Kendel Dolby will 'absolutely' be in the mix at cornerback
NORMAN — There will be position battles on both sides of the ball when Oklahoma kicks off fall camp on Thursday.
At cornerback, the Sooners have a clear top four — Eli Bowen, Gentry Williams, Jacobe Johnson and… Kendel Dolby.
Dolby, who has primarily played the cheetah position since arriving in Norman two seasons ago, has been valued for his versatility. But with Eli Bowen missing the start of camp with an injury, and the cornerback room featuring a ton of unproven young players, Brent Venables confirmed that Dolby will see playing time at cornerback.
“Will Dolby play out there some at corner too? Yeah. Absolutely,” Venables said. “He played there his first year here and also in junior college as well. He’s got great versatility.”
It’s an interesting bit of news as the Sooners head into fall camp.
Dolby earned the starting job at cheetah last season and looked to be in a breakout year before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 4. The former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M player primarily played cornerback in junior college before utilizing his coverage and pass-rush skills at cheetah for the Sooners. His time at cornerback should provide some much-needed depth to a cornerback room that has some question marks.
“He’s one of our best players, a true alpha, probably our most competitive player and disruptive player that we have on defense,” Venables said of Dolby at last week’s Coaches Luncheon.
Gentry Williams will be back in the mix after injury-plagued seasons in 2023 and 2024. He’s healthy entering fall camp, but his ability to stay healthy for a full season will be something to monitor.
“Really pulling for Gentry Williams he’s worked so incredibly hard. He’s been a great leader, which a lot of times when guys have been banged up as much as he has, you show up to the building every day and the practice field, and you feel like a man without a country, so you don’t really have the ability to lead. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s got a unique skillset. People see the toughness that he shows up with, the love that he has for his teammates. He celebrates their success, and I think that’s helped him stay engaged over the last several years to where he just doesn’t give up and quit.”
It’s unclear when Bowen will return from injury, but one of the starting jobs is his when he’s healthy. Jacobe Johnson also returns for his third season after an unusual and uneven campaign in 2024. He was backup at cornerback to begin the year, then briefly saw playing time on both sides of the ball — he logged seven total snaps on offense — before he reverted to playing significant snaps at cornerback to end the year.
“During the season last year saw Jacobe Johnson really start to grow and become a good corner,” Venables said, “and we’ve talked about it a lot, he’s always been one of the most elite athletes in our locker room and in the country… learning how to become a really good corner is a challenge in itself and really saw him start to pick that up and saw great growth and have been excited about him through the course of the spring and the summer as well.”
Heading into fall camp, Johnson, Dolby, Bowen and Williams comprise the top four players at cornerback. But the Sooners also have an intriguing group of young players at cornerback. Venables said second-year cornerback Devon Jordan is “as talented as anyone we have on our team,” while freshman Courtland Guillory emerged as one of the best underclassmen during spring practices.
“That’s a group that has really good talent and now we need to show that we can be really good players in our schemes as well,” Venables said.