Weekend Open Post | July 31st – August 2nd
Posted on: July 31, 2026
Breaking Down the Top Rooms in the SEC | The Final Tally
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 21, 2026
After ranking the rooms of every team in the SEC, below you will see how the compilation of the rankings of all the rooms pans out.
This much is clear: The Sooners have the talent; whether my rankings end up being 100% spot on or not, OU is squarely in the conversation of being one of the most talented teams in the conference, particularly when it comes to focusing on the starters.
Team – QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, ST = Final Average Ranking
1. Georgia – 3, 2, 9, 1, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2 = 3.1
2. Oklahoma – 4, 7, 7, 9, 3, 1, 2, 2, 1 = 4
3. Ole Miss – 1, 3, 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 8, 3 = 5.2
4. Texas – 5, 5, 1, 6, 4, 7, 3, 5, 7, 5 = 5.3
5. Texas A&M – 6, 8, 5, 3, 9, 7, 4, 9 = 5.6
6. LSU – 7, 9, 6, 2, 6, 6, 3, 5, 8 = 5.7
7. Alabama – 9, 10, 4, 5, 9, 7, 9, 1, 7 = 6.7
8. Tennessee – 12, 6, 3, 7, 1, 8, 6, 6, 12 = 6.7
9. Florida – 11, 4, 2, 8, 10, 11, 14, 9, 10 = 8.7
10. South Carolina – 2, 13, 11, 13, 12, 5, 10, 10, 4 = 8.8
11. Missouri – 10, 1, 10, 11, 5, 10, 11, 11, 13 = 9.1
12. Auburn – 8, 12, 12, 10, 11, 12, 1, 12, 6 = 9.3
13. Kentucky – 15, 14, 13, 12, 13, 13, 12, 14, 14 = 13.3
14. Arkansas – 13, 11, 14, 14, 16, 14, 13, 15, 15 = 13.8
15. Mississippi State – 14, 15, 15, 15, 14, 15, 15, 13, 11 = 14.1
16. Vanderbilt – 16, 16, 16, 16, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16 = 15.8
Couple things stand out to me…teams ranked 1-8 are very close, that leans toward coaching having a major impact throughout the new nine-game conference schedule. The SEC has really put its programs in a tough spot here, as they have pretty much added extra losses on the season to the bulk of its members.
Also even after number 8, teams 9-12 are very capable of being the teams that add those extra losses to some of the top teams.
One team in particular that stands out to me…how about where Alabama landed? It will be interesting to see if I underestimated them, as they still have a ton of talent on that roster.
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on how this panned out. I really had a good time going through all the rosters and teams.
You can find my QB Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my RB Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my WR Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my TE Room Ranking HERE.
You can find My OL Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my DL Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my LB Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my Secondary Room Ranking HERE.
You can find my Special Teams Room Ranking HERE.
Sourced Quick Hitter | QB Room
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 22, 2026
Spoke to a source following Brent Venables’ comments at SEC Media Days about the state of the QB room.
During the media blitz, Venables indirectly, but at the same time, pretty directly noted that Whitt Newbauer was QB2 at the current time over prized freshman Bowe Bentley.
Again, that news should come as no surprise to the community, as I have been talking about Whitt for a year now as a good option as QB2, but many still assumed Bowe Bentley would walk in and be in that position.
I asked source about the OU room going forward and how they see things playing out in 2027.
Now, provided Mateer stays healthy, source believes Whitt holds onto QB2 and would be the guy to come in and finish games and go in for a snap or two if Mateer got dinged up or lost his helmet and had to miss a play or something along those lines.
Source added, though that if Mateer were to be injured and out for an extended period of time, they could see a scenario where Bentley gets a lot of reps and could possibly play out the season, depending on the state of the Sooners record at that time. In other words, if the Sooners weren’t playing for a playoff bid, they could see Bentley getting a lot of time.
Now…as for post-Mateer…and the 2027 season…right now, source does not believe OU will be in the market for a transfer QB with Newbauer, Bentley, Niu, Jamison Roberts, and Noah Smith in the room and they expect there to be a legit battle between Newbauer and Bentley for the starting spot.
