Oklahoma Sooners are being forced to do what they haven’t done all year vs. Ole Miss after bad news regarding Derek Simmons

The Oklahoma Sooners are going to start true freshman Ryan Fodje at right tackle in place of Derek Simmons.

Justin Churchill — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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The Oklahoma Sooners are going to be without maybe their best, or at least their most consistent, offensive lineman on the team against Ole Miss. Per the availability report, the Sooners will be without right tackle Derek Simmons, which isn’t great news considering the injuries the Sooners are already dealing with on he offensive line.

According to Parker Thune of Rivals, the Sooners plan on playing true freshman guard Ryan Fodje at right tackle. Fodje is making his first start of his young career.

Sooners’ decision to start Fodje is one they had to make

With Jake Taylor, Troy Everette, and Jacob Sexton all out, and Logan Howland banged up, Fodje is the best option while also developing the young stud. Fodje was a guy who, during spring training camp and fall camp, was garnering the attention of a lot of people due to his size and how he moved for his size.

When he has gotten on the field this season, which hasn’t been a ton, he has shown that he has a ton of potential to be great in the SEC. However, that potential we all saw was for him playing guard, not tackle. He’s big enough to play tackle; that’s not an issue.

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The concern here is whether or not Fodje has the tools and skillset to play tackle in the SEC. Sure, he can go to any Group of Five school and be a starter right away, but this is the SEC, the best trenches conference there is, by a wide margin.

The good part about all this is that the Sooners are only playing the Ole Miss Rebels, who may have one of the worst defenses in the conference. They lost so many guys to the 2025 NFL Draft this season, and just don’t have the same kind of talent on that side of the ball. Fodje will have his hands full, but if there were an SEC game you’d be comfortable starting him in, it has to be this one.

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