Oklahoma
Oklahoma

Oklahoma Team Report

Updated: April 26, 2012 02:59 EST

Welcome to ... what?

That seems to be the state of Sooner football.

Sort of.

Put so starkly, it comes off negative, and the truth is Oklahoma will almost certainly begin next season in everybody's top 10 and many folks' top five. It makes sense. Landry Jones has come back to play quarterback, giving him a chance to put all of his career passing marks completely out of reach of all who might come after. OU still has a bushel of running backs, receivers who have excelled in the past and a defense everybody figures will be better now that head coach Bob Stoops' brother, Mike Stoops, has returned to run the defense he last ran in 2004 before being hired as head coach at Arizona. And, with sort of calculus, the Sooners really do figure to be in the hunt for a Big 12 and national championship.

Yet, even while all of that is completely true, so are many other things.

Such as ... the best receiver coming out of the spring seems to be a true freshman, Trey Metoyer. Meanwhile, the veterans are a question mark after a lackluster end to last season. Also, no tight end on the roster has ever played a down at OU. And that bushel of running backs may or may not include a fully recovered Dominique Whaley, and none of the others proved able to be an effective every-down back. So, just how good will the offensive be anyway? One good thing, the offensive line should be a strength.

Defensively, the linebacking corps, secondary and defensive line are all being rebuilt. Many players with experience return, but the only stars from last year's defense -- defensive ends Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis -- are gone. So how much difference can Mike Stoops make in one season?

"When we play together, we're really solid across the board," Mike Stoops said after the spring game. "I think we're going to be a very complete defense."

Still, they are fascinating questions.

The ceiling may be high enough to win a national championship. The floor may be low enough to have another season like 2009, Jones' redshirt freshman season, when the Sooners went 8-5.

How much difference can newcomers make immediately?

How will the offense handle Jones being the only returning leader?

Some seasons you know what to expect.

Others, you don't.

Anything is possible.

It can make for a very wild ride.

--OU's top two returning receivers are Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds. Both have made big plays in their Sooner careers and both may have had fine springs. However, the public portion of their spring -- the spring game -- is cause for alarm. Just as both struggled rather than stepping up after Ryan Broyles' torn ACL at the end of last season, neither redeemed himself in the spring game. Reynolds caught the longest TD pass of the game, adjusting his route to give reserve QB Blake Bell a target, and made it count for a 60-yard score. He then proceeded to dunk the ball over the crossbar, draw a 15-yard penalty for it, leading to Michael Hunnicutt missing a 35-yard extra point. It was a knuckleheaded reminder that Reynolds got himself suspended for a game after a Broyles was hurt last season, when his team needed him most.

As for Stills, he had one non-sensical drop (he turned to the ball, which hit him in the hands) early in the scrimmage that kept the chains from moving, and another, when the ball went right through his hands, in stride, and would have accounted for a longer touchdown than the one Reynolds produced. He also muffed a punt that would have resulted in a 40-yard turnover had it been September rather than April. All of it mirrored his sudden inability to make the simplest plays after the midpoint of last season.

--The backup quarterback position is unresolved and may remain so into the season. It is between Drew Allen and Blake Bell. Bell is also OU's short-yardage quarterback out of the "Belldozer" package. In that role, Bell -- 6-6, 245 pounds -- scored 13 touchdowns last season. And, at the spring game, Bell was the best quarterback on the field on a day Landry Jones led one drive before taking the rest of the day off, completing 14 of 19 passes for 179 yards. Still, Bob Stoops does not want to, at least publicly, name Jones' backup. One option might be continuing with Allen as the backup for mop-up duty to maintain peace at the position, while Bell continues with the "Belldozer." Then, were Jones injured, a re-evaluation might take place. But if he makes it through the season, a true starting quarterback battle might commence next spring, one most Sooner insiders would presume Bell would win.

SPRING MOVERS:

DT Jordan Phillips -- A redshirt freshman from Towanda, Kan., the No. 4 defensive tackle in the nation coming out of high school two years ago, is making waves. At 6-6, 329 pounds, he's bound to draw attention. After the spring game, which he started, Bob Stoops disagreed that Phillips wasn't the body type a team is usually looking for at the position. "He's exactly what you want," Stoops said. "That's what we're looking for. He's going to be an excellent defensive tackle. ... He's a big presence inside. He bats (down) balls. He can run. He's not as strong as he needs to be now, but he will be in time. I'm ecstatic about a young guy and what his potential can be."

RB Danzel Williams -- In the spring game, he caught four passes for 39 yards and a score and rushed eight times for 24 yards. He's a new name at the position, just as Dominique Whaley was last spring. But to receive so much work indicates he's in the mix, along with Roy Finch, Brennan Clay and Whaley, who is still recovering from a broken ankle.