Sourced Commentary on SEC Rankings
– Super K – Posted on: July 23, 2026
I wanted to do a follow up on Charlie’s great break down of the SEC talent rankings (HERE). As a reminder, here were his final rankings:
Team – QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, ST = Final Average Ranking
1. Georgia – 3, 2, 9, 1, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2 = 3.1
2. Oklahoma – 4, 7, 7, 9, 3, 1, 2, 2, 1 = 4
3. Ole Miss – 1, 3, 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 8, 3 = 5.2
4. Texas – 5, 5, 1, 6, 4, 7, 3, 5, 7, 5 = 5.3
5. Texas A&M – 6, 8, 5, 3, 9, 7, 4, 9 = 5.6
6. LSU – 7, 9, 6, 2, 6, 6, 3, 5, 8 = 5.7
7. Alabama – 9, 10, 4, 5, 9, 7, 9, 1, 7 = 6.7
8. Tennessee – 12, 6, 3, 7, 1, 8, 6, 6, 12 = 6.7
9. Florida – 11, 4, 2, 8, 10, 11, 14, 9, 10 = 8.7
10. South Carolina – 2, 13, 11, 13, 12, 5, 10, 10, 4 = 8.8
11. Missouri – 10, 1, 10, 11, 5, 10, 11, 11, 13 = 9.1
12. Auburn – 8, 12, 12, 10, 11, 12, 1, 12, 6 = 9.3
13. Kentucky – 15, 14, 13, 12, 13, 13, 12, 14, 14 = 13.3
14. Arkansas – 13, 11, 14, 14, 16, 14, 13, 15, 15 = 13.8
15. Mississippi State – 14, 15, 15, 15, 14, 15, 15, 13, 11 = 14.1
16. Vanderbilt – 16, 16, 16, 16, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16 = 15.8
***I plan on reaching out to a few different personnel guys and coaches to get their insider take on the rankings but for now…
***First, I wanted to note that you’ll recall I recently mentioned that sources close to the OU program told me that in general their scouting shows that their front line group is sitting somewhere in the top 25% of the SEC. Again, could that be the top 5%? Sure. The point is, as far as I’m told, the Sooners don’t see themselves any lower than the top 25%.
***In a 16 team league that puts you somewhere in the top four. So, Charlie having them at two shouldn’t be much of a stretch according to my insider sources.
***I think it’s fair to say though that Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas and maybe even TAMU are up for debate in terms of where exactly they go. The point is BV and co have built this team up to the point where they are in the conversation for some of the best talent in the league. That’s always the first step.
***As some of you noted, I think rightly, that means in a lot of games, this season the Sooners will have the talent advantage and they just need to make sure their game plan and game day coaching is there.
***It also, though, highlights what we’ve talked about in terms of the absolutely brutal schedule the Sooners pulled this year. According to Charlie’s rankings, the Sooners pulled every single team in the top quarter of the league even if you don’t count the Sooners.
***Which brings me to some of my sourced comments on Mateer. Mateer is a backyard baller. When he’s on in terms of playing his game, he’s nigh impossible to stop. But as I was told, the Sooners are going to live and die by how many great plays he gives the Sooners in proportion to how many bad ones. They need him to be more Mateer and less Mateer at the same time.
***Additionally, depth is a problem all over the country. Every person I talk to from different programs complains about the lack of depth. You might assume that’s always been the case because coaches tend to want back ups to their back ups to those back ups. But I’ve never seen it like this. I remember coaches saying, we really like our depth this year. Not anymore.
***So, again, the rankings above can change reallllll quick depending on luck and how each team manages to keep their team healthy. Which is why, again, I’ve heard this emphasized from folks close to the program multiple times over this offseason. I’ve heard it more than I’ve ever heard it.
***In my opinion, College football is the best sport in the world (boxing is up there too). CFB is the closest approximation to old school war we have in sports. There are warriors, generals, mindset and strategy. And talent has always been critical. But as I’ve said, never has personnel management ever been so important with so little room for error.
***But again, I have to emphasize that BV and co deserve a lot of credit for getting the talent at OU into the top group in the SEC. That simply was not true a few years ago. And this is still the most talent rich league in the country.
“Be Scrappy” | Quick-Hitter
– Super K – Posted on: July 23, 2026
I want to make ann additional point on this big offseason topic about managing practices to protect against injuries. With fall camp right around the corner, this is about to be very relevant.
