Tag: Charles Thompson

Who will be Oklahoma’s backup quarterback in 2024?

Oklahoma has options on the quarterback depth chart behind starter Jackson Arnold.

Backup quarterback is a position few fans or coaches ever want to think about. However, it’s an important role to have decided before going into any season.

The Oklahoma Sooners have zero doubt who their starting quarterback will be in Year 3 of the [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] era. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] was tabbed long ago as the player who would be the face of the Sooners as they left the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] for the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

The quarterback room as a whole has seen a major reshuffle around the former five-star prospect. Former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] is the head coach at Mississippi State. Former offensive analyst [autotag]Matt Wells[/autotag], who worked with the QBs, is the co-offensive coordinator at Kansas State. Former assistant quarterbacks coach [autotag]Matt Holocek[/autotag] followed Lebby to Starkville.

[autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] were promoted to co-offensive coordinators to replace Lebby, with Littrell coaching quarterbacks and likely serving as the primary play-caller. Finley will continue to coach tight ends. [autotag]Kevin Johns[/autotag], who was the OC and QBs coach at Duke for the last two seasons, was hired by Venables as an offensive analyst this offseason to replace Wells. Johns has worked under Littrell before and received his coaching start working for former Oklahoma OC and current Tulsa head coach [autotag]Kevin Wilson[/autotag]. [autotag]Jack Lowary[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Hatcher[/autotag] were hired in December as offensive support staff, and both have worked with QBs.

[autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag], [autotag]General Booty[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Switzer[/autotag] left the program via the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] this offseason, leaving Arnold as the only player in the QB room who was here a season ago.

Behind Arnold, Oklahoma has four other quarterbacks on the roster heading into the 2024 season. Veteran transfer [autotag]Casey Thompson[/autotag], true freshmen [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Brendan Zurbrugg[/autotag], and late transfer enrollee [autotag]Steele Wasel[/autotag] make up the rest of the quarterback unit.

Which of these players has the best chance to be called upon if something happens to Arnold? After all, we saw the situation play out last season when Arnold’s redshirt year was burned because he had to replace Gabriel in the second half of a must-win game against BYU.

Casey Thompson has the experience you look for in a college football backup quarterback. The seventh-year “senior” has made stops at Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic over the past few years. He’s Oklahoma royalty, having seen his father [autotag]Charles Thompson[/autotag] and his older brother [autotag]Kendal Thompson[/autotag] play for the Sooners before him. He joined the program as a walk-on transfer this offseason, and has been recovering from injury, meaning he was unable to participate in spring football.

Michael Hawkins Jr., another Oklahoma legacy, provides the young and uber-talented backup option. The true freshman hails from Frisco Emerson High School in Texas, and he could be the future of the position if he develops over the next two seasons behind Arnold. He’s a dual-threat quarterback, flashing his talent in the [autotag]2024 spring game[/autotag].

Brendan Zurbrugg was the second quarterback the Sooners took in the [autotag]2024 recruiting class[/autotag], and his road to playing time is longer than his fellow true freshman’s. Zurbrugg is from Alliance, Ohio, and will be a depth player this season. He was taken by Oklahoma this year for a reason. He’ll have a chance to show what he has in practice.

Steele Wasel is the newest member of the group, transferring in from Akron in early June. He’ll be the fifth quarterback on the roster this season, and the in-state product will provide depth and a practice arm as a walk-on, getting the opportunity to practice against [autotag]Power Four[/autotag] players in Norman.

Thompson and Hawkins Jr. are the front-runners to serve as Arnold’s backup, but they’re on opposite ends of the experience spectrum. It may depend on the nature or severity of an Arnold injury to see which of them plays. Zurbrugg and Wasel are farther back in the competition, but college football has a way of making the unexpected the reality sometimes.

For instance, if Arnold is injured for part of a game and Littrell needs someone to finish the job, he might go with the steady hand of Thompson to help the Sooners win a close game, especially if it comes in a tough environment. If Arnold’s absence stretches multiple games, the talent and upside of Hawkins Jr. might be the way to go, considering the microscopic margin of error in the SEC. If either of those backups go down, Zurbrugg or Wasel could see an expanded role.

The competition will likely extend throughout fall camp, but Venables, Littrell and Finley need to have an answer at backup QB.

They’ll need to prepare either the experienced Thompson or the young Hawkins Jr. to hold the weight of Sooner Nation on their shoulders if the worst-case scenario happens. While they’re at it, it doesn’t hurt to get Zurbrugg or even Wasel ready to go just in case chaos reigns in 2024.

