Oklahoma football: Breaking down Sooner defensive secondary for 2020
By Chip Rouse
Continuing our series breaking down the various position groups for Oklahoma football heading into what everyone is hoping will be a 2020 season, our next stop is the defensive secondary.
The Sooners lose just one player from the back end of a defense that improved from 129th and dead last among FBS teams in passing yards allowed per game in 2018 to 58th a year ago. Four players with starting experience return in 2019, including former starting cornerback Tre Norwood, a junior, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL.
Senior Tre Brown, who started all 14 games at one of the cornerback spots for the Sooners last year and has 23 starts in his career, will be at one corner and will likely be joined on the other side by sophomore Jaden Davis, who made one start and played in all 14 games his freshman year. Davis will replace First-Team All-Big 12 honoree Parnell Motley, a three-year starter for the Sooners.
Motley finished his Oklahoma career as the career leader with 33 pass breakups.
The safety positions appear set with juniors Pat Fields at free safety and Delarrin Turner-Yell at strong safety. Turner-Yell and Fields were second and third on the team last season with 75 and 64 tackles, respectively. They also had eight pass breakups between them.
Norwood and Brendan “Bookie” Radley Hiles will compete for the starter’s job at nickelback this season.
Radley-Hiles came to the Sooners as a five-star defensive prospect, but hasn’t really lived up to those lofty expectations in his three OU seasons. He’s made 24 starts the past two seasons and his two interceptions last season led the Sooner defense.
Other players that will see plenty of action in the Sooner secondary this coming season include redshirt freshman Woodi Washington. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and cornerbacks coach Roy Manning are high on Washington. Sooner fans may remember that Washington came into the College Football Playoff game with LSU after Radley-Hiles was ejected for a targeting infraction and made 10 tackles.
Senior Chanse Sylvie and junior Justin Broiles, a safety from nearby Oklahoma City, are others who will work into the secondary rotation. True freshman Bryson Washington , who comes to Oklahoma as a four-star prospect all the way from Los Angeles, California, could also see playing time at safety.
DC Grinch went for a speed defense last season, looking for smaller faster guys up front with the idea of being more aggressive on the ball. As the Sooners recruit for 2021, Grinch is seeking length at the back end with taller defensive backs. He has four DB commits already and all are over six feet.