I thought it was interesting that one OU source talked about how BV’s background is as a guy who wants his team to be super hard nosed. You remember the first few seasons when we were reporting how vicious practices were. So, to switch things up to protect guys runs against BV’s instincts but it’s a strategic move.
Still, I was chatting with a source who had a great few lines that summarized the mindset and the balance, “We have to be scrappy and stay healthy. We need to be tough without sacrificing the integrity of our first group.”
That’s the vision. And the success of a team is going to be about how you balance those things. Err too far in one direction and you’re soft. Err too far in the other and you’re down too many men.
But I love the description, “be scrappy.”
BV is Proactive
– Super K – Posted on: July 28, 2026
Something that was extremely frustrating about the previous regime which we’ve gone over before, was the refusal to make changes or adjust or even hold staff accountable in any serious way.
But it’s worth mentioning because it highlights something that BV deserves a lot of credit for.
This topic came back up recently for me when I was chatting with a source over at USC – home of the previous regime.
You may recall that while Lincoln was at OU, we were banging on the table for changes at DL, DB, DC and S&C. All of those changes have been made but, as I’m told by my sources, some of those were with, let’s say, a lot of encouragement from folks around Lincoln.
It isn’t just a Lincoln thing. It’s very hard for coaches to make changes. They obviously care about the guys they hire. And in BV’s case, the guys around him in some cases were guys he’s known for a long time as both coaches and players.
Which brings me to this past offseason. I know for most of you, the change at TE was a no brainer. But it’s probably safe to assume that most of you didn’t know Joe Jon like BV did.
It was not an easy decision and it was even harder, from what I gather, because the resources weren’t being allocated to TE. That isn’t an excuse but it does explain some of the struggles at that position.
The change had to be made but BV just came off a ten win season in the SEC no less and a playoff berth. He didn’t HAVE to make that change.
He chose to make that change and I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Most of us didn’t like Cale being pushed out but whether the decision was right or wrong, it demonstrates BV’s willingness to do the hard thing. You could make the same case for Roof. BV could’ve carried Roof. The previous head man may very well have done that.
My recent conversation about Lincoln and USC was a reminder that whatever BV’s fate will ultimately be at OU, no one can say the man didn’t try and wasn’t willing to do what he deemed necessary.
That’s what you want in a coach and in some ways it’s all you can ask – a willingness to grow and force others around him to grow or move on.
The Best Team Under This Regime?
– Super K – Posted on: July 29, 2026
In April of 2025, you’ll recall that I wrote a post titled, “This is BV’s Best Team on Paper and it Isn’t Close.”
That ended up being quite true both in terms of the results on the field and the NFL production.
There were some quotes that stood out to me in BV’s presser last week which I will note below.
But I began this post the way I did because I got the distinct feeling from what BV said is that he believes this is his best yet – even better than last year’s team.
What have we passed along to you all off-season based on what we’ve heard from our sources all off-season? This team has a lot talent. Concern about depth. And cannot take a big step back – don’t be a yo-yo, build on the great season. And that’s what BV talked about which I might get into later but for now…
***In terms of talent. This section on the OL and the offense stood out to me…
We returned four guys up front on offense. Last year we started three freshmen. What happens with freshmen guys that haven’t played in the SEC, their first snaps in college, you’re not as confident, aggressive, strong as a fourth- or fifth-year guy. There’s the timing, the cohesion.
A year ago on offense, we had nine first-year starters. This year we’ve got several returning starters, give or take seven or eight guys coming back.
Up front we’ve got four returning starters. We have one of the most experienced portal tackles in the country in E’Marion Harris to add to that group of those four. Jake Maikkula, a year ago at this time, he had just gotten on campus from Stanford.
I think there’s going to be a better version of all those guys. I think they’re stronger, more confident, there’s more chemistry, cohesion. Certainly there’s an experience factor, what it takes to be better in the SEC.
***I also thought some of these quotes on the defense were very telling. This one stood out…
“Defensively I don’t take anything for granted. We lost four really good players up front, two at defensive end and two at defensive tackle.”
