Oklahoma's first depth chart reveals Sooners will be without some key contributors

Week 1 depth charts usually don't reveal much, but the Oklahoma Sooners' first of the 2025 college football season on Monday did show that it looks like OU will at least start the season without some key contributors.

After both dealt with injuries throughout fall camp, expected starters cornerback Eli Bowen and cheetah Kendel Dolby were absent from the Sooners' first depth chart ahead of their season opener against Illinois State at 5 p.m. CT Saturday in Norman. Jayden Gibson and Javonnie Gibson were also nowhere to be found at any of the wide receiver spots.

Eli Bowen, Kendel Dolby missing from depth chart while dealing with injuries

OU head coach Brent Venables announced at the start of fall camp that Bowen would miss at least the beginning of fall camp. Bowen was also sidelined all of spring ball with a boot on his left leg.

Freshman Courtland Guillory and Jacobe Johnson were listed as possible starters at left corner, where Bowen likely would have played. After missing most of last season with an injury, Gentry Williams was once again the starter in the other corner spot.

Venables also said Dolby could play some corner this season after spending most of the last two years at cheetah. However, Dolby hasn't seen the field since he broke his leg Week 4 of last season.

Jayden Gibson is another player OU fans haven't seen in a while. He broke his leg last year during fall camp and missed the entire season. That was just the beginning of OU's injury woes at WR before going most of the season without its five top receivers.

The worry of a 2024 injury repeat was feared after Arkansas-Pine Bluff transfer Javonnie Gibson broke his leg during spring ball just weeks after getting to Norman. Venables said at SEC Media Days that he expected Javonnie Gibson to be back by the start of the season, but that now seems unlikely with Gibson not on the Week 1 depth chart.

The biggest surprise of the Week 1 depth chart could also be injury related. Cal transfer Jaydn Ott signed with OU as the No. 1 running back in the Transfer Portal this spring with expectations to take over the backfield. However, Ott was listed as RB3 with an "OR" alongside Xavier Robinson behind last year's RB1 Jovantae Barnes and freshman Tory Blaylock.

There was a time during fall camp when Barnes and Blaylock were the only two running backs participating in practice with the rest of the position banged up. The two likely got the early nod after surviving fall camp healthy.

Missing these key players isn't a big deal against Illinois State, but the hope is that the extra rest has the entire roster healthy before hosting Michigan next week.

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