Open Post | Weekend, January 5th – 7th
Posted on: January 5, 2024
By the Numbers | Alamo Bowl | Arizona
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 2, 2024
Let’s take a look at some of the PFF numbers from the Sooners 24-38 loss to Arizona.
All data provided by PFF.
Offensive Snap Counts: 87 Total Offensive Snaps
1 Jackson Arnold #10 – 87
1 Troy Everett #52 – 87
1 Walter Rouse #75 – 87
1 McKade Mettauer #72 – 87
1 Caleb Shaffer #53 – 87
6 Jacob Sexton #76 – 86
7 Austin Stogner #81 – 82
8 Drake Stoops #12 – 79
9 Nic Anderson #4 – 63
10 Jalil Farooq #3 – 58
11 Gavin Sawchuk #27 – 52
12 Jayden Gibson #1 – 44
13 Tawee Walker #29 – 33
14 Gavin Freeman #82 – 8
15 Brenen Thompson #15 – 4
16 Jaquaize Pettaway #17 – 3
16 Josh Fanuiel #80 – 3
16 JJ Hester #13 – 3
19 Kalib Hicks #0 – 2
19 LV Bunkley-Shelton #6 – 2
21 Jake Taylor #79 – 1
Top 5 PFF Offensive Ratings
1 Brenen Thompson – 98.5
2 Nic Anderson – 71.9
3 Tawee Walker – 69.6
4 Walter Rouse – 69.0
5 Gavin Sawchuk – 68.4
Bottom 5 PFF Offensive Ratings
1 Austin Stogner – 46.8
2 Caleb Shaffer – 50.8
3 Jayden Gibson – 52.7
3 Jacob Sexton – 52.7
5 McKade Mettauer – 56.0
Surprised me…
Snap count wise…how, or why, in the world is Tawee Walker, who transferred to Wisconsin the day after the game, getting that many snaps while Kalib Hicks sits on the pine and no wod on Jovantae Barnes at all from the staff? Just a weird conclusion to a baffling year in the running back room. Yes, we can take it as Barnes was just not ready to go, and I am not bashing on Tawee here, but that isjust some weird room management. Jackson Arnold finished with the 7th highest PFF rating of 64.7 and when a guy has that many turnovers and still is in the top 10… that’s something.
Defensive Snap Counts: 68 Total Defensive Snaps
1 Billy Bowman Jr. #2 – 68
1 Danny Stutsman #28 – 68
3 Woodi Washington #5 – 64
4 Peyton Bowen #22 – 60
5 Reggie Pearson Jr. #21 – 54
6 Ethan Downs #40 – 38
6 Kani Walker #26 – 38
8 Jaren Kanak #7 – 37
8 Dasan McCullough #1 – 37
10 Rondell Bothroyd #80 – 33
11 Kendel Dolby #15 – 31
11 Kip Lewis #10 – 31
13 Gentry Williams #9 – 30
14 Robert Spears-Jennings #3 – 22
14 Isaiah Coe #94 – 22
14 Jacob Lacey #54 – 22
17 Trace Ford #30 – 19
18 R Mason Thomas #32 – 15
18 Da’Jon Terry #95 – 15
20 Jonah Laulu #8 – 13
21 Marcus Stripling #33 – 11
22 Jordan Kelley #88 – 9
23 Adepoju Adebawore #34 – 7
24 Jasiah Wagoner #23 – 2
24 Jacobe Johnson #19 – 2
Top 5 PFF Defensive Ratings
1 Danny Stutsman – 73.2
2 Kani Walker – 71.6
3 Isaiah Coe – 69.3
4 Da’Jon Terry – 68.6
5 Jaren Kanak – 67.7
Bottom 5 PFF Defensive Ratings
1 R Mason Thomas – 44.5
2 Jonah Laulu – 51.1
3 Peyton Bowen – 52.3
4 Dasan McCullough – 53.6
5 Robert Spears-Jennings – 54.3
Surprised me…
Snap count-wise…the 3-3-5 really led to an even distribution among the front seven, Kind of surprised PJ didn’t get more snaps to be honest, but shocked at Bowen’s number despite clearly dislocating a finger on play 3. Not seeing Kobie in the game was a bit eye opening as well, particularly with how the snaps were divided aside from Stutsman taking them all. Performance wise…felt this was Kanak’s best showing since early in the year and this is one occasion where PFF and I agree.
Tight End Portal Target
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 2, 2024
For those who missed it, last night during the CFB Playoff semi-finals, I noted that Baylor TE Jake Roberts entered the NCAA transfer portal in the comment section.
Roberts, a local product, started his career at UNT and was recruited by Seth Littrell and his staff during Littrell’s tenure as the UNT head coach.
