Oklahoma football: Sooners RB depth becoming more dire
By Chip Rouse
According to multiple reports, Oklahoma football has lost a second running back in the same week.
Tre Bradford, who came to OU from LSU via the transfer portal this past off season reportedly is longer on the Oklahoma roster. The OU Daily, the Oklahoma student newspaper, was one of the first sources to break the story.
Bradford’s departure comes just a couple of days after it was reported that redshirt-sophomore Marcus Major had been ruled ineligible for the fall semester because of academic reasons.
That leaves the Sooners with two scholarship players at the running back position, Kennedy Brooks and Tennessee transfer Eric Gray, who were always expected to be OU’s two primary running backs this season. Given the current situation, keeping Brooks and Gray healthy becomes of prime importance.
Bradford reportedly is considering transferring back to LSU, according to SoonerScoop.com, which is part of Rivals.com.
Oklahoma has lost a total of six running backs since the end of the 2020 season. Rhamondre Stevenson, who led the Sooners in rushing last season, declared for the NFL Draft and T.J. Pledger entered the transfer portal and is now at Utah.
Seth McGowan was OU’s third leading rusher a year ago, but in May he was one of two Oklahoma players charged in an alleged robbery. He was dismissed from the team, and a month later Mikey Henderson, who was being converted to running back from H-back/tight end, was charged in the same incident.
Behind Brooks and Gray are two walk-on RBs: redshirt junior Jaden Knowles and redshirt sophomore Todd Hudson. Both were high school stars in Texas, and they both had sparkling performances in the Sooners’ spring game. Knowles carried the ball three times in the Spring game for 31 yards and a touchdown; Hudson also had three carries for 38 yards.
Spencer Rattler came to Oklahoma as a dual-threat quarterback, but he was credited with just 81 running plays last season for 307 yards.
A better option to fill in the gap at running back will likely come from converting one of the other players. Among those who could make the switch is senior Jeremiah Hall, who has been used mostly as an H-back.
Another possibility is redshirt-freshman quarterback Michah Bowens, who transferred to OU during the offseason from Penn State. Bowens was beaten out as the Sooners’ third-string QB by preferred walk-on Ralph Rucker, but he has skills running with the football. He ran for 1,500 yards and 28 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.
It’s fairly obvious that Brooks and Gray are going to carry most of the load when the Sooners run the ball, but its also pretty evident they are going to need to do something to shore up the depth in that position group.