Oklahoma football: Future of Sooner QB position? No problem
By Chip Rouse
The best Oklahoma football seasons historically have been a direct result of outstanding quarterback play.
The Sooners have won 190 games in the last 18 seasons, more than any other team from a Power Five conference. During that same time frame, Oklahoma quarterbacks have won two Heisman Trophy awards, been a Heisman finalist five times and a runner-up in the balloting on another occasion.
Five different times in the Big 12 era (1996 to the present), a Sooner quarterback has been named Offensive Player of the Year in the conference.
In the first two decades of the 21st century, high-quality quarterback play at Oklahoma has become somewhat of an expectation, and it doesn’t appear things are going to be any different under new head coach Lincoln Riley.
Baker Mayfield, a two-time Heisman finalist and one of the top statistical leaders among Division I college quarterbacks the past two seasons, is back for a final season at OU this fall. Mayfield set a new NCAA record for passing efficiency last season (196.4), beating the previous record by five points.
The two-year Sooner starter at quarterback is the only player in OU’s illustrious football history to record at least 5,000 passing yards (7,665) and at least 500 rushing yards (582) in a career, and he still has a season of eligibility remaining. He has thrown 89 touchdown passes the past two years, the most ever by a Sooner quarterback in his first 26 games.
Backing up Mayfield this coming season are a pair of high-potential QBs in their own right. Redshirt sophomore Kyler Murray transferred from Texas A&M following his freshman season. Murray is a dual-threat quarterback with outstanding speed. He was a five-star recruit out of high school in Allen, Texas, and was the Gatorade National Player of the Year. He sat out last season under the NCAA transfer rule, but was the quarterback on the OU scout team..
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And the Sooner quarterback depth doesn’t stop there. Competing along with Murray is sophomore Austin Kendall, who served in the backup role to Mayfield a year ago. Kendall, a native of North Carolina, was a four-star recruit out of high school. He played in two games for the Sooners last season, completing 16 of 22 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
The Sooners also have a QB recruit from the 2017 class on campus and working with the team. Chris Robison is a four-star prospect out of Mesquite, Texas, rated by Rivals.com as the No. 4 pro-style quarterback in the country out of high school. Robison’s future with the team is a little uncertain at the moment. He and another OU player, walk-on defensive back Ronnie LaRue, were arrested by Norman police in early April for public intoxication. It is uncertain at this time what disciplinary action has or will be taken against Robison.
Although the Sooners appear to be in strong shape at quarterback for the next two to three seasons, they’ve already begun stocking the shelf for the years beyond that.
Tanner Mordecai is a three-star QB prospect out of Baylor’s backyard in Waco, Texas, who has committed to Oklahoma as a member of the 2018 recruiting class, and earlier this week, the Sooners picked up the commitment of four-star QB prospect Spencer Rattler from Phoenix, Ariz. , for 2019.
Rattler is the eighth commitment the Sooners have received since Lincoln Riley took over as the Sooners’ head coach earlier this month and the second member of OU’s 2019 recruiting class. He chose Oklahoma over offers he also received from Alabama, Texas, Miami and Notre Dame.
In less than a week, Riley has picked up verbal commitments from six recruits, including three wide receivers in the 2018 class.
I’d say the Sooner cupboard is pretty well stocked with immediate and future talent at the quarterback position, and they will be working under one of the brightest young offensive minds in the college coaching business in Riley.
That’s a pretty sound formula for sustained football success at Oklahoma in the years ahead.