SB Nation - Jameel Owens

OU 64 – Idaho State 0: Post Game Thoughts

ccmachine — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:44:30 -0000

Well that was easy. Of course when you consider the competition it should have been easy. The question is, did you get to see what you expected in this blowout? For me it's a situation where some things I wanted to see didn't show up in the game while there were some other things that surprised me. Here are a few game thoughts and as always we'd love to hear yours.

The Good

No misfires on the offensive line. We knew that we wouldn't be able to put very much stock in the physical aspects of Oklahoma's victory but improvement in the mental stage of the game was a necessity. We saw that tonight and there is clearly still an open competition for spots on the line.
Ryan Broyles emerged with a star performance. He caught 7 passes for 155 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Landry Jones threw some really good passes. His throws on Ryan Broyles' first and third touchdowns were spot on. When you consider the elements of a driving rain storm the Jones' 18/32 for 286 yards and 3 scores is even more impressive.
DeMarco Murray was fast and the rushing attack was strong. Murray cracked the century mark in rushing yards for the first time this season and averaged 8.4 yards per carry. Chris Brown averaged 5.9 yards per carry and in garbage time Jonathan Miller carried the ball 9 times for 88 yards (9.8 YPC).

The Bad

Shut down by an Idaho State goal line stand. Regardless of who is on the field for Oklahoma's offensive line, in that situation you have to be Oklahoma and they have to be Idaho State. In OU's last three games (Idaho State, BYU, Florida) they've been shut down at the goal line
Oklahoma doesn't appear to have a second option at receiver. Drops by Brandon Caleb, Dejuan Miller and Cameron Kenny prevented another receiver from stepping up to complement Broyles' performance.
Landry Jones threw some really bad passes. Keeping in mind that he's a redshirt freshman making his first start but there were several times in which it appeared that he wasn't reading through his progressions and while he threw only one interception there were certainly opportunities for others.
Missed extra point! Really? Like this team doesn't already have enough to worry about.

Still Wondering

Where was Adron Tennell? He's clearly being punished for not stepping up last week. Tennell finally made it into the game late in the garbage time stage.
Where was Jameel Owens? Not only was he not on the field, he wasn't even in uniform.
Redshirt for Drew Allen? John Nimmo came in for Landry Jones late in the game. My assumption is that if we didn't see Allen in this game then we aren't going to see him at all this season.

Countdown To Kickoff

ccmachine — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:42:36 -0000

The Scoop – What The World Is Saying About Oklahoma

ccmachine — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:19:09 -0000

Fall Practice Update 8-11-09

Practices open to the public – Oklahoma will open up two of its practices to the public. Thursday and Monday evenings practices will be open to public viewing for the first hour. Both practices are set to begin at 6:00pm.

Kenny and Reynolds are turning heads – Yesterday we discussed the impact that Cameron Kenny was having on the special teams as a punter but how is he doing catching the football? According to Kevin Wilson both Kenny and freshman Jaz Reynolds are ahead of Jameel Owens and Dejuan Miller at this point.

"Jaz Reynolds and Cameron Kenny have made more plays than those guys in seven-on-seven and one-on-one drills," Wilson said. "One guy has 30 catches and one guy has eight. So who are you going to play?"

Trent Williams is the best – While Coach Wilson was in the mood for heaping praise he may have given one of the best complements ever to an offensive lineman when he called Trent Williams the best he’s ever coached.

"Yeah, I heard about it," Trent Williams said. "I take it as motivation to go out there and be the best. Coach Wilson is a great coach and he has different tactics of motivating people."

Fox Sports have a preview up on the Sooners. Pretty close to everyone else’s that you’ve read.
ESPN’s Tim Griffin is calling for good things from defensive end Frank Alexander as well as and end to the BCS drought.

Speaking of the BCS, Griffin isn’t the only one talking about good things for the Sooners in `09

In the past five seasons the Sooners have won four Big 12 championships. In that time, they also won the Holiday Bowl in 2006, attended two Fiesta bowls, and two BCS National Championship games.

Last season was one for the record books, but the Sooners couldn’t finish against a tough Florida defense.

However, 2009 could be the year the Sooners and head coach Bob Stoops win another BCS title.

· And here’s one more

· BYU is just as excited about the season opener as OU is, if not more.

"It is more intense, knowing you have to open up against a big-time opponent, and knowing you've got to be at your best that first game — no room for mistakes like playing Northern Iowa, where if you make mistakes, you can battle back," said quarterback Max Hall. "If we make mistakes (against Oklahoma), they're going to crush us. We've got to go in there with the mindset that we're going to give them a fight, we're going to play sound football, and we're going to take it to the end."

The Cougars are trying to simulate game situations against OU. Good luck with that!

"We're pushing the tempo as quickly as we can," explained coach Bronco Mendenhall. "There's a lot more things going on in terms of making it more game-like, faster and pushing the scheme as quickly as possible. I think it will be effective."

