I Hate To Be This Guy...

[BUDDY G_rivals25215]

But...

If you can grasp a hold of the reality most of had in mind before the season began, and realize how young this team is, that we could be looking toward big things in 2016.

The obvious losses in Shepard and Striker will hurt, but there are guys on the roster now that are more than capable of filling the void. Tapper, Bond, Lindley and Frank Shannon will all be gone as well, and the offense will be replacing Frankiok, St. John, Durron Neil, Darlington and Kasitati.

If guys like Dominique Alexander and Zach Sanchez all decide to return, the losses will not be detrimental. And if the young guys playing now continue to get better this season, and I think there will be loads of hype for the Sooners entering 2016.

Just something to think about:

QBs: Baker, Trevor and Cody all return.
RBs: Samaje, Mixon, Brooks, Ross, Anderson and Flowers all return.
WRs: Andrews (TE), Westbrook, Baxter, Quick, Mead and Smallwood all return with experience.
OL: Alvarez, Brown and Samia will all return as starters, and lots of potential from high recruits Daimler, Dalton, Frison, and Danley.

Defensively it should be even better.

DL: Romar, Walker, Wade, Ward, Overton, and Dimon all back with some big recruits waiting in the wings.
LBs: Alexander, Jordan and Tay Evans, and Obo with loads of experience and studs like DeBerry and Curtis Bolton ready to get on the field.
DBs: Sanchez, Jordan Thomas, Ahmad Thomas, Hatari Byrd, Steven Parker, Will Johnson, Mbanasor, Green, Stanvon Taylor, and Will Sunderland. Literally, not one senior in the group.

And of course, the smoothest cat on the block, Austin Seibert running the special teams game.


I know nobody wants to keep saying "next year", but damn guys, with a little preparation on the offensive line, this team is going to have the potential to be as talented and deep as just about any team in the Stoops era.

 

[bdshull2001]

Darn, I thought Bond was a Junior.....Devante, we hardly knew ya......so get busy the rest of the year.......

 

[BUDDY G_rivals25215]

I think you'll get to see plenty of Bond in the NFL.

It pains me to say it, but I don't think we'll see Striker make it in the pros (I sure hope I'm wrong). His speed advantage is evident in college, but his lack of size will be to much to overcome. As a natural leader and a passionate guy, I'd love to see him take up coaching when he's done playing ball.

 

[SoonerTulsan]

Not crazy at all. This year's team has a great deal of potential. A year's experience for this offensive line, our most significant weakness, will make a big difference. It's unclear who will step up to replace Shephard though.

 

[NoleGa_rivals170091]

I'm loving what I'm seeing (mostly) from Dede Westbrook. Quick has had a few highlights too. Both have lots of room for improvement for sure...

 

[loublue22_rivals308424]

Is this a "wait till next year" post? Things are worse than I thought down there.

 

[Soccerpal]

Is this a "wait till next year" post? Things are worse than I thought down there.

C'mon Aggot. No one said wait until next year.
Do they teach reading comprehension at the stool?
Unlike Aggot U, where you have to hold on to the moment because you don't know when it will come again, OU and its fans expect to be good every year and looking ahead to what returns, is a game we play all the time.

 

[Bigred91]

Truth be told, I don't see anything in your post that makes me believe next year will be any better than this year. Certainly not enough talent on the roster to even begin to think of a championship, conf. or otherwise.

 

[gtanduga]

Is this a "wait till next year" post? Things are worse than I thought down there.

"Wait until next year" has been the Poke's motto for about 100 years. Oh, and "Team on the Rise" too, which is a fancier way of saying "Wait until next year."

 

[JB4AU]

Not crazy at all. This year's team has a great deal of potential. A year's experience for this offensive line, our most significant weakness, will make a big difference. It's unclear who will step up to replace Shephard though.

Shepard no doubt will be extremely tough to replace. OU has recruited alot of WR talent in recent years they just need to develop and step up.

As far as the OL goes, this year's experience won't translate into next year since OU is starting 3 seniors this year that are taking the bulk of the snaps. So next year the OL will be going through another rebuild. Brown really looks to have a great career ahead of him. I would really like to see underclassmen get more snaps this season as situations allow.

 

[sleepraider]

Is this a "wait till next year" post? Things are worse than I thought down there.

Your husband called, he says it's his turn to use the butt plug.

 

[Snake98]

Forget next year. I want a b12 title this year. We have our 2,best players leaving next year, Shepard and Striker and who knows how many juniors declare for draft.

 

[SoonerTulsan]

Shepard no doubt will be extremely tough to replace. OU has recruited alot of WR talent in recent years they just need to develop and step up.

As far as the OL goes, this year's experience won't translate into next year since OU is starting 3 seniors this year that are taking the bulk of the snaps. So next year the OL will be going through another rebuild. Brown really looks to have a great career ahead of him. I would really like to see underclassmen get more snaps this season as situations allow.

With Samia taking over for St. John at the critical OT spot, we have 2 Freshmen and a Sophomore on the OLine. The biggest loss will be Darlington at Center, our OLine "play caller". However, overall, by the time the season's over this year's experience definitely should translate into next year.

Regarding Shepard's replacement, historically our next "star" has "shown up" the year before or during the reigning "star's" SR season. Shephard and Broyles, Broyles and Kelly, for example. A few of the pups at WR have potential, but no one "noticeable", at least to me yet. We'll see.