Oklahoma football: Five ways 2021 will be national championship year
By Chip Rouse
Strong offensive line
On Friday, we wrote that the Sooner’s offensive line had some big holes to fill and was one of the question marks for the 2021 season. Oklahoma does lose two starters, with center Creed Humphrey and right tackle Adrian Ealy off to the NFL. But veteran offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh does return three O-line starters and two new transfers that combined have 126 career starts between them.
The big factor is replacing three year starter and All-American Humphrey, who not only anchored the Sooner O-line but was its unequivocal leader. Bedenbaugh believes they have found their man in true freshman Andrew Raym. Raym was a four-star recruit and a home-grown prospect from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and he has impressed the Oklahoma coaches at center in spring practice and during preseason training camp.
The Sooners were good on the offensive line a year ago, but were not as consistent as Lincoln Riley and his coaches would like. This year’s group has depth and versatility, with competition high at several positions.
The returning experience and the additions of transfers Wanya Morris from Tennessee and Robert Congel from Arizona are expected to shore up the inconsistency, and another big factor is blocking and pass protection behind a quarterback and running back unit that Phil Steele’s 2021 College Football Preview publication ranks as the No. 1 and No. 4 position groups nationally.
Oh, and by the way, Steele rates the Oklahoma offensive line as the No. 1 unit in the country heading into the 2021 season.