2009 OU Football Preview: Receivers/Tight Ends

ccmachine — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:50:27 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Mossis Madu is hoping to find more playing time as a slot receiver in `09. ,

Browse more photos »

Juaquin Iglesias, Quentin Chaney and Manny Johnson are all gone which leaves Adron Tennell as Oklahoma’s lone senior receiver and Ryan Broyles as OU’s leading receiver. Much like the offensive line the situation isn’t a dire as it may seem on the surface. Oklahoma is still very deep and talented at the receiver position they just lack experience. Broyles is a proven game breaker and Tennell had a terrific spring. Behind them are some young guys in Jameel Owens and Dejuan Miller who were both highly recruited and experienced some game action last season. Also, the x-factor in Oklahoma’s receivers in JUCO transfer Cameron Kenny who is supposed to bring the same game breaking ability that Broyles provides. He wasn’t on campus for the spring but we should get a feeling for him shortly after summer workouts begin. Also, the biggest move in the spring was Mossis Madu jumping from running back to receiver.

At the tight end spot there isn’t a team in the country that has an advantage over the Sooners. Jermaine Gresham is literally an unstoppable force because of his size and speed. He’s too quick for a linebacker to cover and too big for a defensive back to cover which creates a constant mismatch giving Sam Bradford a target that will almost always be open.

Receivers

#85 Ryan Broyles, So – Last season Broyles set the record for receiving yards by a Sooner freshman and tied in catches. In his first game, against Cincinnati, he recorded 7 catches for 141 yards. Broyles caught touchdown passes against Washington, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

#8 Brandon Caleb, Jr – Caught 4 passes for 52 yards in `08.

#6 Cameron Kenny, Jr – Was ranked as the #3 JUCO receiver and #16 JUCO player in the country last year by Rivals.

#17 Mossis Madu, Jr – Madu moves to the slot position after spending the last two years as a reserve running back. In last season’s Big 12 Championship Game he ran for 114 yards and scored three touchdowns while filling in for DeMarco Murray. Madu caught 12 passes last season for 84 yards.

#24 Dejuan Miller, So – Played in six games in `08. Caught 2 passes for 14 yards.

#4 Jameel Owens, So – Owens saw action in 9 games as a true freshman last season. He caught 4 passes for 44 yards.

#80 Adron Tennell, Sr – Played in 12 games in `08 and recorded 9 receptions for 68 yards.

Tight End

#83 Brody Eldridge, Sr – Split time between fullback and tight end in `08. Caught 4 passes for 24 yards and 1 touchdown.

#18 Jermaine Gresham, Sr – Was an All Big 12 first team player by the coaches last season and second team All American by the AP. Ranked second on the team in receptions (66) and in receiving yards (950). His 950 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns were both the most ever in a season by a Sooner tight end.

#82 James Hannah, So – Was a reserve in `08 and only caught one pass.

#88 Eric Mensik, Jr – Played in 4 games in `08.

#47 Trent Ratterree, So – Recorded no stats in `08.

OU Football Spring Preview Part Five: Spring Game Wrapup & Standouts

dishingoutdimes — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:34:16 -0000

Previous Spring Preview Issues

Part Four: The Defensive Back Seven
Part Three: The Trenches (Offensive and Defensive Lines)
Part Two: Offensive Skill Position Players
Part One: Who Is and Isn't Back, Exciting New Players

All of the previews on the different units and players are complete, and you can see those by clicking on any of the links above. We'll start previewing the schedule soon, and also start putting forth some special spring preview pieces that you should enjoy. But before that happens, we're going to do a final wrap-up of the spring game, because it's the only actual football game we can use to project what might happen this year.

First we'll give a shout-out to Tim Bond who had a nice piece wrapping up the spring game on BleacherReport.com. It's a good read.

Obviously, the Spring Game needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The offense was pretty plain vanilla, and it seemed like they only ran about 10 different plays over and over again. The guys on defense aren't dumb and one might expect that they knew what was coming. Still, there are some important points to draw out of the performances, and so this will be more like a scouting report than an actual performance critique.

All of the good stuff after the jump...(click the link below)

The Passing Game

Sam Bradford was his usual self, completing 11 of 13 passes for 97 yards and a TD, without throwing an interception. What was more impressive about this performance than anything was that the TD came on an 11 play, 71 yard scoring drive into the wind. Add to that Brent Venables' frequent blitzing and Sam was under some heat a lot.

Still, it was hard not to notice that the receivers weren't getting a whole lot of separation. Ryan Broyles was Bradford's favorite target, and he finished with 4 catches for 59 yards. Broyles will probably start with Adron Tennell whose only catch was the 23 yard TD from Bradford. Broyles and Tennell definitely seem to be the most polished receivers - they ran the best routes and got the most separation.

Mossis Madu operated out of the slot for most of the game. To tell you how that went, he finished with no receptions. He just didn't seem to be all that effective. Madu went into the backfield in the latter portion of the 3rd quarter and did better there.

