Two former Oklahoma football players with once promising futures are no longer with the team and may never play another down of college football.
Last Friday, formal charges were brought and an arrest warrant issued for former Oklahoma football players Trejan Bridges and Seth McGowan.
The two former Sooners were charged with felony counts of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to a report by the Norman police.
Their immediate futures are now in the hands of local law enforcement and the judicial process.
The one thing that is certain at this point is that they will never again play football for the University of Oklahoma.
In a statement put out late last week by the OU athletic department, head coach Lincoln Riley said,
"“They (Bridges and McGowan) are not members of our program anymore. We wish them the very best going forward.”"
Both players had potentially bright futures with the Sooners but, of course, that is now all gone. It prompts the question, however, what impact will there dismissal from the program have on the high expectations everyone seems to have on the 2021 OU football season?
The simple answer is: None. Barring something unforeseen, both players would have been far enough down on the depth chart that their playing time, let alone any lasting contributions, likely would be marginal.
These two players could have helped OU, but truth be told, there is plenty of talent to make up the difference.
Bridges, from Carrollton, Texas, was a sophomore this past season and a former five-star prospect who was a member of Oklahoma’s top 10-rated 2019 recruiting class that also included starting quarterback Spencer Rattler and two other five-star wide-receiver commitments.
Because of the depth the Sooners had at wide receiver his freshman season, Bridges’ playing time was extremely limited. He did see action in nine games in 2019, but caught just seven passes for 82 total yards. And he played in just one game last season, the Cotton Bowl game against Florida, because of an 11-game suspension. He was one of three OU players suspended for at least six games ahead of the 2019 College Football Playoff game between the Sooners and LSU because of a failed drug test.
For a reason that is still not clear, Bridges’ six-game suspension turned into 11 before he was declared eligible.
In his two seasons at OU, Bridges made a total of nine catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
Some college football analysts believed that Bridges’ ceiling could be even higher than fellow wide receivers Jadon Haselwood and Theo Wease who were five-star recruits in the same 2019 class.
McGowan, a four-star prospect out of Mesquite, Texas, got the start at running back in his very first game as a Sooners. He gained 61 yards on the ground and a touchdown in OU’s season-opener against Missouri State and followed that with 73 rushing yards and another rushing TD the following week against Kansas State. McGowan was elevated to the starter role with Kennedy Brooks having opted out for the season, Rhamondre Stevenson on suspension and because T.J. Pledger was out with an injury.
Nevertheless, McGowan performed well and showed some early promise, especially for a running back group that had been decimated by transfers, opt-outs, suspension and injury.
With Brooks, the Sooners’ leading ground gainer at the running back position in 2018 and 1019 returning this coming season and former Tennessee running back Eric Gray transferring to OU, McGowan was looking at being a third- or even fourth-best option at running back in 2021.
Because of the depth the Sooners have a running back coming into the 2021 season, Pledger announced he was entering the transfer portal at the end of last season and has since landed at Utah.
Oklahoma’s wealth of riches at wide receiver for next season also would have caused a problem for Bridges in getting playing time, especially with the pattern of misdeeds with which he has been associated in the short time he was at OU.
It sounds strange to say a team could be better off losing two talented players, but the hard, fast truth is the departure of Bridges and McGowan eliminates the potential problems and distractions that, having the two players still around, could easily be harmful to team chemistry and affect both individual and team performance in the 2021 season.
The immediate suspension and later dismissal of the two players was both necessary and warranted and — mark this down — the Sooners are actually BETTER and STRONGER despite the incident.