Youth Movement at Linebacker
Eric Striker, Devante Bond, Dominique Alexander…those are three extremely talented linebackers who left the Oklahoma program at the end of the 2015 season.
Striker and Bond graduated, but Alexander, who was widely expected to return for his senior season, surprisingly decided to declare for the NFL draft. So a linebacker corps that was already expected to be significantly thinned out by graduation losses was pretty much decimated by Alexander’s unexpected departure.
This means youngsters at linebacker with relatively little playing experience will have to grow up in a hurry. Jordan Evans is the only returning linebacker with significant experience; Tay Evans, Curtis Bolton and Ruben Hunter all figure to be in the mix for playing time.
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is expected to clock significant minutes at outside linebacker, along with Rick DeBerry and Arthur McGinnis, both redshirt freshmen. Caleb Kelly, a five star California linebacker and the crown jewel of Oklahoma’s 2015 recruiting class, may even see some playing time right away, although he will not be on campus until the fall.
Saturday will reveal a lot about the state of Oklahoma’s linebacker corps heading into 2016. Hopefully, the youngsters will show that they are making progress towards understanding Mike Stoops’ defensive schemes. Otherwise, Sooner fans may be dreading the arrival of football season: Oklahoma starts the season playing both Houston and Ohio State, so the margin for error is razor thin.