Other than Broyles and Tennell, the only other receivers with somewhat impressive statistics would be Jameel Owens and Brandon Caleb. Caleb didn't work with Bradford all that much but finished with 2 catches for 43 yards. He looks like he would be a good option in the slot and may ultimately split time there with Madu. He seems to be a decent mid-range threat (10-25 yards down field) and is decent at finding holes in the coverage. It looks like they used Jameel Owens in all sorts of fashions. He finished with 3 catches for 41 yards and a TD. His touchdown was more of a possession touchdown, but they tried to hit him downfield a fair amount. He seems to be fairly versatile and is my favorite to see the field beyond just Broyles, Tennell, Madu, and Caleb.

Rounding out the receivers, a couple of observations. First, Gresham and Eldridge did not play, which has a big impact on the passing game. Second, DeJuan Miller is the other "young guy" with a lot of talent but didn't really show up in the stat line. I don't know if he can really stretch the field. At 6'5" with some decent size, he seems like he'll be a within-20-yards possession type guy. Third, James Hanna is listed as a TE but looks like a wideout. If he adds some bulk we could have the next Gresham.

The young quarterbacks did not post great stats. Landry Jones went 5 of 12 for 73 yards and 1 TD versus 1 INT. Drew Allen went 4 of 14 for 58 yards and 1 INT. Landry looked to be comfortable in the offense, and had a decent zip on his pass. He had a couple of incompletions that were just miscommunication and another couple that were the fault of stumbles by the receiver or drops. His touchdown was a nice solid bullet to Jameel Owens in between coverage. He seems like a solid backup who should be good to go in the fall with a few months of polishing. Drew, on the other hand, seems like he needs to pick up the offense a little more (not surprising for a guy who was in high school a couple of months ago). He was throwing all over the place which was a product of two things: (1) Miscommunication on routes (2) having a really live arm. Allen has a cannon, no doubt. He threw some absolute lasers. If he can harness his talent and learn the offense, he will be good.

The biggest surprise was John Nimmo, who got some playing time in the fourth quarter. He was a perfect 3 for 3 for 35 yards on a nice scoring drive that culminated in a nice touchdown pass between the coverage. Maybe he'll get a shot at third string and they'll redshirt Allen?

The Running Game

Boy, where do I start?: It wasn't pretty. Jermie Calhoun had 19 rushes for 19 yards and Justin Johnson had 14 rushes for 4 yards in extensive action in place of DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, who were inactive. Together they combined for about 0.7 yards per carry. Part of the problem was definitely the offensive line, who simply got steamrolled at times by the defensive line. They simply got pushed back. Johnson and Calhoun on about a third of their carries were hit within 2 seconds of receiving the ball - not a recipe for success. A lot of that came with the second unit offensive line. The better runs and push by the offensive line came with the first unit.

The other part of the problem was that Calhoun and Johnson didn't hit the holes with an explosion like Murray, Brown and Madu all do. That should come with time.

The best flashes in the running game came from Mossis Madu who ran 9 times for 44 yards, good for 4.88 yards per carry. Mossis certainly seems more at home running the ball. Perhaps they can run some interesting "wrinkle plays" with him in the slot.

The Offensive Line

Just a quick note on the offensive line. If everything stays the same over the summer, the starting offensive line from left to right will be Trent Williams, Brian Lepak, Ben Habern, Brian Simmons and Cory Brandon. They definitely seemed to have the best chemistry. They gave Sam Bradford the most amount of time to throw and opened up the biggest holes. The second unit offensive line simply got dominated.

Also, Stephen Good and Jarvis Jones didn't play. I haven't heard any reason why not yet.

The Defense

There were a lot of standouts here. First, some general impressions:

The incoming class of linebackers are extremely good. Tom Wort, Ronnell Lewis and Jaydan Bird all made plays. We will be extremely deep at this position.
Auston English was MIA. Not a bad idea, since he has a history of injuries in his career. No worries, he's not injured right now, at least not to my knowledge.
Quinton Carter and Keenan Clayton both came out quickly from the first unit defense. No worries there, only minor injuries.
Gerald McCoy absolutely dominated a few offensive linemen. Maybe embarrassed would be the right word.
The defensive backs got away with some pass interference penalties, but it's good to see they will be aggressive.

Mike Balogun and J.R. Bryant (both reserve linebackers) both led the unit with 6 tackles. J.R. Bryant also had a pass broken up and a fumble recovery for a TD. J.R. Bryant is a guy who hasn't seen the field a lot in his time at OU but he has great speed (kind of like Keenan Clayton). He strung out a few running plays about as perfectly as you could, and laid some big hits on people. He really impressed me.

