Baker Mayfield Isn’t the End-All to a Big 2016 Season; It’s the Offensive Line
By Chip Rouse
![Oct 17, 2015; Manhattan, KS, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6)] drops back to pass during a 55-0 win against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fbfd6ced4cd835e9241e43730c85e2f2e650434878142899f6d70c03a4889e3ac.jpg "Oct 17, 2015; Manhattan, KS, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield (6)] drops back to pass during a 55-0 win against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports")
As a preseason candidate for both the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award as the best player in college football for the coming season, it is easy to single out quarterback Baker Mayfield as the key to Oklahoma’s College Football Playoff chances in 2016.
No question the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year is the critical weapon in the Sooners’ offensive attack. Behind Mayfield is the explosive backfield pair of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon, whose combined production on the ground is another big part of Oklahoma’s Air Raid offense.
Without a strong run game, the Sooners’ ability to effectively and efficiently move the ball through the air in offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley’s Air Raid offense is considerably more difficult and far too one-dimensional.
The Sooners definitely have the weapons to roll up yards and points and severely stress opposing defenses, but the catalyst that sparks the internal combustion in the Oklahoma offensive engine and powers everything forward from there is the unsung play of the big boys upfront on the offensive line.
It’s pretty simple, really: If the O-line doesn’t come through, it doesn’t typically end up being a good day for the offense, and in an offensive-driven conference like the Big 12, if you aren’t able to execute your offense, move the ball and put up points things can go very badly, very quickly.
Oklahoma loses All-Big 12 center Ty Darlington along with guards Nila Kasitati, Derek Farniok and Josiah St. John from last year’s offensive line, but they return three sophomores who started in more than half of the games and gained a year of experience that should make them even better this season.
Sophomore Jonathan Alvarez, who made 10 starts last season (nine at left guard and one ar center), moves over to replace Darlington at the center position. Fellow sophomores Dru Samia and Orlando Brown also are set as starters on the O-line this season.
Samia likely will get the start at right tackle (he made nine starts at that position last season). At 6-foot, 8-inches and 340 pounds, Brown is the biggest of the Sooner offensive lineman. He started all 13 games a year ago at right tackle, which is where you will find him again this season.
Having three returning offensive-line starters back in 2016 provides the learning and continuity of having played together before, and the fact that all are just in their second full season bodes well for the future growth and strength of this unit.
The three returning starters likely will be joined by sophomore Ben Powers and redshirt freshman Cody Ford, both at around 6-foot, 4-inches and 32 pounds, at the two guard positions.
The Sooners feel good about how they stack up, size, strength and experience-wise, on the offensive line, and that should be a very good thing for the high-powered OU offense heading into the new season.
Phil Steele, college football expert and publisher of the popular Phil Steele’s College Football Preview magazine, rates Oklahoma as having the second best offensive line in the Big 12 in the 2016 season (behind only West Virginia) and the 22nd-best O-line unit in the country.