There can be benefits to a team dealing with injuries during fall camp, just ask Oklahoma freshman offensive lineman Noah Best.
With Michael Fasusi and Heath Ozaeta not participating in practice recently while dealing with minor injuries, Best has earned the chance to play right guard with the Sooners’ starting unit ahead of his debut college football season. He’s apparently making the most of his opportunity and not only has local media buzzing, but even more telling, his teammates in his position group.
Best's immediate emergence gives offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh a new depth piece, if not even more, most didn't expect him to have at this point. And because it's so early, Best becomes an even more valuable asset for the Sooners' season opener against UTEP on Friday, Sept. 4, as they're No. 1 priority is to be in their best form Week 2 for their trip to Michigan.
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“Noah Best, I feel like he has a chance to be a starter Day 1,” offensive lineman Ryan Fodje said after Tuesday’s practice. “The thing I like about him the most is how consistent he is. He doesn’t talk too much, but he’s consistent with his work.
“You’ll see him strike (defensive tackle) Jayden Jackson — and like Jayden Jackson, he was Freshman All-American — he will strike Jayden Jackson and just sit on him. Perfect technique. And as a true freshman, that’s extremely hard.”
Fodje was in Best’s situation just last year, trying to prove himself as a freshman in his first fall camp. Fodje even spent time at right guard like Best. However, for Fodje, he was a top-100 recruit and it was no surprise when he ended up starting eight games as a freshman in 2025.
Best, though, signed with the 2026 class as a consensus three-star recruit from Midlothian High School in Texas. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 319 pounds, Best was expected to be a player that would need to develop and wait his turn before seeing consistent playing time, especially with so much talent ahead of him on the presumed depth chart.
Yet, only six practices in, here we are, as Best has already proven he’s ready to make an impact.
Noah Best gives Bill Bedenbaugh a surprise addition to Sooners' offensive line
No matter what Best does the rest of fall camp, though, he still likely won’t crack the starting lineup, at least not on a weekly basis. But his early arrival is still certainly massive for Bedenbaugh’s group.
The Sooners return four of five starting offensive linemen from 2025, but depth was still a concern over the offseason that OU tried to fix with the transfer portal. At the time, it seemed unlikely that any of the incoming freshmen would be ready to immediately contribute considering they didn’t have the same hype as Fodje and Fasusi. Starting in the trenches in the SEC is also rare.
By all accounts, Fasusi’s injury isn’t serious, so unless something catastrophic happens during fall camp, the Sooners should be fully healthy up front for their season opener against UTEP. That starting lineup is projected to be, from left to right, Fasusi, Eddy Pierre-Louis, Jake Maikkula, Fodje and Arkansas transfer E'Marion Harris.
In the mix behind that appears to be Ozaeta and Daniel Akinkunmi at guard, and transfers Peyton Joseph and Fred Hinton at tackle. Obviously some shuffling would take place if Bedenbaugh really did have to navigate an injury.
But now there’s also Best as an extra surprise depth piece. His emergence is even more beneficial since it’s happened so early.
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Quite frankly, the Sooners don’t need a full starting unit to crush UTEP, but they will Week 2 to beat Michigan on the road. So no matter how healthy Fasusi and everyone else is, OU can instead rely more on guys like Best against UTEP to assure the Sooners are 100% when they play Michigan the week after.
That in turn also gives valuable experience to Best, which is what he needs most right now. The more he gets of that before SEC play the better before the injury bug bites the Sooners at some point.
Obviously the Sooners want everyone healthy throughout fall camp, but since it’s nothing major, it could be the Best-case scenario, as their problem right now could result in a solution when it matters the most.
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