Jalil Farooq – Page 10 – Syndication Server

Three Oklahoma Sooners to watch on offense against Arkansas State

Taking a look at three Oklahoma Sooners to watch on offense vs. Arkansas State.

Saturday will mark the start of year two for Jeff Lebby as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator. While the Sooners posted some solid numbers last year, it always felt like they could’ve done more. That sentiment is something players and coaches alike have echoed throughout the offseason. Situational football was emphasized, along with consistency.

However, some significant pieces from last year’s team are no longer in Norman.

OU’s rushing attack ranked No. 10 in the country, averaging 219.4 yards per game. The offensive line responsible for that lost three starters in [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag], [autotag]Wanya Morris[/autotag], and [autotag]Chris Murray[/autotag]. Harrison was a first-rounder to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Morris was a third-rounder to the Kansas City Chiefs. Starting running back [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag] went off and posted the ninth-best season on the ground in program history last year. He’s with the New York Giants.

[autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag] and explosive star receiver [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] will be missed in the passing game. Willis is with the San Francisco 49ers, and Mims was a third-round pick by the Denver Broncos. The two combined for 1,597 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. That’s an insane amount of production lost and presents a massive hole in the passing game.

The challenge in the offseason for Lebby was finding replacements for the names lost. Additionally, he and the offensive staff had to help develop the guys coming back this offseason. The time to prove it starts on Saturday.

With that in mind, here’s our look at three offensive players to watch for the season opener against Arkansas State.

Up Next: An Ascending Offensive Linemen

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23 Bold Predictions for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023

A little over a week away from the start of the 2023 college football season, here are 23 Bold Predictions for the Oklahoma Sooners.

With week zero just days away, game week begins on Monday for the Oklahoma Sooners. That’s right, it’s “football time in Oklahoma.”

It’s the time of the year when final predictions are coming out for the national and Big 12 title races.

For Oklahoma, the expectations remain sky-high despite what happened a year ago. A new year means a new team with a chance to write their own story. And although there are some things that will carry over from 2022 to 2023, this has the feel of a team that’s going to write 2022 out of the history books with their performance this season.

With a little over a week away until kickoff against Arkansas State, I took a shot at 23 BOLD PREDICTIONS for the Oklahoma Sooners this season.

These are in no way meant to be safe or necessarily reasonable. We’re coming RufNek cannons blazing and speaking things into existence.

We hope you’re as excited for the start of college football as we are. So let’s get hyped together with this years BOLD PREDICTIONS.

What are realistic expectations for Oklahoma Sooners in 2023?

Mapping out some realistic expectations for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] are coming off their first under .500 season since 1998. Sure, there were signs that a down year might have been on the way, but this is Oklahoma, and that’s not the norm.

Oklahoma lost five games by seven or fewer points. They were one of the worst fourth-quarter teams in the country. They peaked early in the season and just looked exhausted the rest of the way.

But this offseason, they added players to help make sure they are a more talented and fresh team down the stretch.

Head Coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] is also taking a different approach to make sure they are efficient in keeping the guys healthy and rested.

So what can be expected in 2023?

I’m here to be honest with you. Expecting Oklahoma to go 12-0 or 11-1 just isn’t realistic. Nor is it realistic to expect 7-5 or 6-6. Can any of those scenarios happen? Absolutely, but it’s not realistic.

Let’s talk about why.

Jalil Farooq and the wide receiver room ready to prove people wrong

Everyone keeps talking about the question marks at wide receiver but Jalil Farooq thinks they have a lot of players who can make plays.

One of the position groups to watch this season is the wide receiver room. The hope is veteran guys such as [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] and [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] can take their games to another level and help replace [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag].

They also hope the addition of [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] will help the group as well.

The room was in a bad spot after [autotag]Cale Gundy[/autotag] left the program late in fall camp and a first-time position coach, [autotag]L’Damian Washington[/autotag], was thrown into the fire.

Washington did the best he could under the circumstances, but they needed a veteran to help with the issues they struggled with. In comes Jones, who spent time at Kansas between a pair of stints at Texas Tech. Most recently, with the Red Raiders, Jones also held the title of passing game coordinator.

“I love how he coaches,” Farooq said. “He has a different plan for every player in the room. So, he’s one of those coaches that has a genuine gift.”