Jeremy Beal and Frank Alexander looked really strong at defensive end. While wreaking havoc they combined for 10 tackles, 5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. They got around the edges well, contained all of the running plays to the outside and had relentless pursuit. Add English in there, and this is a scary good defensive end rotation. Speaking of that rotation, David King and R.J. Washington, redshirted last year, both looked solid. They combined for 5.5 tackles and did a solid job on the second unit.

Rounding out the line, Adrian Taylor and Gerald McCoy looked immovable up the middle. Nobody could run the ball up the gut (even Madu), and on passing downs they got a great push up the middle. The problem they create for offenses is that McCoy probably needs a double team, but if Taylor gets left isolated, you could be in for big problems. When McCoy stunts with Beal on passing downs, especially when there's a blitz, I think he probably gets in the backfield about 100% of the time. Amazing.

All of the linebackers that played had at least 2 tackles, and many of them showed up in the stat line in other ways. The front seven of this defense is about as solid as they come and is a major reason why this team is a contender right off the bat.

In the defensive backfield, Dominique Franks was his usual self with 2 tackles, 2 interceptions (including one that he ran back for a touchdown), and a half of a sack. To be honest, I think the quarterbacks threw to Franks' side maybe 5 or 6 times total and he played for most of the game. Just goes to show you that he does something positive most of the time the ball comes his way.

On the other corner, Brian Jackson also looked pretty solid, and he was tested more than Franks. Jackson seems to be a bit better in run support. He had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and a pass broken up. Rotating behind these two guys was Desmond Jackson, who was originally projected to be a backup safety. Is Jonathan Nelson injured because I didn't see him anywhere? Anyways, Desmond Jackson also looked solid with 3 passes broken up and a tackle. Expect Gabe Lynn to challenge once he arrives in the summer.

Finally, it was hard to notice the safeties much at all because the ball didn't get that deep very often. Sam Proctor started aside Quinton Carter. After Carter got yanked quickly, Emmanuel Jones was working with the first unit (surprising). Neither of them gave up huge plays, although Jones was a little late arriving in support of the Tennell touchdown. Joseph Ibiloye finished with 5 tackles showing off his speed and range (very long strides). He could be hard to keep off the field.

April 11th Sooner Sports Notebook

dishingoutdimes — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:12:21 -0000

So you're not a Division I caliber football player. You've always wondered what it might be like. No worries, check out this website with a bunch of samples of different offer letters from a few schools. Looks like the Gators were sticklers and made them take theirs down.

Speaking of football, the Spring Game is today! It won't be televised, unfortunately, but we'll try to get some kind of recap up later.

Right now the Sacramento Kings have the worst record in the NBA. But it's not cut and dry that they will get Blake Griffin. This thing called the NBA Lottery means that any team not in the playoffs will have a shot. It would be a major coup for the Thunder to be able to nab Griffin. They would have a lot more fan interest fast.

If you like way-early and jump-the-gun predictions, Andy Katz has his 2009-2010 Prseeason Top 25 up for men's basketball.

Here's a nice ESPN article on incoming recruit Tommy Mason-Griffin. By all accounts he seems to be a great kid with an excellent work ethic.

Big 12 Blogger Tim Griffin made OU DE Jeremy Beal the 23rd best player in the conference in his spring rankings.

According to the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, the offensive line has responded to Bob Stoops calling them out earlier in the spring. That's more than OK with me, but I'm torn between wanting to see the offense perform well during the spring game, and wanting to see the defense perform well. Thoughts?

Gerald McCoy makes a prediction for me, saying that the OU Sooners might have the top defensive unit in the country if everything comes together right. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but they'll be darn good.

Quotable

"I will tell you this, this is my fourth spring ball and I haven’t seen us break as many big plays in the spring as we have this one. I think it’s coming together well."
--Oklahoma Guard Brian Simmons

In The News

The United States is going to be bidding to host the 2018 World Cup or 2022 World Cup. Apparently Owen Field is on the list of possible venues.
The Paris Twins both got drafted. Both will be going to California. Courtney was drafted 7th overall by the Sacramento Monarchs. Ashley was drafted 22nd overall in the 2nd round by the Los Angeles Sparks.
Blake Griffin basically made it a clean sweep by taking home the Wooden Award.
The OU-Louisville Final Four game set a women's basketball ratings record here in Oklahoma City.
Bob Stoops offered a succinct but good response to the whole asterisk debacle down in Austin.

Second Hand Reports & Rumors

Looks like the highly touted defensive end prospects are working in a different order than you might suspect. Looks like right now David King is a bit higher on the depth chart than R.J. Washington.
If you've been in on the "Daniel Orton come to OU" crowd after the big debacle with Kentucky happened, the hot rumors on the internet have him staying at Kentucky or picking Kansas.
Willie Warren is rumored to be "testing the waters", as posted in this C&C Machine article. However, testing the waters basically means checking out the information on your draft status. Based on what he said after the UNC game, one has to assume he'll be back until he says otherwise.

