Depth was a major issue for the Sooners’ defense last year, particularly at inside linebacker, but after stacking back-to-back, top-10 recruiting classes it appears Oklahoma football might be on the verge of championship-level depth on the inside for the first time in nearly a decade.
Last year around this time, the Sooners were dealing with injuries and a lack of quality players to fill all four linebacker spots.
Then-true-freshman Kenneth Murray was still raw, but had shown the flashes of what would eventually make him a freshman All American.
His backup, Curtis Bolton, was forced to become a jack of all trades, learning all four linebacker spots with only six scholarship players at defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and linebacker coach Tim Kish’s disposal.
“Our depth at linebacker as a whole is not what we need it to be,” Mike Stoops told the Daily Oklahoman during last year’s fall camp. “Right now, we’re doing it with five or six linebackers at the most.”
it would get worse from there. Bolton was lost for the season on Sept. 23 against Baylor, leaving the Sooners with virtually no room for error at linebacker. Before Bolton’s injury Oklahoma’s defense was holding opponents to an average of just over 12 points per game. After the Sooners gave up 31 points per contest. While other factors such as the start of Big 12 play skew this number, there’s still little doubt the Sooners regressed as their linebacker depth eroded.
Fast forward to this year and the Sooners are two-deep at both inside linebacker spots. Caleb Kelly has moved to the inside in an attempt to give the former five-star recruit more time on the field. He’ll be backed up by Bolton, now healthy and concentrating on one spot. Next to them true freshman and four-star recruit DeSean White is turning heads behind Murray.
“He’s very talented,” Riley told the Daily Oklahoman about White. “He is very twitchy and very active. He’s one of those guys where it’s just a matter of time before he’s a good player.”
Depth on the inside has allowed coaches to move Jon-Michael Terry to outside linebacker, not only providing more quality players on the outside, but also giving the top four guys more reps with the first team.
White and Bolton aren’t just there in case the No. 1 guys go down though. They have practiced their way into a battle for playing time according to Riley.
“Even though a guy like Caleb has played a bunch and Kenneth has played a bunch, their spots are by no means set.” Riley told the Daily Oklahoman. “It’s a good competition right now. We’ve got those four guys in there doing well.”
How this will play out on the field is still to be determined, but early indicators seem to show Oklahoma might finally be close to a tipping point in its quest to improve on the defensive side of the ball.