Weekend Open Post | August 22nd – 24th
Posted on: August 22, 2025
A Deep, Deep Defense
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 18, 2025
Last night, as I was talking with Rob and Brad on the Champion Standard podcast, we touched on the topic of the competitive depth that Brent Venables has been talking about and seeking out since he arrived back in Norman.
At one point, I stated something along the lines of “There will be times this season when all 11 players on the defensive side of the ball will have an opportunity to be NFL guys”.
This morning, after going back over that thought, I came to the conclusion that it was quite accurate, and it is really a remarkable turn of events for the Oklahoma Sooners.
The defensive transformation from the previous regime to the current team is nothing short of stunning.
I’ll go room by room and list the guys who I feel have a real NFL opportunity.
DT: Damonic Williams, Jayden Jackson, David Stone and potentially Gracen Halton all have legit NFL aspirations
DE: RMT, PJ Adebawore, Danny Okoye all have legit NFL Aspirations. Think about that, one of the probable starters between MJJ and Taylor Wein are guys I didn’t even mention but heck, both of those guys could wind up being drafted as well.
LB: Kip Lewis, Kendal Daniels, Sammy Omosigho, and if Kobie can put it together, all have legit NFL Aspirations
CB: Gentry Williams, Kendel Dolby, Eli Bowen, Courtland Guillory and even more of the younger guys all have legit NFL aspirations.
S: RSJ, Peyton Bowen, Reggie Powers and several others like Jayden Hardy, Mike boganowski, and young Omarion Robinson…all have legit NFL aspirations.
Of course there are other guys who I may not have touched on who could go on to the NFL…thats how deep this roster is defensively.
So yeah, at some points this year…it is more than likely, it is probable, that OU will have 11 future NFL players on the field at the same time on the defensive side of the ball.
The Latest | ’26 DT T-Ron Richardson
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 19, 2025
The Sooners are one week out from learning (August 26th) their fate with the lone uncommitted target remaining in the 2026 class, defensive tackle, T-Ron Richardson (6’3 296) out of Hopewell, Virginia.
If you asked me to trend it today, I would still say Oklahoma is in prime position, as the Sooners really made a big impression on his official visit back in June. Home state Virginia Tech is someone to keep an eye on as well.
The lone reason I will not go so heavy on declaring OU the winner here is because T-Ron himself has come out and noted that the NIL is getting real now and you never know who is going to come heavy at the last moment.
All in all, I like where OU is.
Predicted Starting Lineup As Listed on Depth Chart
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 20, 2025
Just completed what I think the depth chart will look like when it comes to naming starters.
Obviously, there are still some spots undecided, and I believe OU will be liberal with their usage of the infamous ‘or’.
So, in some cases, there will technically be two starters named.
Here is what I believe the starting lineup could look like when the official depth chart (which still will mean very little) is released.
Offense
QB: John Mateer
RB: Jadyn Ott
WR-Z: Deion Burks
WR-Y: Isaiah Sategna
WR-X: Keontez Lewis
TE: Will Huggins ‘or’ Carson Kent
LT: Jacob Sexton ‘or’ Michael Fasusi
LG: Heath Ozaeta ‘or’ Eddy Pierre-Louis
C: Troy Everett
RG: Febechi Nwaiwu
RT: Derrick Simmons ‘or’ Logan Howland
Defense
DE: R Mason Thomas
NT: Jayden Jackson
DT: Damonic Williams
DE: Marvin Jones ‘or’ Taylor Wein
MIKE: Kobie McKinzie ‘or’ Sammy Omosigho
WILL: Kip Lewis
Cheatah: Kendal Daniels ‘or’ Reggie Powers
CB: Gentry Williams
FS: Robert Spears Jennings
SS: Peyton Bowen
CB: Devon Jordan ‘or’ Jacobe Johnson
Sourced Team Notes | August 20th
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 20, 2025
Sooners have been back to the grind this week as they prep for their opener in just 10 days!
Figured I would pass along some sourced notes!
***Good news on the injury front as pretty much erry’body is back or close to being back (aside from any new news on Eli Bowen).
***The last stragglers of the protocol group returned to the field this week as Zion Kearney and Derrick Simmons have begun to practice. Kearney is full go, and Simmons has been limited still which leads to…
***Michael Fasusi is missing the rest of this week (should be good to go next week) and in his absence, Logan Howland got snaps at both left and right tackle. With Howland moving around, Taylor (limited) and Baklenko are working at right tackle as well, but so is Ryan Fodje a bit. Cross-training is good. The Fodje reps out there, from what source told me, are simply getting him some different looks and opportunities, but they expect him to focus on guard this year at this point.
***With Simmons still being limited, I asked the source their thoughts on whether they think it will be him or Howland starting against Illinois State and source felt that it likely would be Howland. Couple that with how mulitple sources have talked about Howland’s play over the last two weeks, you start to wonder if he will ever give that spot up if he does indeed get the initial nod.
***As we have been saying, Gracen Halton should be good to go for week one, the question is, will OU simply rest him and get ready for Michigan? With Halton being limited (intentionally) at this point, David Stone has continued his assault on the reps count and continues to shine while this week it sounds like both Nigel Smith and Trent Wilson also have stood out in their opportunities.