This room has an array of skills and attributes, such as height and speed, something Farooq said excites him for the season.

“Everybody has different talents, everybody bringing a little piece to the room, just everybody is different,” Farooq said. “When everybody is different in the room, everybody will bring their own piece. Take advice from everybody and their game, and that’s how you be the best receiver for you.”

Some of those expected to make an impact this year are [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag], [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag], [autotag]Andrel Anthony[/autotag], [autotag]Brenen Thompson[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag]. There are question marks in the room, but those in that room hope to prove a lot of people wrong.

Freeman, Thompson and Pettaway may not be the biggest wide receivers, but they’re dynamic in the open field and have elite speed. Gibson, Anderson and Anthony offer size and athleticism.

While Farooq and Stoops are expected to lead the way for the Sooners, there are a number of guys they will rely upon for significant snaps. At OU media day, Jeff Lebby shared that he would prefer to play seven or eight guys at wide receiver. Though it’s unknown how the snap counts play out, there’s a great deal of depth and just as importantly, the younger guys are more experienced heading into 2023.

Where they may not have the veteran leadership they did last year with Mims, Theo Wease and Stoops, the Sooners make up for it with wide receivers coach Emmett Jones. Oklahoma’s banking on the talented assistant helping bring out the best in his talented wide receiver corps.

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Oklahoma Sooners have the weapons to be great on offense

Though the Sooners lost a lot of talent to the NFL draft, there’s still the talent for the offense to be dynamic in 2023.

The Oklahoma Sooners are in the midst of a minor retooling on the offensive side of the football. They’re working to replace three starters along the offensive line, their top two pass catchers ([autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] and [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag]), and their leading rusher ([autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag]).

[autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] led the Oklahoma Sooners in receiving yards each of his three seasons in Norman.

Despite all of the turnover, the Oklahoma Sooners are still an incredibly talented offense.

Replacing [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag] at left tackle is [autotag]Walter Rouse[/autotag]. Rouse started 38 games at Stanford, a program known for producing good to great rushing attacks. That should play well in a [autotag]Jeff Lebby [/autotag]offense that wants to run the rock and run it a lot.

At right tackle [autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag] is replacing one-year starter Wanya Morris. There may not be a player in Oklahoma’s starting lineup that has as high a ceiling as Guyton. Jared Verse, a future top 10 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, called Guyton the best tackle he’d faced. Though he doesn’t have a ton of experience, the expectations are high for the incredibly athletic offensive tackle.

[autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] slides over to right guard to replace Chris Murray, and at the moment, it looks like [autotag]Savion Byrd[/autotag] is the frontrunner at left guard. Byrd has just one collegiate start under his belt but was good in the Sooners matchup with Florida State. Byrd helped the Sooners have a fantastic day on the ground against the Seminoles.

Oklahoma is hoping for a similar breakout from [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag] that Willis experienced a year ago. In a thin tight end room, Stogner has to have a big season. He has the athletic prowess to be a game-changer in the passing game. His only question is his health. If Stogner can stay healthy for an entire season, there’s a chance he surpasses Willis’ receiving totals from a year ago.

Wide receiver still has some questions. Namely, who will start on the outside opposite [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag]? [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] will likely start in the slot in three or more wide receiver sets. Then it comes down to a host of wide receiver talents that are vying for that No. 2 spot. There are a lot of really good options, like [autotag]Brenen Thompso[/autotag]n, [autotag]Andrel Anthon[/autotag]y, [autotag]LV Bunkley-Shelton[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Freeman[/autotag], [autotag]Jaquaize Pettaway[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Gibson[/autotag], and [autotag]Nic Anderson[/autotag]. There’s a good chance the Sooners roll two deep at each wide receiver spot in games to keep everyone fresh in the Sooners’ uptempo offense.

But they have a good amount of depth to work with.

Speaking of depth, there’s no position on the offensive side of the ball as deep as the Sooners running back room. Led by [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag] and [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag], the Sooners are loaded with talented runners. In addition to the sophomore running backs, the coaching staff is high on [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag] and [autotag]Tawee Walker[/autotag] and the roles they’ll be able to play this year. Throw in true freshmen [autotag]Kalib Hicks[/autotag] and [autotag]Daylan Smothers[/autotag], and the Sooners have six guys they feel can help them run the football.

