OU Football Numbers You Need to Know: Linebacker Jordan Evans, No. 26
By Chip Rouse
One of the jersey numbers Sooner fans are likely to hear called out a lot over the PA system this fall at OU football games is that of No. 26 on defense, which happens to belong to senior linebacker Jordan Evans.
Evans started 10 games at one of the linebacker positions for Oklahoma last season, but when you are flanked by a couple of quality linebacker teammates named Eric Striker and Dominique Alexander it’s easy to get overlooked, or at least not draw the same level of attention or notoriety as the other two.
But Striker and Alexander are now doing their thing in NFL training camps, and all of a sudden, the leadership role at linebacker shifts to No. 26, Jordan Evans. Evans may not have gotten the same attention in the press as other Sooner defensive standouts, but I can assure you he had the attention of the offensive coaches of Oklahoma’s opponents, who had to game plan a year ago for OU’s second leading tackler.
A local boy who played his high school ball at Norman North, the 6-foot, 2-inch, 235-pound Evans had 83 tackles in 2015, 49 of them unassisted and five that resulted in lost yardage. He also had a fumble recovery, which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown in a 41-24 Oklahoma win over West Virginia.
Evans has heard more then once during the offseason that linebacker is a question mark for the 2016 Sooners, given the loss of three starters (Alexander, Striker and Devante Bond), and he was asked about it last week at the start of OU preseason training camp by Bruce Campbell of the Enid (Okla.) News & Eagle.
“We lost most of the guys, but don’t question my guys,” Evans told Campbell. “They are here for a reason. I’ve seen them play and seen them grow a lot. They have been stepping up and working hard in camp. They will be ready for the first game.”
The “guys” Evans is primarily referring to are redshirt junior Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, sophomore Tay Evans and true freshman Caleb Kelly, one of the prized recruits from the Sooners’ 2016 recruiting class.
“We obviously know what’s in front of us,” Evans said. It’s a great opportunity. It gives us more of an edge and more or a drive because we know we have to be ready Game 1.”