Oklahoma football: Top spring football storylines

Defensive development

We touched on it earlier with the idea of players switching positions, but how the defense develops as a whole will go a long, long way in determining how successful this team will be in 2019.

With an average to above average defense the Sooners could very well be holding a pair of National Championship trophies after two historically-great offensive seasons and back-to-back Heisman winners at quarterback. So now it’s up to Alex Grinch to get the Sooners back up to standard on defense and make that group an strength of the team like it was for most of the Bob Stoops era at Oklahoma.

Grinch’s scheme looks complicated on film with disguised coverages, pre-snap movement and plenty of slanting and stunting up front, but from all accounts it’s not that hard to learn for players. Still, just getting the terminology down and making sure guys are correctly lined up will consume quite a bit of the Sooners’ spring practice time on defense so the faster everyone gets on the same page, the more they can install. It will all come down to how fast the new staff can teach and how receptive the players are to the scheme.

Jalen Hurts

The Sooners scored what was probably the biggest graduate transfer name on the market in Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts. The senior comes to the Sooners with a national championship ring, big-game experience and a lot to prove after losing his starting job to backup Tua Tagovailoa.

Of course, if Hollywood was writing the script it would end with the two former teammates meeting in the national title game in early 2020, but we all know this is the real world and there are plenty of things that must be done before that’s even a possibility.

What does the offense look like under Hurts, who flashed some of his passing improvement in the SEC Championship game against Georgia, but has struggled with decision making and accuracy in the past as the Crimson Tide’s starter. Can he come close to the almost impossibly-high bar set by his two predecessors in Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield? How much on-field chemistry can he develop with his receivers, nearly all of whom will be participating in spring drills. And can a new offensive line protect Hurts in the same way the Sooners took care of Murray and Mayfield the past two seasons?

Oklahoma has all the ingredients to build a national championship team, but this spring will determine whether all of those ingredients can blend together to make it happen.