Oklahoma football Nine Sooners land in The Athletic’s Top-100 Transfers for 2022
By Chip Rouse
Nine Oklahoma football players made The Athletic’s recent list of the Top-100 Transfers for 2022, but only three are currently on the Sooners’ roster.
That’s another way of saying that six of the nine are former Sooners who left OU after last season via the transfer portal. Thirteen scholarship players transferred into Oklahoma via the portal, but only three made the Top 100 list put together by the college football staff of The Athletic.
Caleb Williams, who took over the starting quarterback job the second half of the season a year ago, replacing Spencer Rattler, ranks No. 1 among the Top 100 2021 transfers. Both Williams and Rattler, who is ranked No. 25 on the list, were the No. 1 quarterback recruits in their respective classes (2021 and 2019).
Williams is now at USC with former OU head coach Lincoln Riley; Rattler joined former Sooner assistant coach Shane Beamer, who is in his second season at South Carolina.
No. 4 in The Athletic’s Top 100 ranking, however, is incoming Oklahoma quarterback transfer Dillon Gabriel. The newly designated Sooner starter comes to OU after two-plus seasons at UCF. Before committing to UCF as part of that school’s 2019 class, Gabriel was originally headed to Army. Starting 25 of 26 games at UCF, Gabriel collected 8,037 passing yards and 70 touchdowns with just 14 interceptions.
Interestingly, what Gabriel has already accomplished at UCF would put him fifth on the Oklahoma career list for passing yards, behind No. 3 Sam Bradford’s 8,403 passing yards and ahead of Jason White (7,922 yards), both Heisman Trophy winners while at OU. Gabriel’s 70 TD tosses would rank fifth on the Sooner career list.
Former Oklahoma players besides Williams and Rattler who made the Top 100 include:
No. 23 — WR Mario Willians — from OU to USC
No. 34 — WR Jadon Haselwood — from OU to Arkansas
No. 42 — TE Austin Stogner — from OU to South Carolina
No. 86 — S Patrick Fields — from OU to Stanford
The following incoming transfers to Oklahoma also made the Top 100:
No. 37 — OL McKade Mettauer — from California to OU
No. 40 — DL Jeffery Johnson — from Tulane to OU