The NCAA this summer adopted the “five-in-five” rule, which implemented an age-based eligibility and gave student-athletes five seasons to actually participate instead of four while essentially erasing redshirts in college sports. The goal of the new rule was to quiet all the eligibility chaos that had become a headache throughout college sports, but just like anything the NCAA does, it just prompted a whole new wave of drama.
Read more: Brent Venables has always been behind the NCAA's latest eligibility change
The plan was for this new rule to official go into effect with the 2027 recruiting class that will start their college careers next school year. But, like everything today, former athletes took the new rule to court, and on Friday, a federal judge ruled that all athletes from the 2022 recruiting class who just exhausted their fourth year of eligibility this past year are eligible for a fifth season this upcoming year as many college football teams have already started fall camp.
That would include seniors who just finished their college careers and did not ever redshirt. Theoretically, anyone included in that group could now apply for a fifth year to return to college for one more season in whatever sport they participated in and likely get it.
That would also open the door for, especially considering what’s been going on in college basketball, football players who just went unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft to return to college instead of participate in mini camp with the likelihood of eventually not making the 53-man roster anyway.
Three players from the Sooners’ 2025 roster fit that mold as class of 2022 recruits who played four years and just went undrafted, which means the opportunity is at least there for them to return if they choose to pursue it and Brent Venables welcomes them back (or even can based on roster spots).
Ruling against 5-in-5 rule makes return of these Sooners possible
Marvin Jones Jr. spent just one season with the Sooners after transferring from Florida State and was at Georgia before that. He started nine games at defensive end for what was the Sooners’ deepest position in 2025. Jones would certainly start again in 2026 and instantly make OU just as deep on the edge as it was last season, and Venables loves to rotate there.
Jones went undrafted before signing with the Seattle Seahawks. He’s fighting an uphill battle to make an NFL roster but would be a key piece for what could be the best defense in college football this year.
Damonic Williams would be another starter suddenly added to the elite defensive line on the interior. He left college with 50 career starts under his belt between OU and TCU before going undrafted and signing with the Arizona Cardinals.
Juniors Jayden Jackson and David Stone, already a first-round prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft, have the starting defensive tackle spots locked up. Venables would need to keep it that way to avoid losing one or both of them to the transfer portal if they don’t head to the NFL next year. The surprise addition of Williams, though, would still make the Sooners monstrous at the defensive interior with NFL talent at least three deep. It seems too good to be true so it probably is.
OK, so no one wants this to happen and it wouldn’t even if Jaydn Ott tried, but he is the third player that technically falls in this situation. A fifth year might even actually benefit him more than the other two on this list considering how poorly his lone season at OU went and plummeted his draft stock. After two solid seasons and an injury-riddled 2024 at Cal, he rushed for only 68 yards on 21 carries while appearing in just seven games, which is three too many to redshirt, last year for the Sooners.
Read more: Jaydn Ott says the quiet part out loud after Oklahoma disappointment
Ott was ultimately reunited with former running backs coach DeMarco Murray in Kansas City as an undrafted free agent. It’s a crowded backfield, though, so even with that familiarity with Murray, Ott likely won’t make the Chiefs’ 53-man roster or be around long.
Other 2022 recruits who fall under this category but were drafted: Gracen Halton (DT), Jaren Kanak (TE), Robert Spears-Jennings (S), R Mason Thomas (DE)
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