Source close to Roberts indicates he does have interest in OU and as we have mentioned since the portal opened, OU has an interest in adding multiple TEs to the roster through the portal. OU has already received a commitment from Bauer Sharp in the tight end room and an addition of Roberts would really be a good look for Oklahoma.
Roberts had 23 catches for Baylor last season and one touchdown.
This would appear to be a perfect fit and one that could come together rather easily.
Also, his brother Nate is a priority ’25 target for the Sooners at tight end.
Inside Opinions not Like the Outside
– Super K – Posted on: January 4, 2024
With so much negativity in the air from the Sooners fan base, wanted to tell you that…
Based on my conversations, I get the strong sense that the staff does not at all view their prospects for next year in any way like the outside world.
They are the most optimistic I’ve heard and they seem to think next year is their year.
I’ve personally been rather confused by the level of negativity from what seems to be a sizable contingent of the Sooner faithful. I’ll get into more about why that is such a strange position later.
But I’ll tell you that this OU staff doesn’t share the negative sentiment. They are optimistic about the Sooners having a big first year and taking a next step.
Position Group Trends For ’24
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 4, 2024
Thought it was a good time to post this following K’s post this morning.
As the Sooners head into the SEC, let’s take a look at how I view the direction of the position groups heading into the ’24 season.
As you know, following every game, I do a ‘Position Group Progress Report’. For this write up, I will use the same groups and simply trend them as moving upward, staying neutral, or trending downward.
Let’s take a look!
QB: Trend – Upward
This one, in my opinion, comes down to physical talent, which is why I have it trending upward. Jackson Arnold is a physical upgrade over Dillon gabriel, I think we can all agree on that without much debate. Dillon Gabriel was a good QB for Oklahoma, he just happens to not be as physically gifted as Jacson Arnold. If Arnold puts the work in and things click for him throughout the spring, summer, and fall camps, he should be ready to go for the out of conference portion of the schedule which will hopefully prepare him for the SEC gauntlet. You have to expect some bumps early in the season, but the ceiling is much higher for the OU offense with Jackson Arnold and his physical skillset than it was previously. With the expected addition of Casey Thompson as a backup and the infusion of more youth in Brendan Zurbrugg and Michael Hawkins, this room is on the upswing.
RB: Trend – Upward
Pretty simple here…can it actually trend downward? The Ou running back room was a rudderless ship for most of the ’23 season and the Sooners have added three new backs to the room (4 if you count Andy Bass but I fully expect him to redshirt) while losing one important piece in the form of walkon Tawee Walker. As things stand right now, OU returns Gavin Sawchuk, Jovantae Barnes, and Kalib Hicks while adding the number one back in the recruiting class in Taylor Tatum, transfer Sam Franklin, and high school recruit Xavier Robinson. Heading into the spring you are likely looking at Sawchuk at the top followed by a battle between Franklin, Barnes, and Hicks for the RB2 spot.
WR: Trend – Upward
The Sooners went out and improved (on paper) on what was already the most improved group during the ’23 season. Heading into the ’23 season this was the most questionable offensive group and it turned out to be one of the strongest groups (if not the strongest group) on the entire team. The Sooners weathered losing Andrel Anthony during the season as Nic Anderson emerged and Jayden Gibson contributed some timely big plays. Jalil Farooq is likely to return and Andrel Anthony should be getting back on the field by the time the season rolls around. The Sooners lose key contributor Drake Stoops but they went to the transfer portal and filled his spot with one of the most dynamic playmakers that came on the market in Deion Burks. Then you look at the competitive depth and the incoming freshmen and you quickly realize this room is very well stocked with speed, size, and playmakers. Emmett Jones has completely changed the trajectory of this room in a very short time.
TE: Trend – Upward
The ’24 season is a story of ‘out with the old and in with the new’ as the Sooners will have a completely different look at the tight end spot. Austin Stogner exhausts his eligibility and Blake Smith has entered the portal and both are heading out of Norman. The Sooners welcome in one of the top TE prospects in the ’24 class in Davon Mitchell who is just a freak athlete who may take some time getting up to speed at the college level, but I fully expect him to be in the rotation and claiming playing time as the season progresses. OU also has brought in transfer Bauer Sharp and they return Josh Fanuiel and Kade McIntyre and hope to have Kaden Helms return from injury. OU is also still pursuing Jake Roberts from Baylor and you almost expect him to join the program as it seems both sides want that to happen.
