The Offense

Losing three first rounders to the draft is difficult if not impossible to replace. Lack of experience alone by the replacements will generally create a notable drop off. However, with two of those first rounders, including the reigning Heisman trophy winner, basically missing the entire season last year to injury the offense is in better position this season as a result. Though Bradford and Gresham going down certainly accounted for the most talent being lost to injury, the offensive line arguably took the worst beating to injury. Any time you’re moving around your all American left tackle to fill holes, you might as well order a new fan because the one you’ve got is already dripping with shit.

The offensive line is, for the second consecutive year, the biggest question mark on the team. Even though last year’s line went through a lot of the growing pains of new faces, injuries made it pretty damn hard for anyone to get consistent reps. Basically that means we’ll be seeing a lot of the same learning curve this season. What we can hope for, and what may determine what bowl we’re in, is that the experience gained last season has the line running well by the Cincy game. Going from left to right the current starting line looks like this: LT Donald Stephenson, basically this is his first shot after not playing last season and seeing limited duty as a backup two years ago, LG Stephen Good, the only OL that started all 13 games last season, C Ben Habern coaches were really big on him last season and he played well before ending his season at Tech, RG Tyler Evans, by all accounts a “big fucker” (6-5, 316) also started last season before getting hurt, RT Eric Mensik, a converted TE a plus is he’s a senior and likely knows the offense well, but he’s also the smallest OL we have at 288. Jarvis Jones backs up at LT and was a starter much of last season at RG and RT before going down at Nebraska. I’m not sure if it speaks more to Mensik looking really good or Jones sucking ass that we’ve converted a TE to start at RT. My guess is Jones didn’t look that great. Other backups include Bronson Irwin, Brian Lepak, Gabe Ikard, and Josh Aladanove going left to right. Hopefully we don’t have to get to know of them any more than that.

The TE position will be manned by starter Trent Ratterree and James Hanna. Neither of who will make us forget Gresham who was voted guy people least wanted to tackle (note: unofficial vote, results may or may not be true). Ratterree did little to make me remember him last season aside from dropping some easy touchdowns, and Hanna seems to be a guy that could dominate but never has for whatever reason. The fact that Hanna is still the second string guy tells me he hasn’t fulfilled any of that potential. Nothing about the TE position makes me need to undo my zipper for breathing room, but hopefully they’ll at least block well enough in the run game that we can forget about them and leave the pass catching to the receivers.

Speaking of, this may be the most loaded position on the field if not yet proven. Broyles is an animal. The obvious comparison is Mark Clayton in their size and style of play. Given that Broyles has potential to break a lot of Clayton’s records this season it’s a fair comparison, and one that gets me hard. That’s right, hard. Behind him we’ve seen some flashes of brilliance if no real consistency. How many times last season did we see a guy have a game where we thought, “OK, this is the guy he’s ready to break out” only to see them fade into bolivian (thanks iron mike) afterward.  If Brandon Caleb, Jaz Reynolds, Adron Tennell (speaking of Tennell how much of a disappointment has he been? He’s not even listed on the two deep at this point) or DeJuan Miller decide they want to do it week in week out then we have something potentially special out there. But, I’ll settle for one of the four stepping up for a little hot streak for a game or two so there is a viable second option. If that seems like a long shot, it probably is but don’t fret. How telling is it that Kenny Stills is already penciled in to start ahead of two Sr, a Jr, and a So (three Sr’s if you count Cameron Kenney)? By all accounts he is the real deal and for once it isn’t just coaches yammering about how he’s “playing in a good way”. He’s basically been a starter since he got here and that’s against some pretty good receivers who already have experience in the system.  The last piece is Cameron Kenney, he backs up Broyles in the slot. Allegedly a sure handed possession type guy, but did nothing exceptional last season. I think I read something about him saying he was “nervous” last season. Excuses are useless for the most part and that one is about the dumbest one I can think of. Don’t tell people that, Cam, just go play like you’ve got something under your cup.

The backfield rivals WR in terms of top to bottom talent. Question: who was the Sooners second leading receiver in 2009? DeMarco Murray. Everyone knows what we have with DeMarco, a true stud who can make anyone miss, pass protects, catches the ball out of the backfield (obviously), returns kicks and breaks his share of tackles too. Provided he stays healthy, he’ll be a force.  Backing him up currently is Mossis “Ma dogg” Madu. Madu is another guy who can catch the ball out of the backfield and has shown some flashes of being a true stud. Last year was a little disappointing for him, but he’s played well enough to stay second behind Murray this Fall that I feel like he’s due to rebound a bit. Behind him are Jermie Calhoun, Jonathan Miller, and newcomer Roy Finch who all have looked good so far. It remains to be seen how much they’ll use Finch but by all accounts he’s played well enough he should see the field at least some. I personally would like to see Calhoun get it going. Elsewhere in the backfield, Matt “ivegotthe” Clapp (aka Malibu) is gone, so that leaves the FB and Greasy Bleached Mullett positions open. Currently redshirt frosh Marshall Musil is the starter, who I know nothing about. He is however backed up by Brandon Crow, a converted LB who you may remember looking as comfortable as a fat guy at a salad bar against Texas a couple of years ago when Reynolds went down.

Lastly are the QBs. Landry “Lonnie” Jones (call him Stache if you want but I think that is pretty weak, especially given the fact that Lonnie looks just as likely to drop a couple of edelbrock's in your Fiero as he does to be our starting QB) is the returning starter after doing a solid job of replacing the injured Bradford a year ago. With basically a season under his belt, a bowl victory, and some forgettable games (see: Nebraska et al) he claims a new level of comfort in the offense. Hopefully this translates to wins and fewer mistakes. It’s hard to follow an act like Bradford, no matter how good you are but coming in for an injured starter is probably the best way for him personally. Expectations were the lowest you can hope for from our spoiled fan base when he came in last season (though still not exactly low). I think he would have had less of a chance if Sam wins the Heisman again last season and here comes Lonnie trying to fill those enormous shoes. He still has a long way to go, but if he simply cuts out some of the mistakes we’ll be fine.  The O-line will go a long way toward that end of course, but I think Lonnie will improve and with him so will the offense. Backing up Lonnie is Drew Allen a redshirt freshman who we haven’t really seen. The biggest noise in camp came around true freshman Blake Bell who evidently looked damn good. However, at last look he wasn’t listed on the two-deep, which sounds like a redshirt and compete to start next year. Nice to have that insurance though if Lonnie gets hurt and Allen sucks.

More than the defense, I see question marks on offense. Namely up front which is where you absolutely have to be good to compete for championships. The skill positions carry their share of questions also, but we have enough strength there to win games with the run or pass. I think the offense will definitely improve, barring the same rash of injuries it almost has to.  It looks to be another good year in Norman, the early tests leading up to and including Texas will determine most of our fate. Aside from Utah State, we can’t afford to be sloppy early, so hopefully we’ll get a good start and get rolling early.