Ok, I get he has almost has to say that but the fact that he says he doesn’t take it for granted makes me feel like he knows he’s got some dudes up front but he’s voicing his own internal monologue about not getting too confident. Because right after that he proceeds to talk about the growth of guys like Stone and Wein. And yes the Sooners lost guys up front but like the OL, what did they gain in terms of the next step for the obvious talent behind them?
***He appears to telegraph my “internal monologue” comment only a bit later saying, “I say that to remind, certainly myself, but everybody, that every year there’s a new storyline when it comes to players emerging, players coming out of nowhere.”
It’s like he knows he’s got some nasty dudes but he knows you never really know until you know.
***And finally this little section where BV says…
Again, I think, for example, we’ve transformed the wide receiver and the tight end room. We have five really good backs. Up front, we probably have nine guys that can play winning football for us right now.
How that compares, there’s probably a few teams that have better than that, then there’s probably more people that are like us or a little bit less when it comes to that.
I mean, do the math. If you’ve improved two rooms and you like your guys up front, it sounds like you’ve got better front line talent than you did last year. The corners are the same. The linebackers are about the same. You clearly believe the WR room and TE room are better. You clearly believe the OL room is better. The QB is the same but not injured. So you’re just left with the safety room.
But across the board it seems like BV feels like he has his best team, at least in terms of front line talent.
Again, that’s what you want from a coach trying to define the direction of the program in terms of winning and losing. You just want to know that the product on the field is getting better. You can’t control the schedule or the other teams. But are you better than last year? If yes, again I tip my hat.
Fall Camp | This is What Matters
– Super K – Posted on: July 30, 2026
For the past few months, Charlie and I have talked about depth depth and more about depth.
So, it should be no surprise that at SEC media days, Brent said…
At the end of the day, I think we’ve addressed and improved every one of the positions from the guys that are in the room. I think you develop that as well. I think modern college football today requires you to get more inexperienced players ready sooner rather than later to develop that.
Raising the bottom half of your roster, if you will, guys that maybe haven’t established themselves quite yet or they’re out of high school, I think it’s important that we do a great job. We’re very mindful that we expeditiously develop them and put them in a position where they can create the kind of depth that helps you win. It’s easier said than done, but that’s really where the focus is.
Sources have impressed this on us all off-season and made the point that managing injuries and avoiding them as much as possible in fall camp is paramount. I’ve mentioned this many times.
So, another thing that won’t surprise you – this fall camp, yes I’m sure we will be reporting on how the team is developing or looking. But the thing you’re going to want to watch for and it’s what we will be watching for is injury news. Whatever we hear as far as who is taking another step or who is starting or which side of the ball is winning, nothing will be as important as the following…
Which back ups are providing actual competitive depth
What injury news or not there is. Every day there is no injury news will be news and it’ll be a good day for obvious human reasons but for the team’s success
And, what injury news there is for OU’s competitors. We never root for injuries but as you know, it’s part of the game. So we will likely keep track of injury news on team’s the Sooners are playing. This issue of competitive depth is an issue across the country and moving forward roster management is going to be bigger and bigger news in college football.
Sourced Note | Tight End Standing Out
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 30, 2026
One name that continues to come up behind the scenes is tight end Jack Van Dorselaer.
Sources tell me the staff has been extremely encouraged by the physicality Van Dorselaer has brought since arriving in Norman. While Oklahoma added multiple veteran tight ends through the portal this offseason in Hayden Hansen and Rocky Beers, there is a growing belief internally that Van Dorselaer possesses the kind of complete skill set to become a difference-maker as he continues to develop. His willingness to embrace the dirty work as a blocker, combined with his athletic upside, has left a strong impression on the coaching staff.
When Van Dorselaer transferred to Oklahoma from Tennessee back in January, I noted that I believed he had the highest ceiling of any of the three transfer tight ends OU added during the offseason. That opinion hasn’t changed. At 6’4 250, with SEC experience already under his belt, he fits exactly what Jason Witten and Ben Arbuckle want from the position: a tight end capable of impacting both the run game and the passing game. Van Dorselaer has also said Arbuckle views him as a “hybrid” tight end, while Witten has emphasized developing him into a complete player.
It’s still early, but don’t be surprised if the buzz around Van Dorselaer continues to build as fall camp gets underway.
Would love to be able to watch the collisions between Van Dorselaer and Boganowski that will inevitably take place in camp.