Last Word

Here's a quick top 5 "who to watch" during the spring game, if you're going. Otherwise, I'll try to highlight these guys' performances in a recap:

Landry Jones: One has to assume Sam will go to the NFL after this year. As such, it will be important to have a good performance from Landry.
Sam Proctor: We've all seen that Quinton Carter can start at safety, but it will be important to see Sam Proctor be assertive.
DeJuan Miller and Jameel Owens: I know this is two guys, but one of these two new receivers need to assert themselves. They have great size and athletic ability and it would be nice to have them able to contribute.
The Offensive Line As A Unit: They'll be going up against one of the best defensive lines in the country. If they look competent that probably means good things.
Jonathan Nelson: We know that Dom Franks and Brian Jackson are solid, but it would be nice to see someone step into the role of "nickel back". It's also good to have depth. Nelson was a shut down corner in high school, and it would be nice to see that translate.

Oklahoma Spring Football Notes

dishingoutdimes — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:42:38 -0000

The April 6th Sooner Sports Notebook offered some tidbits on how spring ball is going for OU. However, with a few new articles today (notably this one from the Oklahoman), I decided to compile a list of the major points from the past few days:

Apparently DeMarco Murray's rehab from his injury is going quite well and he's been really hitting the weight room. If he can be healthy all season and back to his original form, the Sooners could be especially dangerous on offense.

The coaches are going to try to keep Ryan Broyles on the field as much as possible at one of the wide receiver positions. He may work more from the slot in 3 wide receiver formations, but otherwise expect him to be split out wide. Jameel Owens and DeJuan Miller are promising recruits, but right now the starters appear to be Ryan Broyles, Adron Tennell and Brandon Caleb.

In the notebook we talked about how Stephen Good was impressing. Apparently he was a power lifting champ in high school and is now the strongest player on the football team as only a sophomore.

Starting safeties are Quinton Carter and Sam Proctor. You may remember Quinton Carter from his vicious hits in the Big 12 Championship game, and you may remember Sam Proctor because it had seemed he won a starting job in spring ball last year, but faded down the stretch. New recruit Javon Harris is on the second string already, and 2nd year player Joseph Ibiloye is also on the second string. Apparently a walk on, Emmanuel Jones, is also surprinsing.

Dom Franks on the new linebackers Tom Wort, Jaydan Bird and Ronnell Lewis:

"Those kids hit. They’re not scared at all,” Franks said. "From the first time we started in full pads, they’re flying in, they’re knocking people’s helmets off, getting up and talking smack and it’s like they’re at home already and it’s good to see that.”

"It surprised me. You take into consideration that those kids should be back in high school getting fitted for a tux and getting ready for the prom, they’re out here going against kids that have already been in college and they’re out here playing like they’ve been here all year.”

Ronnell Lewis is part of an exceptional defensive recruiting class, via Scout.com

Brian Lepak is also looking good on the offensive line. Trent Williams is one of the two seniors, but he wants to work on his leadership a little more.

Keenan Clayton might be sidelined the rest of the spring with a high ankle sprain.

Bob Stoops finally had some praise to sing about the football team and how they performed in a recent scrimmage:

"We got in 102, 103 plays. No one was hurt,” Stoops said. "The guys did a nice job. I was pleased. There was give and take. Both sides showed up and made good plays here and there.”

More Sooner Football Spring Notes and Thoughts

dishingoutdimes — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:27:21 -0000

Can Bob Stoops get the Sooners back to the BCS National Championship Game this season?

View full size photo »

Spring practices continue in Norman. Another one happened yesterday out on the green grass of Owen Field. There should be 6 more practices before the Red and White game on April 11.

There hasn't been a whole lot of news out of Norman regarding spring practices. You probably would be hearing more if Sam Bradford had departed for the NFL draft, but the relative consistency from last year probably has minds at ease.

In fact, if you count Quinton Carter as a starter since he made a few starts last season, the defense will return 10 starters. The offense loses 6 starters, but overall Oklahoma will trot out 15 of the same starters as last year. Not shabby.

Speaking of the defense, did you know that the OU defense gave up 347 yards per game last season? That ranks as the second highest average in school history. Of course, a lot of that probably has to do with the spread offenses and talented signal callers in the Big 12. But give the D credit, they aren't trying to cop out of all the blame. Strong-side linebacker Keenan Clayton:

"Unacceptable. I didn't know it was that high," said strong-side linebacker Keenan Clayton, another first-year starter who was third on the team with 82 tackles and tied for first nationally with six forced fumbles. [...]

"They [Big 12 offenses] made plays," he said, "but we gave a lot of plays away. It works both ways."

Brent Venables is pretty excited, but who can blame him. The 2009 recruiting class was loaded with defensive talent, and they started spring practice with a ton of experienced players already on the field.