OL: Trend – Neutral
The Sooners lose a lot from the offensive line room as Walter Rouse, Andrew Raym, McKade Mettauer and Tyler Guyton will all try their hands at the NFL draft. Then, in a shocking turn of events, freshman guard Cayden Green up and left in the middle of the night thanks to Dillon Gabr….wait, never mind, he actually wound up going to Missouri as the Tigers NIL machine went crazy for him and his family. Savion Byrd who also started some games headed out to the transfer portal and landed at SMU…so yeah, the Sooners have a lot of work to do here, but all is not lost as they have some quality pieces to come in and replenish the line. Jacob Sexton is the lone ‘sometime starter’ returning and he will have guys like Jake Taylor, Troy Everett, Logan Howland, Heath Ozaeta and Josh Bates coming back. OU also has been active int he portal as they have added OT Spencer Brown (MSU) and Febechi Nwaiawu (UNT) to this point and are staring down the addition of Michael Tarquin (USC) and likely one other experienced player not yet in the picture. Then you look at a surprisingly productive freshman class that includes Daniel Akinkunmi, Eugene Brooks, and Eddy Pierre Louis and you start to feel better about the numbers and the quality of players. Have to see who else OU adds (or doesn’t add) to say this group is trending up or down as fall camp rolls around, but Bedenbaugh has the bodies to put together a solid if not spectacular group at the start of the season.
DL: Trend – Upward
The Sooners are adding perhaps the best group of freshman defensive lineman in the country as David Stone, Jayden Jackson, Danny Okoye, Nigel Smith and Wyatt Gilmore roll into Norman. OU will lose a couple of major pieces from the DL in Rondell Bothroyd, Isaiah Coe, and Jordan Kelley, but the ceilings on the young guys is higher than anything they lose. OU returns Jacob Lacey and DaJon Terry in the middle along with a few other guys that they hope make that jump like Gracen Halton, Ashton Sanders, Marcus Strong and such and they have a deep and experienced group of EDGE guys led by Ethan Downs, R Mason Thompson, Trace Ford and freshman stud PJ Adebawore. OU also has Taylor Wein in the wings. The Sooners are on the verge of adding Miami of Ohio transfer Caiden Woullard to the EDGE group as well so things are trending up here, in my opinion.
LB: Trend – Upward
Pretty simple, OU won the linebacker offseason when Danny Stutsman announced his intentions to return for the ’24 season. Insanely deep and physically talented group that so far has not lost anyone. Kanak, Lewis, McKinzie, Omosigho, Carter, Whitter, Near…they are all coming back. OU did add James Nesta to the fold as a true freshman and Phiul Picciotti should be returning from injury. You would expect this bunch to take a huge leap forward with another offseason of learning and growing. Not much else to say here.
Cheetah: Trend – Upward
Another position that lost nobody of significance and adds a likely returning starter in Justin Harrington, we will see how that plays out. Otherwise, Dasan McCullough will return for ’24 and he was very impressive in the limited number of snaps he got and everyone in Sooner Nation would like to see those snap counts climb. Kendel Dolby stepped into the void created by Harrington’s injury and played well if not spectacularly and then you have a mix of LBs (Omosigho and Carter) and DBs (Bowen and whoever takes up for Pearson this year) who play some Cheetah. As for some new potential faces at Cheetah? Look for Michael Boganowskis to get some run there in the spring and summer as I am sure Venables will cross-train him based on his frame and athleticism. Again, another group that returns all its important pieces and should take another step in their development.
DB: Trend – Upward
The safety room was another offseason winner as Billy Bowman announced he will return for the ’24 season. Bowman was playing as well as if not better than any safety in the country over the last half of the year and his return solidifies the safety room as one of the stronger groups on the team. Peyton Bowne and Robert Spears Jennings also return and in the bowl game, they each played around significant snaps at the same time as OU went with a 3-3-5 look which was very effective for the middle parts of the game. OU is deep at safety and the competition will be stout for playing time.
Then the corner room also got some good news when Woodi Washington announced his intentions to return for the ’24 season and again, that is a room that lost no significant contributors. The biggest key for that room next year is…staying healthy. Gentry Williams has shown to be a difference maker when healthy, but he was hurt quite a bit in ’23. Kani Walker, Makari Vickers, and Jasaiah Wagoner also flashed at times, but they too could not evade the injury bug. Oklahoma added Dez Malone from the portal and they bring in a solid freshman class as well, so the corner room is deep and talented, it just needs to dodge the injury bug in ’24.
ST: Trend – Neutral
Get me a kicker please and lets try a new punt returner. (After this was posted, OU did get a new kicker out of the portal)
Elzinga turned out to be a heckuva punter, so that’s good.
Offensive Line Portal Visitor | On Campus Now
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 4, 2024
Source tells us that Alabama offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin is currently on campus in Norman.
As we have mentioned, Oklahoma was looking to take four offensive linemen from the portal to match with their five incoming freshmen.
McLaughlin has played center at Alabama for the past 3 years and he has one year of eligibility left.
