It’s been an offseason of transition for the Oklahoma Sooners. A new quarterback, new coordinators, and a new conference have highlighted much of the change that is being experienced in Norman.
But at no spot is turnover more deeply felt than along the offensive line. Gone are Tyler Guyton, Walter Rouse, Andrew Raym, and McKade Mettauer, who are preparing for their first NFL training camps. Gone is Cayden Green, who transferred to Missouri.
Those five players played an average of 762.2 snaps for the Sooners last season. Raym, Mettauer, and Rouse led the way for the Sooners offense in snap counts, according to Pro Football Focus.
It’s no small task to replace that much experience. And with a unit like offensive line where so much depends on the chemistry, communication, and continuity of the unit, the turnover is significant.
Oklahoma did a lot over the offseason to help replace the lost experience. They added Michael Tarquin, Geirean Hatchett, Branson Hickman, Febechi Nwaiwu, and Spencer Brown through the transfer portal. That group of five brings a lot of snaps at the collegiate level to combine with Bill Bedenbaugh’s blue-chip recruits that he’s been developing the last couple of years.
Tarquin, Hatchett, Hickman, and Nwaiwu each figure to compete for a role or will start for the Sooners week one against Temple. Mix in ascending players like Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor, four-star offensive tackles in the 2022 Recruiting Class, and four-star interior offensive linemen from the 2023 recruiting class Heath Ozaeta and Joshua Bates, and the Sooners have options along the offensive line.
If there’s any position group that will determine how much success the Sooners have this season, it’s the offensive line. But On3’s J.D. PicKell argues that if the Sooners get good offensive line play, all of the other pieces are there for OU to be dynamic on offense once again.
“If you give him time to throw the football, they’re gonna have a chance to make some real noise and kind of rattle the cage in the SEC a little bit their first year out there because they replace pretty much the whole offensive line that’s been well documented.”
PicKell goes on to say, “But if they can make that mechanism work the way that it needs to give him time to get through his reads and progress and get comfortable. They got more than enough firepower that wide receiver room to make some shake.”
The talent that Oklahoma has at wide receiver, quarterback, and running back is impressive. Led by quarterback Jackson Arnold, the Sooners have the players capable of creating another explosive offense. But Arnold will need time to throw and Sawchuk will need lanes to run through.
There is enough talent and experience in Norman for offensive line wizard Bill Bedenbaugh to put another strong unit together once again. We’ve seen him do it before and when fall camp gets underway, competition will provide the answers up front to help lead this team into the SEC.
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