Oklahoma football: Leaders emerging before start of season

Oklahoma football showed its hand a bit by picking the four players that will represent the team at Big 12 Media Day.

Neville Gallimore, Kenneth Murray, Creed Humphrey and CeeDee Lamb represent four different position groups and only one is a senior going into this season for Oklahoma football.

Players who attend Big 12 Media Days are usually a precursor to team captain candidates and almost always expected to be starters, which is why with the Sooners holding an “open competition” for the quarterback job it makes sense that Jalen Hurts wasn’t named.

Let’s talk about each player and what it means for them individually to be named representatives to Big 12 Media Day.

Neville Gallimore

Alex Grinch had some harsh words for his defense after spring practice, but showered rare praise on Gallimore, who has always possessed true All American potential at defensive tackle.

Gallimore can make life a heck of a lot easier for Grinch in his first year if he’s able to turn the corner and approach his high ceiling in his senior season. Also, as the only senior in this group Gallimore is one of the only players on the roster to have been around for all three of Oklahoma’ football’s trips to the College Football Playoff and all four of its Big 12 Championships.

CeeDee Lamb

This is likely the last season Oklahoma football fans will get to see Lamb in the Crimson and Cream. He enters this season high on NFL draft boards, an All American candidate and on national award watch lists.

Lamb will also be a leader, especially in the receiver room as the Sooners break in a slew of talented young pass catchers. His steady progression in every season he’s been at Oklahoma is exactly what the Sooners want to see out of guys like Theo Wease, Trejan Bridges and Jadon Haselwood.

A big season for Lamb could not only make him the second Sooner to win the Biletnikoff, but also a candidate to go to New York as a Heisman finalist and it’s never too early to start those kinds of campaigns with the media.

Kenneth Murray

Murray has shown maturity beyond his years during his two seasons at Oklahoma. He earned the starting middle linebacker job as a true freshman and became a team captain in his sophomore season.

He’ll probably be a captain again once the Sooners make those choices at the end of fall camp.

The media has been beating up on the Oklahoma defense pretty hard in the offseason and picking a guy like Murray shows they can count on him to answer some tough questions come next Monday.

On the field Murray has been a step away from making the leap from good to great. Always around the ball, he sometimes got lost in Mike Stoops’ scheme. Can Alex Grinch and company finally give him the coaching needed to become the monster linebacker Oklahoma has been craving?

Creed Humphrey

Much like Murray on the other side of the ball, Humphrey has shown maturity beyond his years during his time at Oklahoma. He challenged for playing time as a true freshman before seizing the starting center job as a redshirt freshman last season.

Now in his redshirt sophomore year he’s the de facto leader of the offensive line after four departures to the NFL. More than that, he’s one of the leaders of the entire offense.

Humphrey’s on-field play isn’t even a question, he’ll be a Remington candidate once the season gets going, but this decision shows the kind of trust the staff has in his leadership skills.