Linebacker, which was seen as a weakness last season, is now probably a position of strength. The biggest question mark is at middle linebacker where injuries riddled Ryan Reynolds and Austin Box. Box recently had elbow surgery, and both him and Reynolds are still recovering so Mike Balogun is getting a lot of the spring reps. In a related note, Balogun could quite possibly be the best third string middle linebacker I've seen! Plus, we brought in new recruits Tom Wort (4-star), Ronnell Lewis (5-star), Gus Jones (3-star), and Jaydan Bird (4-star). Any one of them has the talent to get some playing time. I think the linebackers will have a banner year behind our defensive line, which is probably our deepest and most talented position on defense.

A bit more info after the jump...(click the link below)

I've been trying to dig up anything I can on certain guys who are showing good flashes in spring ball. Pat Jones on the Sports Animal said that he is intrigued by Stephen Good, a new offensive lineman.

Word on James Hanna is that he's pretty fast for his size at tight end. He could step into a Gresham type role once Gresham leaves and could see the field a little more this season. Despite Manuel Johnson and Juaquin Iglesias and Quentin Chaney leaving, OU is still extremely deep at tight end, and we'll have some bigger receivers now - both Jameel Owens (6-3) and DeJuan Miller (6-5) are around or a bit over 200 pounds.

I did manage to find this post on a scout.com message board that gives some practice observations. Take it for what it's worth - someone's opinion - but it offers a little insight. I'll summarize a few points here. Gresham and Bradford are looking great. Travis Lewis and Keenan Clayton have added some bulk. Mike Balogun, who I mentioned earlier was getting more reps, was apparently making some big hits. Landry Jones has a cannon but needs to work on accuracy. The safeties need some work, but it's good that they're playing against the Heisman winner in practice I suppose. According to this Tulsa World article, Proctor and Carter want to be the most physical safety tandem in the country. That's good guys, just don't start headhunting over the middle.

Let's skip over to Gainesville, FL for a moment where apparently the Gators are experimenting with an up-tempo, fast paced offense. Urban must have been impressed by what Kevin Wilson has done at OU. Whatever they want, it makes no difference to me - I just thought that was an interesting story. As a side note about our offense, I think perhaps it could be even a bit better if the offensive linemen get their technique down. We graduated so many huge offensive linemen, I think the new guys might be able to get up and down the field a bit better.

And with that I'll just summarize the remaining points/stories with bullets:

Tulsa World: Jarvis Jones making the most of his second chance.
ESPN.Com: Sam Bradford eager for challenge of another season.
Rivals.com: Ranking the Big 12 Coaches; Stoops #1
NewsOK: The latest on Justin Chaisson
A quarterback recruits for 2010 for you to start hoping for: Blake Bell. He is from just north of the Oklahoma-Kansas border, but he's being recruited by some pretty stellar programs.
5 commitments so far with the 2010 class, including 3 guys that have four stars on the Rivals rating system. You can check them out on the ESPN page too. The same 3 guys are on the ESPNU150 watch list.

And to wrap it all up, challenge yourself by taking the Wonderlic Test!

OU Football Spring Preview Part Two: Offensive Skill Position Players

dishingoutdimes — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:35:08 -0000

Can DeMarco Murray have an injury free season? Image via media.lvrj.com

Previous Spring Preview Issues

Part One: Who Is and Isn't Back, Exciting New Players

Of the 6 skill position starters - QB, RB, FB, FL, SE, TE - 4 will be returning for the 2009 football season. Those starters include QB Sam Bradford, RB DeMarco Murray and/or Chris Brown, FB Matt Clapp, and TE Jermaine Gresham. Both Bradford and Gresham could have bolted to the NFL and likely been 1st round draft choices, but instead elected to return to OU. In any case, all of these skill position players will need to step it up to help keep the offense humming like it was last year - breaking the NCAA scoring record and averaging ridiculous scoring.

Quarterbacks

Piloting the Sooners for his 3rd season will be reigning Heisman Trophy winner and OU Junior Sam Bradford. Sam has exceeded all expectations and become one of the best quarterbacks to play in the crimson and cream. I say this because he has put up monsterous numbers in comparison to his predecessors, but still has yet to win that always elusive national title.

How good was Sam's 2008 Heisman Trophy campaign? He ranked 1st nationally in passing efficiency, touchdowns thrown, and yards per completion. He broke the OU record for passing yards in a single game with 468 against Kansas. He broke OU records for passing touchdowns in a single season and in a career, both previously held by Jason White. He's thrown 84 touchdown passes as a freshman and sophomore combined, which shattered the previous NCAA record of 55 by Rex Grossman of Florida. His career numbers are 539/783 for 7585 yards, 84 TDs, 14 INT, and a passer efficiency of 182.04.

Of course we all know what Sam brings to the table, but who will provide depth at the QB position? Nobody with any game experience, but the depth chart behind Sam probably shakes out something like this (scholarship players only):

#12 RFR Landry Jones, 6-4 211, Artesia H.S. in Artesia, NM
#15 FR Drew Allen, 6-6 210, Alamo Heights H.S. in San Antonio, TX

There has been a bit of buzz around Jones in spring ball, and the word is that he's been playing pretty well. That shouldn't be a surprise, because when OU recruited him he was rated the #1 player in New Mexico and the #6 QB overall by Rivals, and the #3 QB overall by ESPN. He redshirted last season. Watching him in warmups, he can put quite a bit of zip on the ball and is fairly accurate too. He is an unknown quantity in game situations, so his performance in the spring game should be interesting.