Featuring guys like Farooq and Barnes provide a physical dynamic that should allow Oklahoma to pick up dirty yards after contact and after the catch.

In addition to becoming a more physical team, the Sooners emphasized adding speed this offseason. Freeman and Sawchuk return and Oklahoma also added Smothers, Thompson, and Pettaway to their ranks. That’s a group of guys that are threats to score from any spot on the field any time they touch the ball because of speed.

At quarterback, the Sooners have an experienced veteran who threw for more than 3,100 yards and 25 touchdowns in Dillon Gabriel last season. 2022 was his first at the Power Five level and he was good. Now, he needs to take a step to improve the Sooners fortunes on third and fourth down and in the red zone.

The Sooners lost a lot of talent to the draft this offseason, but that doesn’t mean their devoid of talent. It’s a deep offensive roster that can help the Sooners be even better than they were in 2022.

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‘Understands what it takes to play at a high level’: Expectations high for Jalil Farooq in 2023

After a strong season in 2022, the Oklahoma Sooners need Jalil Farooq to take another step in 2023. And he’s got the skill to do it.

The Oklahoma Sooners only constant at wide receiver over the last several years was [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag]. He immediately earned a role as a true freshman in 2020 and proceeded to lead the Sooners in receiving yards each of his three seasons in Norman.

Now with the Denver Broncos, Marvin Mims experience and production needs to be replaced heading into 2023.

One of the players expected to take on a more significant role in 2023 is Jalil Farooq.

In 2022, Farooq got his first significant taste of playing time as a college football player. And after a strong season, where he finished third in total yards with 606 yards and five touchdowns, the expectations are going to another level.

“Yeah, that’s one of the guys in the room that’s had some production and has played quite a bit. So we’re looking for him to take great strides,” Jeff Lebby said at OU Football media day. “You know, he’s lived it. He understands what it takes to play at a high level every single week. Now he needs to go do it. Him as much as anybody else, needs to put together three great weeks of fall camp, continuing to create trust continuing to create consistency. Inside the building every single day but a guy, when he had the ball in his hands, he did great things with it, so we’re looking for him to take that and run with it.”

Farooq was a multipurpose weapon for the Sooners in his first extended role with the Sooners. After a strong performance in the Alamo Bowl against Oregon at the end of the 2021 season, Farooq earned a starting job last offseason.

With the loss of Mims, Oklahoma needs someone to lead the way for the wide receiver group, and Farooq’s going to have a great opportunity to do that in 2023.

His ability to run a full route tree and win at every level of the defense will help unlock the Sooners’ passing game. He’s a strong runner, showing off an ability to break tackles as well as make people miss in the open field.

Farooq has the size, speed, and route-running ability to have a big-time season for Oklahoma. As the Sooners open fall camp this week, the next few weeks will serve as the springboard for what should be a career year for Jalil Farooq.

Here’s a look at the best photos from OU Football’s 2023 Media Day.

‘Best receiver coming out of spring’: Brent Venables on WR Gavin Freeman’s offseason

Oklahoma Sooners fall camp opens this week and Brent Venables had high praise for wide receiver Gavin Freeman.

As the Oklahoma Sooners open fall camp this week, wide receiver is one of the position battles garnering the most attention. With a group of guys competing for opportunities, fall camp will be the next step to delineate who will get the most playing time in 2023.

One of the guys that’s stood out in the mind of head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] is sophomore Gavin Freeman.

Freeman, the former walkon earned a scholarship early in the offseason and has done nothing but impress ahead of his second year with the Sooners. According to Venables, Freeman was the “best receiver coming out of spring.”

And as spring gave way to summer workouts, the playmaking wideout has continued to impress. In addition to his attitude and his work ethic, Venables said, “You look at his measurables. He’s one of the fastest guys on our team. You know, both linear and changing direction.”

“He wins everything out there,” Venables said. “If (Strength and Conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt) stood up here right now wanting to talk about Gavin Freeman, he’d be here until midnight.”

Though Freeman didn’t get many opportunities in 2022, Freeman took advantage when the ball came his way. He saw five targets a year ago and converted that into three receptions for 46 yards. One of those was one of the longest plays of the season, a 41-yard diving reception down the left sideline to put the Sooners in scoring position against Kansas.