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Akron transfer quarterback Steele Wasel crystal balled to Sooners

Oklahoma is the favorite to land Akron transfer Steele Wasel after a Crystal Ball prediction from Sooners Illustrated’s Collin Kennedy.

Oklahoma looks to still be in the process of bolstering its quarterback room. While Jackson Arnold is QB1 as Oklahoma heads into the 2024 season, Oklahoma continues to ensure the depth behind him is sufficient.

The last recruiting cycle saw the Sooners bring in not one but two quarterbacks. [autotag]Michael Hawkins[/autotag], a four-star quarterback and an Oklahoma legacy, is fighting for the backup quarterback role. [autotag]Brendan Zurbrugg[/autotag] also joined the Sooners after he shined as the field general for his high school team in Ohio.

To complete the transformation, the Sooners finally saw [autotag]Casey Thompson[/autotag], son of former Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson, join the program as a veteran presence.

Most recently, [autotag]General Booty[/autotag] hit the transfer portal earlier this spring and eventually transferred to the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks.

That brings us to the latest development in Oklahoma’s quarterback room as the Sooners were projected to land Akron transfer QB Steele Wasel just from Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated and 247Sports.

Wasel is an Oklahoma native from Choctaw. He has a powerful arm and has excellent size for the position, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing over 200 pounds. As a senior at Choctaw High School, he threw for 3,325 yards and 38 touchdowns.

He redshirted this past year at Akron and will still have four years of eligibility remaining.

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Oklahoma Sooners quarterback room will look completely different in 2024

The Sooners have almost completely restacked the quarterback room going into their first season in the SEC.

In early December, Oklahoma’s starting quarterback for the last two seasons, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], announced he was entering the transfer portal.

Gabriel saw the writing on the wall that it was former five-star [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]’s time to take the reins under center for the Sooners. Gabriel transferred to Oregon to play the final year of his college career.

While Gabriel was certainly OU’s most notable loss in the portal at the QB spot, his was just the first of many departures that have completely reshuffled Oklahoma’s quarterback depth chart.

But let’s start at the beginning. Last season’s quarterback room in Norman consisted of Dillon Gabriel, Jackson Arnold, [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag], [autotag]General Booty[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Switzer[/autotag].

Gabriel’s departure wasn’t even the first domino to fall. Former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] was hired to be the head coach at Mississippi State in late November. So, regardless of the portal or recruiting, a different voice was going to call the shots on offense.

[autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] were promoted to co-offensive coordinators. Finley is still serving as the tight ends coach, and Littrell is expected to be the play-caller and quarterbacks coach. Additionally, offensive analyst [autotag]Matt Wells[/autotag], who has experience coaching quarterbacks and as an offensive coordinator, was hired away by Chris Klieman to coach QBs for Kansas State in January.

Arnold stuck with the Sooners after Lebby’s departure. By doing so, ehe stablished himself as the starter until he decides to leave Norman. Seemingly, this was the plan all along.

But the QB room has changed around Arnold. From the coach in charge to the players behind the highly-touted sophomore.

After Lebby took the job in Starkville and Gabriel moved to Eugene, the next exit came courtesy of Beville. The former backup transferred to South Carolina after two seasons at OU.

Switzer, the fifth-string quarterback and grandson of [autotag]Barry Switzer[/autotag], entered the portal in April, having spent only 2023 as a Sooner.

And, finally, first-ballot all-name team Hall of Famer and name, image and likeness legend General Booty, entered the transfer portal on May 5. That leaves Arnold as the only player left from the 2023 quarterback room still on the roster.

Though the departures have changed things, the argument could be made that the Sooners have more talent overall under center than they did in November when the regular season ended.

First, the Sooners added two quarterbacks as part of the 2024 recruiting class: [autotag]Michael Hawkins Jr.[/autotag] out of Texas and [autotag]Brendan Zurbrugg[/autotag] out of Ohio.

Hawkins is the more highly touted of the two, and has a chance to be the future of the program after Arnold’s time is up. However, Zurbrugg was a very good prospect. He’ll compete for snaps when given the opportunity. Though both are young, they offer potential and talent for the future of the position.

But Littrell needed a veteran backup behind Arnold to offer stability in case of injury, so the Sooners went and picked up [autotag]Casey Thompson[/autotag] in the transfer portal by way of FAU.

Thompson is OU royalty by way of (most notably) his father [autotag]Charles Thompson[/autotag] and his older brother [autotag]Kendal Thompson[/autotag]. Casey made stops at Texas and Nebraska before his time at Florida Atlantic. He brings six seasons of college football experience to Oklahoma. He carved up the OU defense in the fabled 2021 Red River Rivalry game, holding his own on a field with two five-star quarterbacks in crimson and cream.

