The 2024 offseason brought plenty of changes to the Oklahoma Sooners' depth chart heading into next season. Over 30 players departed in the transfer portal, some starters, others not, and the Sooners brought in a decent haul of replacements to fill in the gaps and upgrade at a few spots. 

What does the team look like heading into next season? Previewing and predicting the depth chart is tricky with the turnover on the roster. Admittedly this early on is entirely guesswork, but I think it's good practice to see just what the team could look like moving forward.

Oklahoma's offense sustained the most overhaul, but that's a net positive, as they trimmed off poor-performing players or players with too many injuries. Moving on from the worst offense in recent memory for Oklahoma is a smart call and opens a path for new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to make the room in his vision. 

Oklahoma Sooners 2025 offensive depth chart

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Quarterback: John Mateer, Michael Hawkins Jr, Cole Gonzales

John Mateer is the Sooners' starting quarterback next season, let's be clear. Anyone trying to sell that it will be Hawkins is lying. They committed to Mateer when they hired Ben Arbuckle to be the offensive coordinator. 

For good reason too, as Mateer was one of the best quarterbacks in college football last season. He brings familiarity with Ben Arbuckle's offense and a fun playmaking ability. 

Hawkins is a talented backup option to have behind Mateer just in case, while Gonzales was brought in to serve as a senior veteran and fill out the depth in the room with the Sooners having multiple departures in the offseason. 

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Running Back: Jovantae Barnes, Xavier Robinson/Taylor Tatum, Gavin Sawchuk

I still feel like Oklahoma will lean on the veteran presence of Jovantae Barnes, especially in Ben Arbuckle's downhill rushing scheme. Barnes enjoyed a breakout 2024 season and really carried the Sooners to success in many of their games. 

It's tough to pick between Xavier Robinson and Taylor Tatum because both can be the main backup, but both can play different roles. Robinson would be the RB2 in short-yardage situations and early down looks, while I imagine Tatum would the third-down back and receiving player. 

Gavin Sawchuk is still an explosive back and would be an effective change-of-pace back as well. Freshman Tory Blaylock could play a bigger role than originally thought, but I feel comfortable saying the Sooners will likely stick with these four as their main stable of backs. 

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Wide Receiver

X-Javonnie Gibson, Zion Kearney, Keontez Lewis, Elijah Thomas
Y-Deion Burks, Jacob Jordan, Isaiah Sategna, Josiah Martin
Z-Jayden Gibson, Ivan Carreon, Emmanuel Choice
H-Isaiah Sategna, Jacob Jordan, Josiah Martin

Ben Arbuckle's system holds different roles, so it's important to consider each when making the list. Again, this position feels entirely open to interpretation and is pure guess work, but we can make some educated guesses based on Arbuckle's prior stops. 

X is pretty self-explanatory, that role is in every offense. Truthfully, we don't know exactly what Ben Arbuckle looks for in each role so this is pure projection. I've seen some "spread/Air Raid" coaches label the X as the fastest guy on the team, other times it's the biggest contested catch guy with the "Z" being the fastest player. Given that Kyle Williams was the team's X last year for Washington State, I feel like it is most likely the former with the X as a deep threat. To me, all of these feel open to being any of Javonnie Gibson, Zion Kearney, or Keontez Lewis. I think all of them fit that role well. 

Z wide receiver, like X, stays outside most of the time. In most Air Raid schemes, the Z usually flanks the quarterback's right side but can move around the formation. Usually, this means he's a reliable blocker with good size, route-running, and catching ability. That points to Jayden Gibson, Ivan Carreon, and Emmanuel Choice given their 6'3+ frames. 

Most of the time, the Y is the go-to receiver for Air Raid offenses, and typically stays on the quarterback's right side as well. However, Arbuckle will motion players around the formation. This will obviously be Deion Burks as the main receiver, and when the Sooners go into bigger personnel packages, he will move outside out of the slot. Behind Burks can be any of Jacob Jordan, who came on strong last season. Isaiah Sategna is a talented deep threat as well who has spent most of his career in the slot as well.

H is another slot receiver role. At Washington State, Lincoln Victor was the H in 2023, while Tony Freeman was the H in 2024. H and Y are often interchangeable role-wise, it's just based on alignment relative to the quarterback that is flipped. Burks and the other slot receivers will likely bounce from spot to spot, depending on the play call. 

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Tight End: Davon Mitchell, Carson Kent, Kade McIntyre, Will Huggins, John Locke

Tight end may or may not play a huge role for the Sooners under Ben Arbuckle, which might explain their lack of activity here in the portal. It's mostly a receiver role but will line up inline and block as well. How the rotation stacks out here between any of these tight ends versus the receivers will be interesting to see. With so many question marks at this position, it feels like somebody will have to earn the role over any of these receivers, rather than playing by default.

With that in mind, I'm going to bank on the talent of Davon Mitchell. Both Mitchell and Coach Brent Venables will admit early on Mitchell came in lazy, but locked in as the season drew on and had some terrific bowl game practices. Behind him, shrug your shoulders.

I wouldn't be surprised if OU turned around to try and add more talent here in the spring window.

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Offensive Line

LT: Logan Howland, Michael Fasusi/Derek Simmons
LG: Heath Ozaeta, Jacob Sexton
C: Troy Everett, Josh Aisosa
RG: Eddy Pierre-Louis/Febechi Nwaiwu
RT: Jake Taylor/Derek Simmons, Luke Baklenko/Ryan Fodje

Logan Howland earned the starting left tackle job based on his work in 2024 and gives the Sooners a young building block on the blindside. 

Left guard is a tough call, but I was more encouraged by Ozaeta's film at the end of the season than anything I have seen from Sexton, so I would like to see him stay there and continue improving with the starters.

Center is an obvious one. Troy Everett is the leader of the offensive line, and the offensive line play steadied as soon as he entered the lineup after recovering from injury. 

I'm most interested in seeing what the right side looks like. Eddy Pierre-Louis battled for a spot in the starting lineup by the end of last season, and Febechi Nwaiwu didn't outright earn any job security with his play last season. I'm curious to see which earns the job, as I can make an argument for either to start.

Right tackle feels like it's down to Jake Taylor or Western Carolina transfer Derek Simmons. Taylor has been a starter before, but has battled injuries every year with the Sooners. Simmons put out quality tape when he played right tackle for the Catamounts, but it might be a stark jump in competition. I wouldn't be surprised if they go after a veteran tackle in the spring portal. 

Why Oklahoma fans should be hopeful for Sooners in 2025 despite disappointing 2024 season

Listen, I get it. 2024 was the worst season the Oklahoma Sooners have had since 2014. Heck, it might be even worse. At least Samaje Perine set the single-game rushing record in 2014. Oklahoma's offense looked like it didn't know where the laces were on the football for most of their games this season.  The […]