Trent Dilfer Trashes Oklahoma Sooners Offense

Oct 15, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; ESPN broadcaster and former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Trent Dilfer at the NFL game between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

It is one thing to defend a football player, but it is another to completely trash the college team he came from, especially when it is one of the most successful schools in the country. However, while defending Landry Jones, former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer took it one step further and trashed the Oklahoma Sooners football program.

What makes this entire situation ludicrous is that Dilfer seemed to have no idea what he was talking about when he went on his diatribe.

Among things that Trent Dilfer said while defending Landry Jones:

• The receivers are brutal
• The playcalling is brutal
• They take him out of the redzone, they never let him get into a flow
• The whole offense is built around getting flashy numbers and not scoring points

It really doesn’t look like Trent Dilfer ever actually watched an Oklahoma Sooners game. Let’s look at those complaints one by one.

The receivers were far from brutal

Jan 4, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Kenny Stills (4) cannot catch a pass against the Texas A

For the first three years of his college career, he was throwing to the NCAA career leader in receptions. Yeah, Ryan Broyles was really brutal. That is why he was a started for the Detroit Lions until his injury last season. Also, if they were so brutal, then how did both Kenny Stills and Justin Brown get drafted into the NFL? The Pittsburgh Steelers, the team that drafted Jones drafted Brown. Do they realize that Justin Brown is a brutal receiver?

The playcalling is brutal

There are a lot of Oklahoma Sooners fans who don’t like the playcalling of Josh Heupel. I wouldn’t call it brutal, but I would call it lacking. Trent Dilfer can have a pass on this one. Dilfer knows how important playcalling is because his Baltimore Ravens would never have won a Super Bowl with him at quarterback if they hadn’t used great playcalling to overcome his brutal deficiencies.

The Belldozer

Nov 10, 2012; Norman, OK, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Blake Bell (10) runs in for a touchdown in the second half of the game against the Baylor Bears at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Sooners won 42 – 34. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

His complaints about taking Landry Jones out of the game in the Red Zone to bring in Blake Bell to score the touchdowns might have hurt Jones in the 2013 NFL Draft, that much is true. If Bob Stoops didn’t have the faith in Jones to score touchdowns in key situations, why should NFL teams. But the problem is that this is a team sport. OU needed to find the best way to win and, in short yardage goal line situations, there was no better option than Blake Bell. He was money. The Sooners job in football games is to win and score touchdowns, not to make one of their players look good. Dilfer needs to remember what football is supposed to be about, which makes the next comment really contradictory.

The Offense is about Flashy Numbers and not scoring

So, Trent Dilfer wanted Landry Jones kept in to help build his numbers instead of bringing in Blake Bell to score touchdowns, but he is accusing OU of only caring about flashy numbers and not scoring. This tells me one thing – Trent Dilfer is a very confused analyst. Which is it? Does OU want to score touchdowns by bringing in Bell or pad numbers by having Landry Jones keep throwing the ball.

Jan 04, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops reacts during the second half against the Texas A

Look, Trent Dilfer has a point when it comes to the playcalling, and there were times that OU would switch out quarterbacks at spots short yardage situations that really disrupted the flow of the game. That much is right. But at the end of the day, Dilfer is saying that college programs should pander to a single player to pad his stats and help him make the NFL at the expense of winning games.

If the Oklahoma Sooners offense is a “joke” – Dilfer’s exact words – and still won 40 games over the last four seasons, that must say a lot about the rest of the teams in the nation. Landry Jones broke most of the Sooners’ records, so if he was not utilized right, that must make him a superhuman quarterback. He would hold every record in the NCAA if used how Dilfer envisioned.

And if the wide receivers were as brutal as Dilfer says, that makes the NFL teams who took them very poor decision makers, as far as Dilfer is concerned. That is where his argument fails. Trent Dilfer buried all the players and coaches on the Oklahoma Sooners’ team to pump up Landry Jones. That isn’t just brutal analysis – that is bush league.