A somewhat healthy wide receiver room for Oklahoma is about to face a dangerous Bama secondary
There aren't many teams in the country who have been through it on the injury front than the Oklahoma Sooners have. Of course, every team deals with injuries, that's just the nature of one of the most brutal sports in the world. But, the significance of the Sooners' injuries is pretty wild. And, there isn't […]
There aren't many teams in the country who have been through it on the injury front than the Oklahoma Sooners have. Of course, every team deals with injuries, that's just the nature of one of the most brutal sports in the world. But, the significance of the Sooners' injuries is pretty wild.
And, there isn't any position group, besides maybe the offensive line room, that has dealt with more injuries, and as severe of injuries as the Sooners' wide receiver room. Jayden Gibson started the season out. Nic Anderson has pretty much missed all season, Jalil Farooq just played his second game of the season, and Deion Burks just played his first since the Tennessee game. Oh, and veteran Andrel Anthony basically hasn't played either.
That's literally the Sooners' five best wide receivers on their roster, all being out for a large part of all of the season. And, that's not the reason, but it is one of the many reasons why the Sooners have had a quarterback issue as well.
Now they are healthy, well, somewhat. Farooq is back, Burks is back, and others aren't as banged up as they were two weeks ago as the Sooners are coming off of a bye week. But, none of that may matter when you look at the dangerous secondary Alabama has on their squad.
I spoke with A to Z Sports' Rob Gregson who covers the Tide and has already helped us a bit with the primer for the game, about the secondary that the Sooners are set to face. And, putting it shortly, here is what he said about a few players who can make some noise:
With Keon Sabb officially out for the season, the Tide will be without one of their turnover merchants against a string WR corps. That’s emphasized the coverage skills of corners Domani Jackson and DeVonta Smith. Expect Malachi Moore to play all over the defense as well.
The Sooners have struggled with the wide receivers they have had, whether it be struggling to create separation, or just getting open in general. The deep ball hasn't really been there, as there are only three or four deep ball plays on the season, and all of the underneath stuff is usually sat on so that doesn't work either.
This will be one of the best secondaries that the Sooners have faced this year. Whoever starts, whoever plays at quarterback, won't have an easy time trying to find an open wide receiver. This should be a good matchup to watch.
‘That’s a recipe for disaster’ – Oklahoma analyst explains how the Sooners can play right into Alabama’s hands
There’s a clear path to victory.