Drew Allen is already 6'6" and 210 lbs coming out of high school. He will probably redshirt this season, but with a year in the Oklahoma weights program he could be a big, strong-armed quarterback that also will have the potential to do great things in Norman. He doesn't have the recruiting service accolades that Jones did coming out of high school, but his statistics in high school were outstanding playing in Texas. He can also apparently run pretty well, with a 4.70 time in the 40.

Running backs, wide receivers and tight ends after the jump (click the link)...

Running Backs

#29 SR Chris Brown, 5-11 210, Alexandria H.S. in Alexandria, LA
#7 JR DeMarco Murray, 6-1 205, Bishop Gorman H.S. in Las Vegas, NV
#23 RFR Jermie Calhoun, 6-0 210, Van H.S. in Ben Wheeler, TX
#25 SO Justin Johnson, 6-1 201, Gilmer H.S. in Gilmer, TX
FR Jonathan Miller, 6-0 187, Naaman Forest H.S. in Garland, TX

Returning for the Sooners in the backfield will be the 1-2 punch of Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray. Both of these running backs were 1000 yard rushers last year. Chris Brown is the "between-the-tackles", workmanlike runner that seems to always be able to fall forward for 3 or 4 yards if there's no running lanes. He is deceptively fast though and has the speed and agility to make people miss and gain big yards once he gets through the first couple levels of defenders.

DeMarco Murray is considered the flashier back who is a threat to take it the distance every time the ball touches his hands. Murray seems at his best outside the tackles, or hitting a lane between a guard and a tackle. In those areas of the field, he can turn on the jets and get around the corner a bit easier than anyone else on OU's roster. Murray is especially dangerous catching the ball out of the backfield on screens or flares. Both Murray and Brown have great hands.

Chris Brown has been durable, but DeMarco has had his fair share of injuries. The biggest question will be whether or not DeMarco can stay healthy this season. If so, I would expect a breakout year that many people have been waiting for. He has the size, speed and agility to be one of the top rushers inthe nation.

With Brown and Murray being so talented and reliable, it's going to be difficult to see any time behind them at the RB position. Mossis Madu proved he can run the ball in the Big 12 Championship game, but he's likely going to be moved to a slot receiver position this season. Otherwise, OU merely has two 5-star recruits from the 2008 class in Justin Johnson and Jermie Calhoun. These two were widely regarded as being the top two RB recruits nationally. Johnson got some playing time in mop-up scenarios last year and he did not redshirt so he will be returning as a sophmore. Calhoun did redshirt. Both have been doing well in spring ball according to all accounts, especially Calhoun. Don't be surprised to see Brown and Murray gone after this season (especially if Murray can stay healthy), but the future looks bright. Given that we have Brown and Murray though, don't expect either to get many carries this season, barring injuries.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Wide Receivers

#80 SR Adron Tennell, 6-4 191, Irving H.S. in Irving, TX
#85 SO Ryan Broyles, 5-11 175, Norman H.S. in Norman, OK
#17 JR Mossis Madu, 6-0 196, Norman H.S. in Norman, OK
#8 JR Brandon Caleb, 6-2 196, Fork Union Military Academy in Richmond, VA
JR (JUCO) Cameron Kenney, 6-2 195, Garden City CC in Dacula, GA
#4 SO Jameel Owens, 6-3 200, Muskogee H.S. in Muskogee, OK
#24 SO DeJuan Miller, 6-5 200, Metuchen H.S. in Metuchen, NJ
FR Jaz Reynolds, 6-3 182, Eisenhower H.S. in Aldine, TX

Tight Ends

#18 SR Jermaine Gresham, 6-6 261, Ardmore H.S. in Ardmore, OK
#83 SR Brody Eldridge, 6-5 265, Prairie View H.S. in La Cygne, KS
#82 SO James Hanna, 6-4 215, Flower Mound H.S. in Flower Mound, TX
#47 SO Trent Ratterree, 6-4 232, Weatherford H.S. in Weatherford, OK
#88 JR Eric Mensik, 6-6 260, Terry H.S. in Rosenberg, TX
FR Gabe Ikard, 6-4 240, Bishop McGuiness H.S. in Oklahoma City, OK

The Sooners graduated 3 senior wideouts - Manny Johnson, Juaquin Iglesias, and Quentin Chaney - and will now be looking for people to step up and start at wide receiver. Two guys are almost locks for starters, unless one of the other guys really shows up and impresses in spring ball. The first is sophomore Ryan Broyles who set the record for most yards by a freshman WR and tied the record for most catches. He operated in the slot and may not have the size to move to flanker or split end. One of the wide positions should go to senior Adron Tennell. Tennell has played mostly in garbage time, but he has the size and experience to immediately make an impact, and probably has quite a few reps with Bradford.