***The addition of Kearney back to the WR bolsters what one source called “A really good practice for the wide receivers,” and along with the usual suspects (Burks and Sategna) source noted Manny Choice and (again) Josiah Martin as guys who made some big plays.
***Source said “Ott looks like Ott” (good) and noted that Javontae Barnes and Tory Blaylock feed off Ott’s energy and style, and both of them had a couple of solid days. No new news on Taylor Tatum, but OU is expecting to have the full sleeve of running backs at their disposal by the time Michigan heads to Norman, if not for Illinois State.
***In the secondary, Bowen, Powers, Hardy, and Boganowski got the majority of reps at safety as RSJ is still a bit limited (precautionary). The corners have been manned by the younger guys for the most part, as Dolby and Gentry were mostly spectators.
***Was told the tight end room really put in some good work this week and they are ‘very sound in their assignments’. That’s a good thing, as really, that’s all OU will be looking for from that group, and anything they get in the way of offensive production will be a bonus.
***Lastly, source said Tate Sandell has been very accurate kicking and has earned a lot of faith from the coaching staff.
Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee Talent
– Super K – Posted on: August 21, 2025
As you know, I’ve been going through OU’s schedule looking at the upper class talent of their opponents according to NFL scouts. I have a couple of insider reports that are produced by multiple NFL scouts that evaluate the senior and rising junior talent of teams.
We’ve got through most of OU’s opponents. But before we get into predictions (it’s about that time), I want to finish off the final three teams we haven’t talked about…
Ole Miss
The rebels lost a ton last year so I was surprised to see how much upperclassman talent they have.
According to one of the reports, Ole Miss has, on paper, as much talent as the Sooners. A lot of their talent appears to be on the offensive side of the ball.
The other insider report I looked at seems to like OU’s overall upperclassman talent more.
Either way, the NFL guys like Ole Miss’ talent and it just continues to theme – you’re going to face good teams every week in the SEC.
Tennessee
I’ll keep this short. For Tennessee’s sake, I hope they have a lot of young talent because the reports I’m looking at don’t seem very high on their veteran talent.
According to the insider reports, OU has far more upper class talent.
Alabama
In case you missed it, I did a review of Alabama’s talent based on word from someone I know who is close to the program. In case you missed that here is PART I and PART II.
Keep in mind, I wrote the initial reports before I’d seen these insider NFL reports.
Going position by position, I had Bama with a slight lead in talent.
It appears the NFL guys, I agree with that assessment.
In terms of the number of upperclassmen who are NFL talent, both reports have Bama and OU pretty darn close. But scouts seem to like the quality of Bama’s overall talent a bit better.
Fall Camp Review | Defense | Confident and Concerning
– Charlie S – Posted on: August 21, 2025
Fall camp is over, and game prep is here.
Time to take a look at where things stand following camp on the defensive side of the ball.
Let’s talk about what room I am most confident in and what room I am most concerned about on the defense.
Most confident:
Interior defensive line. Simply put, this group came into fall camp with a lot of hype, and their work over the course of camp has only made that hype get louder. The room is led by Damonic Williams, who has stepped into a true leadership role as we mentioned in the spring. You have the dynamic duo of sophomores in Jayden Jackson and David Stone working under his tutelage. Jackson is back and fully healthy after surgery following a freshman all-American performance in 2024 and Stone is back and even more focused after a brief dip into the portal, and he has been the talk of fall camp. Gracen Halton will round out the top four in the room, and while he has been limited for most of camp with a bum hammy, he is ready to go, and I expect him to get a few reps against Illinois State. Nigel Smith is a guy who has been receiving some nice praise from sources as well, and he will likely have a role similar to what David Stone had last year. After that, you have Markus Strong and Trent Wilson to eat some snaps and start to develop their games. Add in Jacob Henry, David Rowaiye and Siolaa Lolohea as depth guys. This is the deepest and most proven room on the defensive side of the ball.
Most concerning:
Cornerback room. Concerning not because of the amount of talent in this room, but because of how the dynamics have played out in fall camp. You have a massive amount of talent in this room; one cannot deny that. There are multiple players who ‘could’ be early-round draft picks eventually. Gentry Williams is a potential game-changer at this level and the next level. Eli Bowen is coming off a freshman all-American season. Kendel Dolby is one of the best cover guys to come through OU in years. Therein lies one of the concerns. None of them were guys who went full throttle through camp, and each of them is dealing with coming off injuries. Gentry hasn’t tackled anyone in a year, as he has been in bubble wrap through camp. Bowen has been ‘close to returning’ since he suffered an ankle injury in spring ball…still not out there. Dolby has had one ding after another after returning from his broken ankle last season. Yes, true freshman Courtland Guillory has been a standout in camp, as have Devon Jordan and Jeremiah Neewcombe. The guy in that room with the highest ceiling is perhaps Jacobe Johnson, but we really have not heard a ton about him this fall, and he needs to make a jump on the field to have an impact. There is a ton of talent in this room; it just feels like there is a lot of walking on eggshells until we see them out there on the field doing football things. We talked before fall camp about the fact that Gentry and Dolby were going to be treated with kid gloves, and that is how it played out…we are now getting close to seeing if that approach prepared them effectively for the season.
