Oklahoma football: Early look at Sooners’ defensive backs for 2022 season

Editor’s note: This is the third installment in a series of articles taking an early look at and breaking down the Oklahoma football position groups for the 2022 season

If there’s one position group that Oklahoma wants to improve dramatically it’s the defensive backs. The Sooners’ secondary has been criticized for a number of years for giving up too many big plays, but things are expected to change under the defensive scheme being put in by head coach Brent Venables and defensive coordinator Ted Roof.

Venables has added some help to bring about a change in the back end of the Oklahoma defense. Brandon Hall, who will coach the safeties, and pass defensive coordinator Jay Valai, who will also be coaching cornerbacks and nickelbacks, have been brought in as new assistants.

Hall, who is an OU alum and former staff assistant, led Troy’s defense for the past three seasons and transitioned them to an elite defense in the Sun Belt Conference. Valai, one of several young up and coming defensive minds in college football, gained knowledge and a winning attitude under Nick Saban at Alabama this past season. Prior to that, Valai served as Texas’ cornerbacks coach in 2020.

The excitement is real for this new group of assistant coaches, but you could say the same about OU’s secondary, with a few veterans returning, additional experience from the transfer portal and the young, exciting talent is part of the Sooners’ 2022 recruiting class.

Redshirt Junior CB Woodi Washington will arguably be the anchor for the Sooners’ secondary in the 2022 season. Washington, who arrived at Oklahoma as a safety, has emerged as an elite corner for the Sooners, but the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native has to stay healthy.

This past season, Washington started six games and finished with 27 tackles and two interceptions, despite being sidelined for seven games with an injury. In 2020, Washington recorded 45 tackles, along with two interceptions. OU is hoping for a complete and electrifying season out of the junior-to-be Washington.

Junior safety Key Lawrence is another guy to keep an eye on in the 2022 season after making four starts and playing in all 13 games for the Sooners a year ago. The 6-foot, 1-inch, 218-pound Tennessee transfer showed glimpses last season of what he brings to the defense: physicality, football IQ, and elite ball skills.

We saw the elite ball skills out of Lawrence, when he was moved to cornerback during the month of November. Lawrence is a big body as a defensive back, which Sooner fans love to hear and can cover a lot of ground for his size.

Team leader and Oklahoma native Justin Broiles will continue to bring leadership in the secondary along with his ability to make plays. With Broiles, the safety might make a mistake, but he will be in position to back it up with an excellent play. Broiles totaled 55 tackles, two fumble recoveries, and two interception a year ago for the Sooners. He also had an interception in the 47-32 Alamo Bowl win over Oregon.

Broiles, from John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City, as lived up to the Oklahoma dream as a football player. We’ve seen Broiles turn himself into a playmaker over his years at OU, and he hopes to be part of a special season in his last year. The Oklahoma football Twitter account posted a workout video Wednesday morning that involved Broiles shouting, “Who’s got my back?!” while his teammates responded, “I got your back!”.

Cornerbacks D.J. Graham and Joshua Eaton will continue to fight for a cornerback spot as we witnessed last season. With Venables and the new coaching staff, we could witness multiple positions that are up taking for the returners and newcomers.

As for the talented freshmen, Oklahoma high school products Robert Spears-Jennings, Gentry Williams, and Jayden Rowe will have every opportunity to compete for a starting spot or an important backup role in the secondary in next season’s for Sooner defense.

Spears-Jennings, projected as a safety, provides great length and speed at 6-foot, 1-inch, 200 pounds, he was rated as the No. 11 safety in the country, according to 247 Sports.

Cornerback Williams was the highest recruit in the state of Oklahoma and showed loyalty to the Oklahoma Sooners. There’s a good chance Williams gets to play frequently at cornerback, a position Oklahoma has struggled at in recent years.

Rowe, recruited as a cornerback, is another exciting Oklahoma kid that stayed committed to the Sooners despite the coaching change. Rowe was rated as a 4-star recruit, according to 247Sports.

With a mixture of experience and youth, the Sooners secondary will be looking for a much-improved contribution in the 2022 season.