Oklahoma football: Young safeties rocket up depth chart

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Josh Jacobs #8 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is tackled by Patrick Fields #10 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

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It appears Delarrin Turner-Yell and Patrick Fields are earning rave reviews through spring football so far.

Oklahoma football returns 10 starters from last year’s defense, but with a new defensive coordinator, we wouldn’t expect things to look the same come the season opener against Houston.

Two examples of that are young safeties Delarrin Turner-Yell and Patrick Fields, both of which earned praise from new defensive coordinator Alex Grinch after practice on Tuesday in an interview.

"“Through seven practices I feel as a whole those guys have been steady and I would suggest that if we played a game tomorrow they would be our starting safeties”"

As the team’s safeties coach, Grinch would have pretty solid knowledge as to who is leading the way in those position battles.

Jordan Parker and Justin Broiles both took turns starting at the strong safety position last year, while Robert Barnes was the guy at the free safety spot. Fields relieved Barnes after he was injured in the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Alabama and received mostly positive reviews from both coaches and media against a talented Crimson Tide offense.

So what does all of this mean? Here’s a few points we can take away from the early depth chart discussion:

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