How Oklahoma OL Eddy Pierre-Louis Has Impressed Teammates, Coaches in Training Camp

NORMAN — On Wednesday, Oklahoma held its first traing camp practice ahead of the 2024 season.

A few areas of the Sooners’ roster are still looking to settle position battles heading into OU’s first year competing in the SEC, and players will be looking to perform well in hopes of securing their spot on the depth chart.

One of the position groups with the most uncertainty after a complete overhaul this offseason is Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line unit.

After Cayden Green transferred to Missouri, Tyler Guyton, Walter Rouse and Andrew Raym left for the NFL and McKade Mettauer played out the last of his eligibility, Oklahoma’s offensive front will look completely different in 2024.

With multiple spots along the o-line seemingly up for grabs early in training camp, one young trench player has stood out to his teammates so far.

“I think Eddy (Pierre-Louis). Eddy’s caught my eye,” veteran center Branson Hickman said on Thursday. “He’s just a freak athlete. He has all the tools. Just got to get some things going, but obviously he just got here. It’s been two days. Really athletic, he’s a really good kid and he works really hard. So I’m excited for him for sure.”

Hailing from Tampa Catholic (FL), Pierre-Louis was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school, rated the No. 33 overall recruit and and No. 1 interior offensive lineman in the country, according to Rivals.

With great size and remarkable speed for someone of his stature, Pierre-Louis’ athleticism gives him the potential to develop into one of OU’s best offensive lineman under Bedenbaugh.

Pierre-Louis was clocked at 12.97 in the 100-meter dash in high school, and is already listed at 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds despite arriving in Norman this summer.

While it will be difficult for a true freshman to earn a starting spot along an SEC offensive line, the talented interior player could see more time on the field as the season progresses, especially if Pierre-Louis continues to improve and the Sooners’ other options at guard underperform.

In 2023, Green wasn’t a starter in Week 1, but worked his way into the starting group and never relinquished his spot.

Hickman isn’t the only person who has been impressed by Pierre-Louis early in training camp, as head coach Brent Venables shared his praise for the newcomer on Saturday morning.

“Just humble, his work ethic, his pride in being prepared everyday. You can coach him hard, he’s really tough and demanding on himself without crushing his own spirit,” Venables said.

“He’s just ready to learn every day. He loves his teammates. He was a highly-recruited guy, he’s got tremendous respect for the game and the learning process and a great self-awareness of where his weaknesses are and things he needs to do to improve. Has a great sense of self-awareness of where his weaknesses are and where he needs to improve. That helps the progress happen sooner (rather) than later.”

With North Texas transfer Febechi Nwaiwu likely secure in his spot as a starter at one of the guard positions, Pierre-Louis will have to battle Heath Ozaeta, Geirean Hatchett and others to earn time on the field in 2024.

Even if Pierre-Louis doesn’t get many snaps this season, however, it appears that the highly touted freshman has a bright future in Norman.