1. Why fear the Sooners? It’s the Sooners and the Sooners are always good, right? There’s the belief that the Sooners sort of have to bounce back, right? They can’t be as bad as they were last year and based on the transfer report from below, the Sooners went heavy on the transfer side of things, perhaps because the cupboard was bare? Or maybe because Venables realizes he has to be good/great now and there is no time to spare. It seems like an impossibility that Oklahoma could have a losing record given that it was Oklahoma, but maybe the players leaving after Lincoln Riley had an effect. Dillon Gabriel can be great, but I don’t know who the receivers that are going to create separation and the defense has to improve significantly.
2. The Best Jimmy’s and Joe’s. These are players from preseason All-Big 12 teams. Again, I’ll wonder who will be the receivers that make a huge difference. I do really like Gabriel as a quarterback.
- QB Dillon Gabriel
- RB Gavin Sawchuk
- WR Jalil Farooq
- C Andrew Raym
- OL McKade Mettauer
- DL Rondell Bothroyd
- DL Ethan Downs
- LB Danny Stutsman
- DB Filly Bowman
3. Transfer Report. Oklahoma loaded up. You may remember that Texas Tech safety Reggie Pearson left to play for the Sooners, maybe because Tyler Owens for Texas Tech was headed for his job or maybe he just wanted to transfer. Don’t forget that Matt Wells was an advisor there or might still be. OU also added receiver Andrel Anthony out of Michigan, Blake Smith, a tight end from Texas A&M, and offensive lineman Walter Rouse from Stanford. On the defensive side of the ball, it was huge Oklahoma news for Oklahoma State defensive end Trace Ford to move to the Sooners, and they also added Texas State defensive lineman Davon Sears and another end, Rondell Bothroyd from Wake Forest.
4. Tough to Replace. There’s a ton to replace on offense. Let’s start with receiver Marvin Mims on offense is probably the biggest guy to replace (this is maybe my opinion), but they’ll also have to replace both tackles, Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris. Eric Gray at running back is also gone as is tight end Brayden Willis. And as FYI, not one OU defender was drafted, which probably says something about the talent that was there and that transferred.
Previous 4 Things Preseason Previews: Baylor; BYU; UCF; Cincinnati; Houston; Iowa State; Kansas; Kansas State; Oklahoma; Oklahoma State; TCU; Texas; Texas Tech; West Virginia
Ed Note. This is what I worked on while on flights. I tried not to get too deep because that would be incredibly difficult to do this for 14 teams and I think most of us want a cursory idea of what opposing teams are. I also found the idea of who is transferring in as more important than the freshmen arriving. That’s definitely changed over the course of years. I also thought that knowing who is being replaced is relevant more than most things.