Oklahoma football: Brayden Willis ready to lead the Sooners

Brayden Willis has been a member of the Oklahoma football Sooners since the 2018 season.

He joins a short list of players who hold that distinction, along with Drake Stoops and Brey Walker on offense, Justin Broiles, Jordan Kelley, Jalen Redmond, and DaShaun White on defense and  Kasey Kelleher on special teams.

Willis attended James Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. He signed with the Sooners as part of their 2018 recruiting class. He had a quiet year in 2018, only catching one pass, but he did have a blocked punt in the Kansas game that season.

For the last three seasons, Willis has been a consistent presence at the fullback/tight end/h-back position, catching a touchdown pass in three straight games to close out the 2019 regular season. That includes reeling in the game-tying score against Baylor during OU’s miraculous 34-31 comeback win, coming from 25 points behind at halftime.

After a dip in his numbers in 2020, when he only played in five games, Willis bounced back in 2021 and started eight games. He caught his most passes for his most yards last season, including this beautiful grab in the Bedlam game.

Willis has hauled in 36 passes for six touchdowns, with nearly all of that coming in the last three years. He is also a reliable blocker and good in the special teams.

But those numbers and his role will see a significant uptick in 2022.

That’s because the H-back position group, which has been crowded since he arrived on campus, got much clearer this offseason and left Willis in the lead role.

Dimitri Flowers held the position from 2015-2017 and was very impactful in catching the football wherever he lined up. He was also an effective blocker. He was once called upon to carry the load as the lead running back as well.

Then, it was Carson Meier’s turn in 2018, as the seldom-used fullback caught a few Red Zone touchdowns from Kyler Murray and add another threat to a potent offense. He made the most of his senior season as a Sooner after backing up Flowers in previous seasons.

Then, beginning in 2019, a three-headed monster of Jeremiah Hall, Austin Stogner, and Willis took over the position, and they all had their moments in the sun for the next three seasons. Hall and Willis had waited their turn as freshmen behind Meier, and Stogner (the best receiver of the bunch) was a highly touted recruit in the 2019 class that Lincoln Riley planned to use right away.

Fast forward three seasons and Hall has graduated and moved on to the New York Giants, while Stogner decided to transfer to South Carolina shortly after the ’21 regular season ended. Willis has an opportunity to step even further into the limelight and be a significant weapon for the Sooner offense. He came back to do precisely that.

The Sooners have undergone an offseason of change like few teams in OU history ever have. Many key players from last year’s team graduated, entered the NFL Draft, or transferred elsewhere. As one of the few veterans who remain (especially on offense), Willis has the opportunity to lead the way for a young team as it steps into a new era under Brent Venables. He has the chance to lead a young offense under Jeff Lebby to heights that few nationally expect the unit to reach.

Willis has all the tools and know-how to have a considerable season and help himself come April when he hopes to hear his name called as in the NFL draft. He is a do-it-all player whose versatility must have Lebby salivating.

But maybe even more importantly, Willis is a college football player who has been around the block over the years in Norman and one that OU coaches wanted back on the field in Crimson and Cream this year to help usher in a new era.