Blatant Homerism: What to watch in the Oklahoma Sooners spring game
The annual April tradition of the Red-White Game serves as an opportunity for fans of the Oklahoma Sooners to reconnect with the program during college football’s long and torturous offseason, if only for a day. It’s only a scrimmage, but the event gives Sooner Nation a preview of stars who may hit it big in the fall (or just as often fade into obscurity). And following a disappointing debut season in its new conference, the program could use a chance to build up some goodwill heading into the fall.
Oh, wait… Never mind.
OU joined the masses of college football teams that opted to forego a spring game this year. Something about not wanting competitors to scout players. Instead, the Sooners are hosting something called the Crimson Combine, which will give fans the thrill of observing a watered-down practice.
But let’s pretend OU didn’t skip out on this year’s spring game. If the Sooners were taking the field this weekend, here’s what I’d be watching.
The first-string offense’s capacity to stretch the field
The OU offense in 2024 showed almost no ability to make big plays. In fact, the Sooners often showed almost no ability to make any positive plays at all last year on O. If new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle can find a way to generate more offense down the field, improving the former would certainly help the latter.
A new quarterback in Washington State transfer John Mateer makes for a good start to the search for passing explosiveness, but that doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have receivers who can get open deep. Unfortunately, one of the top candidates to become that downfield threat, transfer Javonnie Gibson, will reportedly miss a significant chunk of time with a leg injury sustained this week. We’ll see if freshmen Manny Choice and Elijah Thomas can do any damage.
Options at cornerback
Of course, if Mateer and the receiving corps did blow up at the spring game, it might suggest the defense is struggling to stop the pass. It stands to reason in this hypothetical that the fears about identifying a counterpart to CB Eli Bowen aren’t unfounded.
Cornerbacks coach Jay Valai will be scouring the waiver wire for another addition to his room during the spring transfer period no matter what. It would be nice to know if he’s looking for a solid backup or a potential starter.
The second (and third and fourth) pass-rushing threat
Edge defender R Mason Thomas excelled at pressuring the quarterback in ‘24. Ethan Downs played admirably opposite RMT as a strong-side defensive end, but he’s off to the NFL. Position coach Miguel Chavis is now sifting through some strong candidates to serve as RMT’s partner in crime.
Transfer Marvin Jones Jr. and redshirt sophomore P.J. Adebawore seem like the most logical replacements for Downs. That would involve both making good on their considerable potential.
The freshmen on the offensive line
Early reviews of prized recruits Michael Fasusi and Ryan Fodje have been strong. The rookies apparently are receiving plenty of opportunities to impress with injured incumbents Logan Howland and Heath Ozaeta sitting out the spring. Are Fasusi and Fodje really good enough to earn prominent roles on the offensive line in year one?
Kendal Daniels’ role
Once a force for the Oklahoma State defense, Daniels slogged through 2024 with the rest of the Cowboys on defense. The Beggs native is now hoping to bounce back as a transfer with the Sooners a la Trace Ford in his final year of eligibility.
Daniels might fit as an option at the hybrid Cheetah position. However, at 6-5 and 239 pounds, the former Poke could provide needed depth at inside linebacker. Either way, spring ball is essentially an audition for Daniels at both spots.
All those injuries
On this week’s free podcast episode, we discussed the possibility that something about OU’s practice regimen and offseason conditioning might be making players injury-prone. The reports of receiver Javonnie Gibson sustaining a leg injury precipitated the conversation, as the news brought back memories of the Sooners’ walking-wounded campaign of 2024.
In reality, I’m not aware of any evidence OU’s program has a higher injury rate than other programs, let alone if we have any data broken out by attributes like the types of injuries and their severity. I default to the idea that OU's injury rates fall within the expected bounds of college football teams, absent any indications to the contrary.
On the other hand, the coaches do bear responsibility for not having replacements ready to step up when key contributors go down. And keep in mind that a lack of depth has a compounding effect on a team’s health, especially once a season starts. If coaches don’t feel comfortable playing their backups, it necessarily means more reps and plays for their frontline players. More reps and plays necessarily result in more exposure to injuries.
Note, for example, that receiver Deion Burks’ usage early in 2024 showed the coaching staff’s lack of faith in depth at the position. In the first three games of the year against what should have been overmatched opponents, Burks was on the field for 180 of 207 offensive snaps (87%). He played 41 of 50 offensive snaps (82%) in the first three quarters versus Tennessee in week four before being removed from the contest with an injury. We can’t really say if the cumulative effect of playing so much to start the year had a role in the lingering health issues that plagued him for the remainder of the season. However, it’s common sense that a higher volume of snaps yields a higher likelihood that a player will sustain an injury.
To be fair, you can’t blame receivers coach Emmett Jones for leaning so heavily on Burks early in the year. OU was dealing with a significant number of injuries among its receiving corps before the year started. Football is a brutal game, though, and adapting to injuries is part of why coaches get paid so well.