Oklahoma football: Losing out on top ’21 RB not as dire as it would seem

On Wednesday, the Oklahoma football running back room of the future took a major hit.

Camar Wheaton, the top running back in the 2021 class, according to Rivals, chose Alabama over Oklahoma, leaving the Sooners’ pipeline for top running back talent precariously thin and with serious questions.

Oklahoma believed its was in strong position to land Wheaton, but for the second straight recruiting cycle, the Sooners have lost out on a top-rated running back. And in both cases, it was to Nick Saban and Alabama.

Jase McClellan, a four-star running back and No. 6 at the position in the 2020 class, according to Rivals, flipped to Alabama on the first day of early signing a year ago after originally committing to Oklahoma.

The Sooners don’t have any running backs committed in their current 16-member 2021 class, and had been working hard to reel in Wheaton as potentially their next star running back.

There was more bad news earlier this week when it was learned that junior running back T.J. Pledger was entering the transfer portal. Pledger rushed for 467 yards and five touchdowns this season, but when Rhamondre Stevenson returned from suspension, Pledger’s playing time was greatly reduced.

So it’s now back to the drawing board for head coach Lincoln Riley and Sooners’ running backs coach DeMarco Murray in an effort to feed the 2021-22 pipeline with future running-back talent. OU will need to double down in its efforts to fill this need, perhaps through the transfer portal (like Ohio State did in bringing in Trey Sermon to fill an immediate need) in addition to conventional high-school recruiting practices.

There are gems in the rough that aren’t highly rated

There is plenty of unsung talent out there that doesn’t get all the attention that heavily hyped prospects like Wheaton do.

Consider Breece Hall of Iowa State, for example. College football’s top running back this season, collecting 1,436 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns and averaging nearly 6.0 yards per carry, was a three-star, class of 2019 recruit out of Wichita, Kansas.

Those diamonds in the rough are out there. You just have to go find them.

Oklahoma’s ability to run the ball effectively has been a key element in setting up the Air Raid offense that has been so successful since Riley joined the Sooners’ coaching staff six seasons ago.

While losing out to Alabama in the recruitment of the five-star prospect Wheaton is for sure disappointing, it may not be as dire as first thought — at least not in the short term.

There is a good chance that senior RB Stevenson will take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to all student-athletes competing in 2020 sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stevenson has not indicated his future intentions, but because he was suspended for the first five games this season and was only able to display his skills through half a season, he may decide he will benefit more from another season to improve his NFL Draft stock.

Some who are close to the OU football program believe that is a good possibility.

Additionally, it has been reported by multiple sources covering the Sooner program that Kennedy Brooks is expected to return for the 2021 season. Brooks, who ran for over 1,000 yards in both 2018 and 2019 and was OU’s leading returning rusher coming into this season, opted out of the 2020 season. That would be a giant plus for Oklahoma next season.

Let’s also not forget about Seth McGowan, Marcus Major, both of whom showed future promise. McGowan, a true freshman this season, started in Oklahoma’s first two games. He gained 324 yards this season and averaged nearly 6.0 yards per rushing attempt. He also had three rushing touchdowns.

Things could have been considerably different to start the season had Brooks and Stevenson both been available to the Sooners. Should perception turn into reality and they both return next season, Oklahoma could easily have the best running-back tandem in college football, at least through the 2021 season. The better than good news, though, is that possibility would allow the Sooners more time to find and feed their running back needs for the future.

Much could still happen between now and the start of 2021 spring practice, but it’s important to understand that even with this week’s news about departures and might-have-beens, the sky is not falling and there is no reason to believe that Oklahoma football won’t be as good as ever next season.