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 (Marvin Mims and Brayden Willis), and their leading rusher (Eric Gray).
Marvin Mims 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 Anton Harrison at left tackle is Walter Rouse. Rouse started 38 games at Stanford, a program known for producing good to great rushing attacks. That should play well in a Jeff Lebbyoffense that wants to run the rock and run it a lot.
At right tackle Tyler Guyton 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.
McKade Mettauer slides over to right guard to replace Chris Murray, and at the moment, it looks like Savion Byrd 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 Austin Stogner 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 Jalil Farooq? Drake Stoops 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 Brenen Thompson, Andrel Anthony, LV Bunkley-Shelton, Gavin Freeman, Jaquaize Pettaway, Jayden Gibson, and Nic Anderson. 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 Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk, the Sooners are loaded with talented runners. In addition to the sophomore running backs, the coaching staff is high on Marcus Major and Tawee Walker and the roles they’ll be able to play this year. Throw in true freshmen Kalib Hicks and Daylan Smothers, 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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