Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy believes in Bill Bedenbaugh and three offensive linemen upfront for Oklahoma.
Bill Bedenbaugh’s resume speaks for itself. He’s one of if not the best evaluators and developers of offensive line talent in the country. He continues to prove it year in and year out.
Oklahoma’s offensive success for nearly a decade has come with Bedenbaugh leading the big guys up front. His offensive lines routinely dominate and regularly send guys to the NFL, where they shine.
Jim Nagy, director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, has taken notice.
Nagy oversees one of football’s premier scouting events in Mobile, Alabama. The Senior Bowl is an effective evaluation tool for teams during the draft process. Every NFL team sends representatives to evaluate the players. Nagy puts it all together, and his recent comments about a few of Oklahoma’s current players should give Sooner fans a bit of excitement about this year’s possibilities.
In a lengthy tweet, Nagy talked about Tyler Guyton, a fast-rising prospect in many draft circles already because of his size and athleticism. Guyton stands 6 feet, 7 inches and more than 315 pounds. He went toe to toe with projected 2024 first-round edge Jared Verse in the Cheez-It Bowl and more than held his own. That game was a glimpse of what Guyton can do.
“Guyton, who played some H-back at TCU before transferring to OU, is as athletically gifted as any tackle in 2024 draft class,” Nagy said. “There was some ‘wow’ stuff on last year’s tape when he was filling in for Senior bowler Wanya Morris.”
Bill Bedenbaugh hopes Guyton can parlay that performance and experience into an entire season’s worth of elite tackle play blocking as Oklahoma moves forward without Wanya Morris and Anton Harrison.
With Guyton’s athletic profile and early buzz suggesting a good season could propel him up draft boards, we’ll have our eye on Guyton’s development. Guyton spent time training with All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson earlier this offseason, picking the future Hall of Famer’s brain.
Speaking of All-Pro former Sooners along the offensive line, Creed Humphrey anchored the Sooners at center while Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts put up video game numbers in Norman. His replacement, Andrew Raym, another native Oklahoman, has a wealth of talent.
“Center Andrew Raym, who is entering his third year as starter, looked like a draftable player on junior tape, especially in pass pro, despite playing thru shoulder injury,” Nagy wrote on Twitter.
Raym’s pass-blocking grade per PFF was 63.6, which isn’t horrible, but it should get better with Raym’s commitment to getting stronger. In 700 snaps during the 2022 season, he gave up nine QB hurries, three QB hits and two sacks. He sometimes struggled with his pass sets; positioning was a weakness we’re sure Bedenbaugh identified. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts this year. In 2021 he was a second-team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press, so the ability to be elite is there.
Opposite Guyton is Stanford transfer Walter Rouse. With his experience, he should hold down the left tackle position. Rouse replaces first-round pick Anton Harrison. To be quite honest, it may be impossible for him to replicate what his predecessor did. That’s OK because Anton Harrison was an exceptional talent. Rouse has to be himself. While he had a subpar year at Stanford in 2022, posting a paltry 54.4 pass-blocking grade per PFF, his larger body of work shows that Rouse was overall an excellent left tackle at Stanford.
2020 and 2021 saw him grade out pass-blocking-wise at 71.3 and 72.6, respectively. He had much better campaigns, which probably coincides with the fact that he was much healthier than last season. Rouse missed spring ball with a torn labrum, but he’s healthy and ready to roll for the summer.
Per Nagy, Rouse had a draftable grade and can use that as a great motivational tool to put together one final good season before he departs Oklahoma after the season.
“New transfer LT Walter Rouse started 39 games at Stanford but wasn’t able to do much this offseason after having shoulder surgery,” Nagy wrote. “Senior Bowl had late draftable grade on Rouse last season before he decided to return to school.”
Oklahoma’s offensive line will largely depend on how these gentlemen play. With all three possessing NFL-caliber talent, not many can maximize that ability, like Bill Bedenbaugh.
And if there’s any doubt about whether or not the Sooners can put together another great offensive line, Nagy’s not buying it.
“Senior Bowl has had six of Bill Bedenbaugh’s players in Mobile over (the) past five years, and there’s (a) good chance that pipeline from Norman will continue this year,” said Jim Nagy, Director of the Senior Bowl.
He has another project in front of him, replacing three starters from 2022. However, his track record speaks for itself. Oklahoma should be stout up front again. After all, Oklahoma is undoubtedly in the running with Wisconsin and Notre Dame for the title of OLU.
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