Sooners’ initial two-deep for Week 1 tells a lot more about what Brent Venables is doing in Oklahoma than we may realize
Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners have done one hell of a job recruiting, and their two-deep depth chart shows that.
You know it’s almost game time when the Oklahoma Sooners are posting their initial two-deep depth chart, as they are set to host Illinois State. This is a big year for the Sooners, so all eyes will be on them.
Brent Venables may be on the hot seat, but that’s primarily because of the outlier season the Sooners had last year. Now, don’t get me wrong, his three years in total haven’t been great, but it does take time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
But, when you coach at Oklahoma, and before you get there, the program hasn’t had a losing season since the 1990s, you can’t have two losing seasons in three years, and lose to Texas in the ways you have. If you asked Venables if he feels the same way, he would tell you he does, and that he knows it’s unacceptable.
In a Tuesday press conference, he detailed one specific way in which he has changed the program since his arrival. It’s not always about wins and losses because these are young men, too. There is a life after football, and he has helped them figure that out. Upon his arrival a few years ago, he stated that the team’s GPA was a 2.2, which is quite terrible. He also stated that the team had players consistently failing drug tests and things of that nature. Now, that just doesn’t happen.
Now, he just has to start winning football games. Part of that is recruiting, and if you were to ask the fan base how he’s done, they would tell you his recruiting has been terrible or things of that nature. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Sooners’ initial depth chart shows that, too.
Sooners’ initial two-deep depth chart
Take every two-deep depth chart with a grain of salt, especially when you see a bunch of “OR’s,” and when it’s Week 1 against an FCS team. A lot of fans are freaking out about some of the things on the depth chart, specifically, star running back Jaydn Ott being RB3, while Javontae Barnes and true freshman Tory Blaylock are ahead of him, but it’s not a big deal.
Ott missed a lot of fall camp nursing an injury. They will have him on a snap restriction for this game, so he can stay healthy and recover faster for Michigan in Week 2. This does not mean that he isn’t good or has lost his spot. So, I’m glad that’s out of the way.
When you first look at it, you will see that many young players are in position to be starters against Illinois State; a few of them are true freshmen, too, like Michael Fasusi and Courtland Guillory. Then, there are the sophomores who made the jump from last season, like Michael Boganowski, Heath Ozaeta, and Jayden Jackson.
Looking at it from that perspective, and knowing that these are young players who are making significant contributions right away to a team that is expected to be good, shows just how well the Sooners have been recruiting. And, it shows that star ratings don’t always matter. In fact, they don’t matter at all. It’s what you see on film that matters.