In addition, the Sooners have an extremely strong commitment from [autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag] in the 2025 class. He will likely compete with Hawkins Jr. (and possibly Zurbrugg) for the starting spot going into the 2026 season if all goes as [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and the coaching staff think it will.

To recap, we’re just over five months removed from the regular-season finale against TCU, and the quarterback room looks vastly different. As it stands, the Sooners will take Jackson Arnold, Casey Thompson, Michael Hawkins Jr. and Brendan Zurbrugg into the 2024 season.

But this is Jackson Arnold’s time to be the face of Oklahoma Sooners football, an opportunity he’s relished and prepared for for years. He is now the most tenured player in the QB room. It’s one more way that the OU faithful will be counting on him to lead the way in 2024 and beyond.

Fortunately, the reshuffling at the position looks to have been a success from a talent acquisition standpoint and quarterback is a strong point for the Sooners heading into Year 3 of the Venables era and Year 1 in the SEC.

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Oklahoma will face off against Casey Thompson again in 2022

After Casey Thompson’s decision to transfer to Nebraska, it sets up another showdown between the Sooners and Thompson in 2022.

It looked for a moment like Casey Thompson might wind up at Oklahoma after all.

After true freshman OU quarterback Caleb Williams’ decision to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal, Oklahoma was reportedly among Thompson’s transfer destination finalists.

The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman reported that Thompson was choosing between a group of finalists that included Oklahoma, Auburn, Indiana, Missouri and Nebraska.

Any hope of the Sooner legacy joining OU ended today when Thompson announced that he is transferring to Nebraska.

Instead of joining former Central Florida quarterback Dillon Gabriel as a transfer to Oklahoma, Thompson is set to quarterback against the Sooners for a second consecutive season when Nebraska plays host to Oklahoma on Sept. 17.

The 6-foot-1, 200 pound signal-caller is the son of former OU quarterback Charles Thompson.

Thompson completed 20-of-34 passes for 388 yards and five touchdowns in the Longhorns’ 55-48 loss to Oklahoma in the 2021 Red River Showdown.

Thompson finished the 2021 season with 2,113 passing yards and 24 passing touchdowns against nine interceptions. The former Southmoore and Newcastle quarterback completed 165-of-261 passes with the Longhorns in 2021.

Thompson will be the surefire starting quarterback in Lincoln after longtime Huskers starter Adrian Martinez announced several weeks ago his intentions to transfer to Kansas State.

Martinez passed for 8,491 yards and rushed for 2,301 yards in 39 games with Nebraska.

It’s an interesting twist for Oklahoma fans. For a split second, the thought of Thompson in a quarterback battle with Gabriel existed.

Now, OU will play both Martinez and Thompson again in 2022 with both quarterbacks wearing different jerseys from those they donned in the 2021 season.

Oklahoma’s trip to Nebraska is the return date in a home-and-home series with the Huskers. The Sooners topped Nebraska 23-16 last season.

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Per report, former Texas QB Casey Thompson has Oklahoma among top transfer destinations

Though Nebraska’s the favorite, Oklahoma included as a possible destination for former Texas Longhorns quarterback Casey Thompson.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been on both sides of the transfer portal since the end of the 2021 regular season. They’ve watched Spencer Rattler find a new home with former assistant Shane Beamer at South Carolina. Their most recent starter Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal, though he’s keeping the possibility of an Oklahoma return on the table. While the Sooners await his decision, they received a commitment from former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who was previously heading to UCLA to play with Chip Kelly.

It’s been a wild month in this transfer portal cycle and the Oklahoma Sooners may not be done yet adding veteran quarterbacks.

According to Mitch Sherman, who covers the Nebraska Cornhuskers for The Athletic, former Texas Longhorns quarterback and Oklahoma native, Casey Thompson, is considering the University of Oklahoma as his next quarterbacking destination.

Sherman, who spoke with Thompson’s father Charles during Casey Thompson’s visit to Lincoln to meet with the Cornhuskers, indicated that Thompson is considering Nebraska, Oklahoma, Auburn, Indiana, and Missouri.

With the Sooners recently adding Dillon Gabriel, it is a bit surprising that Oklahoma would be on the list. However, with Charles Thompsons’ history as an Oklahoma Sooners quarterback, anything is possible. Nebraska is the favorite to land the former Longhorns quarterback, but the Sooners staying on the list is significant. In a quarterback battle, it’s unlikely he would start, Gabriel’s been the more prolific passer at the college level. However, having two veteran quarterbacks available to you would be beneficial in the event of an injury.

Thompson started 10 games for Texas in 2021. He completed 63% of his passes for 2,112 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions for the Longhorns who had an underwhelming season, finishing 5-7.

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