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Oklahoma Football: Five of the Most Dangerous Players Sooners Will Face in 2016

By Chip Rouse

Dec 5, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars quarterback Greg Ward Jr. (1) rushes for a touchdown while Temple Owls linebacker Jarred Alwan (41) chases in the first half in the Mid-American Conference football championship game at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars quarterback Greg Ward Jr. (1) rushes for a touchdown while Temple Owls linebacker Jarred Alwan (41) chases in the first half in the Mid-American Conference football championship game at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns linebacker Malik Jefferson (46) chases Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon (25) during Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns linebacker Malik Jefferson (46) chases Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon (25) during Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

The 2016 Oklahoma football schedule is one of the toughest in the country. As you would logically suspect, the Sooners will go up against an array of super-talented players on some of the best teams in the country this season.

Five teams on the Oklahoma schedule this coming season finished the 2015 campaign ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, and the Sooners match up with two of those teams in the nonconference portion of the schedule in two of their first three games in 2016.

All five of those opponents are expected to be ranked when OU plays them this fall, and one, Ohio State, likely will be ranked in the top five.

With almost half of its 2016 schedule against top-25 teams, Oklahoma will have to dodge lots of danger all season long if it hopes to be a College Football Playoff contender, as many experts project, in the coming season.

The Sooners will encounter danger right out of the chute when they travel to play Houston, one of the surprise teams of last season and the reigning champion of the American Athletic Conference, in the season opener for both teams, on Sept. 3, at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Cougars capped off a 13-1 season a year ago with a convincing two-touchdown win over then-No. 9-ranked Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Here is a list of who I believe to be five especially dangerous players the Sooners will go up against in the 2016 season:

Next: Greg Ward Jr., Houston Cougars Quarterback

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