Oklahoma Football: Offense Will Reload, Return Strong Next Fall
By Chip Rouse
A high-octane offense has been a hallmark of Oklahoma football under defensive-minded Bob Stoops. Don’t expect things to be much different in 2017, despite the loss of three of the Sooners’ so-called Four Horsemen.
The two-time-defending Big 12 champion Sooners will go forward without Samaje Perine and all-purpose phenom Joe Mixon, arguably the best running-back duo in the country, and Biletnikof Award-winner Dede Westbrook at wide receiver. That’s a lot of firepower being taken away from quarterback Baker Mayfield, a Heisman finalist the past two seasons.
For most college teams, that kind of loss would be more than enough to send a program plummeting from national contender to rebuild mode in less than a year’s time. Not Oklahoma, however, not this time, anyway.
Stoops and his coaching staff brought in a top-10 recruiting class for 2017, a group loaded with talent at both running back and in the receiving reinforcements.
The Sooners return two burners at the running-back position in Abdul Adams and Rodney Anderson. Both have exceptional speed, but limited experience. Adams saw action in xx game in 2016, but his game time was very limited playing behind Perine and Mixon. Anderson, a redshirt freshman in 2016, has played in just two games in his Sooner career, suffering season-ending injuries the past two seasons.
Junior-college transfer Marcelius Sutton should make an immediate impact in the Oklahoma backfield next season. The four-star recruit was highly recruited out of the JC ranks and was rated by ESPN as the No. 2 running back prospect at the JUCO level.
Some experts, however, believe that the best of the OU running backs next season might be Trey Sermon, a prospect that virtually all the top SEC programs were courting. Sermon, from Marietta, Ga., packs both power and breakaway speed. If it also turns out he can be utilized as a pass-receiver out of the backfield, the sky is the limit in terms of his potential and his all-purpose impact. Think Joe Mixon redux.
With Westbrook gone, the big question is who will Mayfield turn to in 2017 as key weapons in OU’s Air Raid attack. Sophomore tight end Mark Andrews caught 31 passes for nearly 500 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Redshirt sophomore Nick Basquine, a former walk-on, and 6-foot, 5-inch Jeffrey Mead both played very well down the stretch last season and will be expected to step up even more in 2017.
Oklahoma has three highly promising receiver prospects as part of its 2017 recruiting class. Marquise Brown, a junior-college transfer from California, is the pick of the litter, ranked as the No. 15 JUCO player overall and No. 3 wide receiver. In addition, OU signed two four-star wide-receiver prospects: Cedarian Lamb and Charleston Rambo, both out of Texas.
So don’t feel too bad for Mayfield and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. It appears the Sooners have no shortage of receiver targets for Mayfield next season.
Ditto that for an offense that is merely reloading, not rebuilding.