Oklahoma football: Which is the bigger 2019 addition: Jalen Hurts or Alex Grinch?

The case for Alex Grinch

There’s no easy way to say this. The Sooners were bad on defense in 2019. There was some optimism after a pair of wins over Florida Atlantic and UCLA, but Iowa State and Army exposed some old wounds and a meltdown against Texas was the final straw for the Mike Stoops era.

Oklahoma football would go on to win the Big 12 despite fielding a defense that may have been the worst we’ve seen at Oklahoma since John Blake was calling the shots in Norman.

The Sooners always seemed to be reacting to what the other team was doing, playing not to lose rather than to win and it’s hard to play defense on your heels, especially in today’s era of college football.

One could also argue without too much resistance that the Sooners’ defense has cost them at least two college football playoff wins in the past two seasons and possibly two more National Championships.

Enter Alex Grinch, who brings a penchant for complimenting an Air Raid-style offense under Mike Leach. He knows how to play alongside it, and more importantly, he knows how to scheme against it. The Sooners won’t be perfect on defense next year, but they’ll be aggressive, fast and they’ll take the fight to the opposing offense. That’s more than you could say about the past two years.

To think that Oklahoma was on the cusp of joining college football’s elite club in three of the past four years with a below average defense statistically, imagine what even a top 40 unit could mean for the Sooners in 2019. It could very well be enough, Hurts or no Hurts, to get the Sooners to the place fans have been waiting 19 years to return, the podium after the national championship game.

So which do you think will have the biggest impact? Be sure to vote in our poll on our Facebook page. Drop your opinion and we may feature your comment in our next article.