Oklahoma football: Five reasons OU will win the Big 12 championship in their final year

Increased/Improved Depth across the board

“Depth” is pretty broad. Depth where? Well… everywhere.

Any team that expects to win a game, let alone a conference, better have quality depth. Team 129’s way deeper than Team 128 was, and more importantly, they’re deeper than all of the other teams in the Big 12 conference. Let’s start where it counts most…QB.

Dillon Gabriel is backed up by Jackson Arnold. Unproven freshman? Yes. But C’mon… don’t forget the kid has five coveted stars before his name. Besides, when Gabriel was vs. Texas and TCU last season, the Sooners’ combined QBR average was 7.1. The lowest QBR in the nation last year, other than that one, was 20.3. It is factually correct that Jackson Arnold is an unproven freshman; however, I’d bet he’s at least slightly better than 7.1 QBR. Screenshot that one.

Quarterback depth is critical, especially when you have a quarterback with an extensive injury history like Dillon Gabriel. Let me make one point clear while we’re here. Dillon Gabriel is QB1 and should have the full support of Sooner Nation. Like my old man always says, “Who wants the pilot flying their plane to crash?… NOBODY!” Sooner Nation doesn’t need to start “Jackson” chants whenever Dillon throws an incompletion. It isn’t healthy for a program and isn’t happening anyway. Jackson deserves a year to learn and grow. He’s there if Dillon goes down, a drastic improvement from last year. Let’s move on.

Running back has four guys who can play, two solid starters, and two backups. The receiver room is deep, especially when D.J. Graham emerges as WR1. I’d like to see Jayden Gibson be more productive and reach his potential. Incoming freshman burner Jacquaize Pettaway will get a lot of time too. Offensive line depth is better, especially at tackle. Freshman phenom Cayden Green backs up the best player on the entire team Tyler Guyton. Jacob Sexton and Walter Rouse hold down the right tackle. The guards have Mettauer and Savion Byrd, both solid starters. Josh Bates backs up Andrew Raym at center, with incoming App State transfer Troy Everett serving as a guard/center backup for now. O-Line depth is solid.

The Sooners’ defense is much deeper than last year, too, especially in the defensive backfield and defensive line. There is a huge influx of youth depth on the Sooner defense, which makes you feel great about the future. Freshman defenders Phil Picciotti, Adepoju Adebawore, and Peyton Bowen will probably see extensive time on the field next season. Still, they’re listed as depth for now.

Overall the defensive depth is improved drastically from last year, with several players only starting by a razor’s edge.

The season is long. To stay competitive, you must have extensive, competitive, competent depth. The Sooners finally have it, and it will pay dividends come November.