the Seminoles rattled off five straight wins to close the regular season, winning by an average margin of victory of 28.2 points per game.

Oklahoma had a disappointing season. It went 6-6 and 0-4 in one-score games. It was a frustrating 3-6 finish in Big 12 play after starting the year 3-0 with each win coming by 30 or more points. The Sooners’ offense was good enough in several of those losses, but the defense struggled to get stops in losses to Kansas State, Baylor and Texas Tech. Against West Virginia, the defense was good for three quarters, but the offense struggled on a wet day in Morgantown.

Which Oklahoma team will the Florida State Seminoles see in the Cheez-It Bowl? That remains to be seen, especially with players opting out of the bowl game at critical positions.

Nevertheless, the Sooners should have enough offensive firepower to have a shot to finish the season above .500, with Dillon Gabriel and Marvin Mims leading the way. And that’s why this game has been viewed so favorably despite Oklahoma’s struggles in 2022. In College Football News’ bowl rankings for 2022, Pete Fiutak had the Cheez-It bowl as the seventh-best game in this year’s bowl season.

Oklahoma got its win over Oklahoma State, avoided the embarrassment of not going bowling, came really, really close in the three losses in the last four games – it dropped all of them by three points each. It’s a program that seems like it’s ready to get to next year already, but it’s got the offense to make this wild.

On the flip side, all of the great things FSU did over the second half of the year won’t be undone with a loss, but it wouldn’t be a good look considering Mike Norvell is 0-for-bowls in his six-year career before this season.

There should be lots of offense, lots of energy in the stadium, and lots of storylines going into 2023 no matter what. – Pete Fiutak, College Football News

The Sooners’ defense will have a tough task against Jordan Travis, and Oklahoma will start two new offensive tackles for the game after Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris opted out. Tyler Guyton figures to be one of the starters, and then it will come down to Jacob Sexton, Jake Taylor and Aaryn Parks on the other side.

The Sooners’ offensive line will have a difficult challenge trying to slow Jared Verse, who has 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss on the season.

Oklahoma and Florida State could serve as a springboard for the Sooners to get back into Big 12 title contention in 2023. It will be an intriguing matchup between two proud programs when they kick off in the Cheez-It Bowl.

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Sooners offensive tackle Wanya Morris opts out of bowl game, declares for 2023 NFL Draft

Opting out of Oklahoma’s bowl game, Wanya Morris declares for the NFL draft. From @john9williams

After receiving a senior bowl invite, it seemed like this was inevitably the next step as Wanya Morris has opted out of Oklahoma’s bowl game to begin preparing for the 2023 NFL Draft.

After transferring from Tennessee in the 2021 offseason, Morris was mostly a rotational player before stepping into a starting role this season with the Sooners. Though injuries limited him to just nine games, he started eight games for Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line and played 580 snaps at right tackle.

Morris is the second player to opt out of the bowl game, following fellow offensive tackle Anton Harrison to the next level.

At 6-foot-6 305 pounds, Morris projects as an offensive tackle at the next level with a swing tackle floor. Attending the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. will allow him to showcase his skills against the nations best seniors in front of every NFL team.

With Morris and Harrison out of Oklahoma’s bowl game, look for Tyler Guyton to get the start at one of the tackle spots and Aaryn Parks along with true freshmen Jake Taylor and Jacob Sexton to compete for the start at the other tackle spot. Whichever direction the Sooners go will provide valuable snaps for the guys who will be competing for a starting spot in 2023.

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ESPN re-ranked the 2020 recruiting class: Where’d Oklahoma land?

Taking a look back at the 2020 recruiting cycle, where did ESPN rank the Oklahoma Sooners 2020 recruiting class?

The 2022 class has had a few splashes here and there, but we probably won’t have a good grasp on the impact of this group until 2024. A few years since the arrival of the 2020 recruiting class, what kind of impact is this group having for the Oklahoma Sooners?

In their third season in Norman, the 2020 recruiting class is playing a huge role for the Sooners this year. Marvin Mims is one of the best receivers in the country and Anton Harrison is playing like a player that could be taken in the top 50 of the 2023 NFL draft. Andrew Raym has developed into a solid starter at center helping anchor a fast-paced Oklahoma offensive attack.

In ESPN’s look at the 2020 recruiting class, the Sooners improved from the No. 10 class at the time to No. 7 in their re-rank.

How this class finishes under new head coach Brent Venables remains to be seen as the Sooners navigate a rough patch. Several signees are no longer with the program. Under previous head coach Lincoln Riley, with whom they signed, this group has offered some really good production. Pieces of this class helped generate more than 20 wins, a conference title their freshmen season and a pair of bowl wins. WR Marvin Mims was a key target on that Big 12 title team and remains a top receiver for the Sooners. DL Perrion Winfrey was the top junior college DL and was a disruptive starter while with the program. Top signee Reggie Grimes has developed into a good defender, leading the team in sacks. The Sooners signed several four-star OLs with in-state ESPN 300 Andrew Raym and Anton Harrison developing into solid starters. – Craig Haubert and Tom Luginbill, ESPN

The addition of Perrion Winfrey from the junior college ranks was the highlight on the defensive side. Though a bit up and down for the Sooners, Winfrey provided an interior pass rush and was taken in the

Reggie Grimes has been a good player, but hasn’t been the best player in the recruiting class. There’s still another level that he can go to.

Aaryn Parks and Nate Anderson have provided depth along the offensive line and Justin Harrington has become a rotational Cheetah player for the OU defense. D.J. Graham had some good moments at cornerback, but recently made the switch to wide receiver.

Chandler Morris won the starting quarterback job at TCU before suffering an injury in the season opener. Max Duggan’s played so well that Morris hasn’t been able to reclaim the starting quarterback job.

The biggest disappointments in this class were Seth McGowan and Mikey Henderson. Both players had promising starts to their Sooners careers in 2020 before being dismissed during the 2021 offseason amid assault allegations.

If we were re-ranking the players in the 2020 class, Marvin Mims or Anton Harrison would vie for the top player. Both have been among the best at their position in the Big 12 and have received some first round buzz in early mock drafts for the 2023 NFL draft.

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