Oklahoma football: Jeremiah Hall next in long line of unsung Sooner H-backs

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 9: Fullback Jeremiah Hall #27 of the Oklahoma Sooners takes a catch for first down against linebackers Marcel Spears Jr. #42 and O'Rien Vance #34 of the Iowa State Cyclones on November 9, 2019 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. OU held on to win 42-41. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 9: Fullback Jeremiah Hall #27 of the Oklahoma Sooners takes a catch for first down against linebackers Marcel Spears Jr. #42 and O'Rien Vance #34 of the Iowa State Cyclones on November 9, 2019 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. OU held on to win 42-41. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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Most of the attention in the Oklahoma football backfield in the upcoming season is going to be on No. 26, Kennedy Brooks, but don’t overlook the value of the player wearing jersey No. 27.

The player wearing that other number is Jeremiah Hall, who fills the position on the OU depth chart known as the H-back.

The redshirt-junior from Charlotte, North Carolina was the next man up this past season in a long line of Sooner players who went about their business largely under the radar in workman-like fashion and did great things when their number was called. Names that include the likes of J.D. Runnels, Trey Millard, Aaron Ripkowski and Dimitri Flowers, all of whom are relatively recent graduates of the Oklahoma H-back position, which has been integral to the powerful Sooner offense for a number of years.

Each of those former OU H-backs went on to play at the next level after their Sooner careers, which is a good omen for Hall, who still has two more years of college eligibility remaining.

The H-back in football terminology is a position that lines up similar to a tight end but is set back from the line of scrimmage and carries out the duties of a tight end or fullback. That is why in the Oklahoma offense you see Hall and his predecessors coming out of the backfield on pass patterns as an atypical pass receiver that often catches the defense off guard.

Three of Hall’s 16 receptions a years ago were for touchdowns. He was credited with 169 receiving yards last season and had one rushing attempt, which came in the College Football Playoff loss to LSU, for eight yards. His best game in 2019 was a three-catch performance in Oklahoma’s one-point win over Iowa State.

Hall was recruited as the No. 11 tight end in the country in the class of 2017.

He started 11 of the Sooners’ 14 games last season and was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team.

Sooner fans can expect to see as much if not more from the 6-foot, 2-inch, 246-pound Hall in the coming season as he shares H-back duties with teammate Brayden Willis, who had similar production to Hall, with 11 catches for 168 yards and three touchdowns.