Weeks before the big-time grab against the Jayhawks, Freeman made his presence felt on his first touch as an Oklahoma Sooner, a 46-yard run on a reverse where he bounced off defenders and, with [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag] leading the way, outran them to the end zone for a touchdown.

And while his speed, agility, and playmaking ability will what shows up on gameday, it’s the stuff in his head and his heart that’s garnered the attention of the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff.

“And so I say that with all appreciation and thankfulness for Gavin in his mindset, his attitude and what he’s done,” Venables said. “He makes everybody around him better.”

While it looks like Freeman is the heir apparent to [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag] as the starting slot wide receiver, don’t rule out the possibility that he could be the answer on the outside in three wide receiver sets with Stoops and [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag].

Playmakers make plays, and in Gavin Freeman’s short time with the Oklahoma Sooners, he’s done nothing but make plays.

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5 storylines to follow as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to open fall camp

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set to open fall camp, here are five storylines to follow ahead of the 2023 season.

You can taste it. We are so close to the start of the 2023 college football season.

Some teams that will play in Week 0 have already started fall practice. For everyone else, such as the Oklahoma Sooners, they start this week. The first event on the horizon is OU football media days on Tuesday.

The summer is filled with official visits and major recruiting events. The Sooners just concluded their summer recruiting efforts with “Sooners under the Stars” and “Party at the Palace.” They’ve put a good foot forward and have already reaped the rewards of their efforts.

But the dead period starts Tuesday, so it’s time for these teams to lock in and get ready for the season.

Oklahoma kicks off fall camp on Thursday and there are a number of storylines to look for. Whether that’s position battles or progress from players from a year ago, we’ll have you covered throughout camp here on Sooners Wire.

So, without further adieu, let’s take a look at the five storylines I’m looking for this fall camp.

One question for each position group ahead of Oklahoma Sooners’ fall camp

With fall camp right around the corner, here’s one question for each position group that the Oklahoma Sooners must answer before the season.

Big 12 media days are in the rearview mirror, which means fall camp is right around the corner ahead of the 2023 college football season.

The Oklahoma Sooners, like every team in college football, head into the season with question marks at a few positions. Even at positions where there are returning starters, there are certainly questions worth asking.

So as we get ready for the start of the 2023 college football season with fall camp coming in a couple of weeks, here is one question for each position group the Oklahoma Sooners must answer if they want to contend for the Big 12 title in 2023.

Wide receiver provides major question for the Oklahoma Sooners

The loss of Marvin Mims brings major question marks to the wide receiver position.

For our next summer position breakdown for the Oklahoma Sooners, we are going to look at the wide receivers.

Oklahma’s wide receiver corps suffered a significant loss this offseason with the departure of Marvin Mims to the NFL. Mims caught over 1,000 yards and was a huge piece of the offense for the last three seasons. The now Denver Bronco led Oklahoma in receiving yards each of his three years in Norman.

The Sooners also lost Theo Wease, who was fifth in yards last year. The only two players they return in the top six in yardage are Jalil Farooq and Drake Stoops. Neither caught over 500 yards.

While Farooq has talent and showed promise in both the pass and run game, he’s got to take another step this season.

As for Stoops, he’s Mr. Reliable. You know exactly what you’re going to get from the former walk-on.

But the Sooners need someone to step up and be that No. 1 target, whether it’s Farooq, Nic Anderson, Jayden Gibson, or someone new like Andrel Anthony, Brenen Thompson, or Jaquaize Pettaway.

The Sooners have a lot of talent and a lot of speed, but they need that go-to guy. They also have to fix the drop issues they had last season as well.

Jeff Lebby’s offense loves the long ball, and they have the guys to go get it. They just don’t have a lot of proven experience.

At times last season, specifically after the first quarter versus Oklahoma State, the Sooners struggled with separation. That just can’t be an issue again.

Too many times, if teams were physical at the line of scrimmage, the wide receiver group struggled to separate.

But they added new WR coach Emmitt Jones who is well thought of after being at Texas Tech. He brings a lot of experience in the development department and brings an edge to the position group. The hope is he can help with the issues of separation and drops.

This position group has the most questions, and only time will tell how they’ll be answered.

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