DE Chuka Ndule -- Originally from Nigeria, the sophomore made great strides this spring at a position in which the Sooners lost two terrific players from last season: Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis. "Obviously, there's been a learning curve from the football standpoint. He continues to go through that," his position coach, Bobby Jack Wright, told the Oklahoman. "But he's to the point of really exploding and becoming a really good football player. He's strong, he's explosive. He has good speed. He loves to play, a great practice player."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "A lot of guys stood out and did well. Offensively it wasn't sloppy. We had two Big 12 crews officiating it and didn't have a lot of line-of-scrimmage penalties. So it was pretty clean for your spring game when there are so many guys playing. Some guys are not ready to play yet and played well overall." -- OU coach Bob Stoops on the seasoned effort his team provided at the spring game.

2012 OUTLOOK: Oklahoma's in an interesting spot. With Landry Jones back at quarterback, hopes are high for a magical season. But with Mike Stoops back at defensive coordinator and so many faces lost to last season, it's a question mark how it will come together. The same could be said at offensive skill positions outside of quarterback. It may be Landry's last ride, but there are uncertainties all over the program. How quickly they're made certain could be the story of the season.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: With QB Landry Jones choosing to return for his senior season, the Sooners will be bringing back a quarterback who threw for 343.3 yards per game, a 63.2 completion percentage and 29 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. Still, Jones was much better the first half of the season than he was the second half and while he returns, so too will question marks at running back and wide receiver. Dominique Whaley, who was terrific until breaking his ankle at midseason, is attempting to come back and Roy Finch, who shouldered most of the load afterward, is back as well. But the Sooners are best with both at full strength and will only feel secure when both are healthy and some depth has been established. But Whaley must still make it back, and all the depth will be newcomers after several running backs chose to transfer. At receiver, Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds are the top returners, but both struggled after Ryan Broyles tore an ACL last season. Stills and Reynolds may have an inside track to start, but they'll be pressed by newcomers.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: With defensive coordinator Brent Venables gone to Clemson and old defensive coordinator Mike Stoops back on the job after being axed as head coach at Arizona, defense is of high interest to the Sooner Nation, and not simply because of Stoops' return, but also because much of the two-deep remains a mystery. Lamar Harris and DeMontre Hurst were the starting corners at the spring game, Tony Jefferson appears to be back at free safety and Corey Nelson will probably start at a linebacker spot alongside Tom Wort, the only returning starting linebacker. Still, that doesn't address the defensive line. There is simply so much still to be decided. OU may be better defensively under Mike Stoops immediately, but the players who will be the reason why are still waiting to be identified.

SCOUTING THE SPECIAL TEAMS: For a change, here's one place the Sooners are stable. In Tress Way, they have a returning standout punter, and in Michael Hunnicutt, they have a kicker who has finally secured the position and who's coming off a season in which he made 21-of-24 field-goal tries, including a few from distance. Because Broyles is gone, OU may well look at some of their newcomer receivers to return kicks. It was Kenny Stills at the spring game. They also need to find a new deep snapper, for James Winchester not only filled that role, but often made the tackle at the other end, and his time is over as a Sooner. Some new faces are bound to emerge, but OU is quite set at kicker.

TOP NEWCOMERS:

WR Trey Metoyer -- He was considered by many to be the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation coming out of high school in 2011, but he failed to qualify academically and had to spend a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Whitehouse, Texas, to become eligible. Metoyer got his work done and stayed with the Sooners. He is a five-star recruit by Rivals and Scout and a four-star recruit by ESPN. And he was a star all spring -- offensive coordinator Josh Heupel can't remember a single drop -- and in the spring game, where he caught six passes for 72 yards.

TE Brannon Green -- He was the starter at the position for the spring game, so he'll probably be the starter when the season begins. A junior-college transfer from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, he did not catch a pass in the spring game. Still, when last season ended, OU had no tight ends on its roster. He is bound to play a big role come this fall.

WR Courtney Garner -- Garner, out of Sierra College in Reno, likely leads the list of six junior-college signees. Garner is considered a top-10 overall junior-college prospect and is a four-star recruit by Rivals, Scout and 24/7sports. He had 61 catches for 1,099 yards and 13 touchdowns last season at 6-3 and 215 pounds. Metoyer may start immediately, but Jaz Reynolds and Kenny Stills can't be too relaxed about their spots as long as Garner's around.

ROSTER REPORT:

--WR Jazz Reynolds was expected to first miss spring drills for a kidney ailment. Then he was expected to go through spring drills, before undergoing surgery for that same ailment prior to fall practice. Now, Reynolds is good to go, with surgery taken off the docket.

--WR Justin McKay played in three games last season but compiled no stats. He was granted a hardship release from OU and transferred to Kansas, where he requested to the NCAA to not have to sit out the customary year that football players must abide by when transferring for "extenuating personal circumstances." That request was denied, but the NCAA has subsequently encouraged him to appeal that decision directly to its subcommittee for legislative relief, which is comprised of representatives from conferences and universities.

--RB Dominique Whaley and C Ben Habern both missed spring drills. Whaley is coming back from a broken ankle suffered past the midpoint of last season, and Habern is nursing a neck injury.