Broyles should definitely start. I would be 90% sure Tennell will as well. However, Tennell will be challenged by a lot of younger talent. Juniors Mossis Madu and Brandon Caleb probably stand the best chance of being the third starter. Madu is an experiment, shifting from RB. If that doesn't work he'll be the third string running back again. Mossis Madu is shifty and has deceptive speed. Caleb has a little better size and is used to the wide receiver position.

Cameron Kenney is an intriuging JUCO transfer from a community college in Georgia. I think he has the talent to make an impact immediately, even if it's off the bench. Then Owens and Miller got some reps off the bench last year as freshman in garbage time. They both have excellent size which could help them get some playing time over a few of the smaller receivers. They will be sophomores but should have some good experience and a repertoire with Bradford. Jaz Reynolds would really need to impress to see the field. More than likely he'll redshirt and make an impact next year.

Basically, beyond Broyles and Tennell there is a lot of young talent. 6 guys will challenge for maybe 2 or 3 spots that will see serious playing time. I think the spring ball competition will allow the cream to rise to the top, and give the others valuable experience for a year or two down the road. I honestly can't give a great preview because I haven't heard all that much about how the competition is going and a lot of the guys are unknown quantities.

For the tight end position, everyone returns. Additionally we add top TE recruit Gabe Ikard who will probably redshirt since Gresham and Eldridge will be leaving next year. Jermaine Gresham is the offensive threat of the two seniors. Todd McShay of ESPN analyzed the Oklahoma offense once and said that Jermaine Gresham creates huge matchup problems. He's one of three guys that I think can do this for us: Murray, Madu and Gresham. This is because Gresham can line up on the line or in the slot and be about as equally effective. Murray and Madu are dangerous in the slot too. Eldridge is more of a blocker and role player, but also has good hands. Both have NFL size, but Gresham gets more attention because of his offensive talent and ability to line up in the slot.

If you can offer any insight into any position battles, feel free to post below.

OU Football Spring Preview Part One: Who Is and Isn't Back, Exciting New Players

dishingoutdimes — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:29:16 -0000

Isn't that a beautiful sight? Owen Field filled to capacity, waiting to watch the OU football team take the field. I know we are in the middle of two remarkable basketball seasons (men's and women's), but it's time to start previewing the football team as the Red-White game will be approaching, and Spring practice has already started. Now, with the tournament starting soon, these may not be regular installments, but I will link to previous versions of these previews in the latest preview that I post. Eventually, when I end, there should be a series of links at the top of that post, and you can explore all of my spring previews.

Here's how it will work: I will post articles throughout the offseason (starting now and lasting possibly through May), and eventually we should have a nice overall view of how the football team is shaping up.

In order to go anywhere with this preview, first we need to understand what pieces will be missing from last year. This will be the "logistical" part of the preview - who is and is not back, who redshirted last year, etc. etc.

All the good stuff after the jump...

Who We Lost

Regular Starters: OT Phil Loadholt, OG Duke Robinson, OG Brandon Walker, C Jon Cooper, WR Juaquin Iglesias, WR Manuel Johnson, S Nic Harris, S Lendy Holmes, P Mike Knall.

Role Players/Backups: OL Branndon Braxton, WR Quentin Chaney, DT Cory Bennett, DB Brett Bowers, DE Alan Davis, QB Joey Halzle.

Obviously, what jumps out is that we lost almost our entire starting offensive line, our two starting wide receivers and our two starting safeties. We'll delve more into this when I talk about how we're going to fill the holes in our team from last year and graduations. However, I'll offer a few thoughts on these issues:

First, wide receivers are relatively easy to replace. It's not like in the Stoops era that OU has had an absolutely incredible stable of wideouts. On the contrary, I would argue we have had a stable of running backs, and a ton of really solid wideouts. Even 2 and 3 star recruits at WR pan out to be solid for the Sooners. Quentin Chaney was a 3 star recruit. Juaquin Iglesias was a 2 star recruit. Plus, we have some pretty solid guys waiting in the wings. Like I said, more on that in a later issue.

We have some awesome recruits waiting to compete for the safety spots. That's not really a concern. In fact our defense is loaded. All of that in later issues. Most concerning about these losses is the offensive line. It's not easy to replace such a bulky, athletic and talented offensive line overnight. It's probably the most unheralded position on the field except maybe the punter, but I think our offensive line was the big reason why our offense put up such astronomical numbers last season. Bradford rarely got touched, and we could pick apart defenses.

Last Year's Redshirts

We had a few redshirts last year (19 to be exact). Here they are:

DB Derrick Bradley, RB Jermie Calhoun, LB Daniel Franklin, OL Ben Habern, DB Lamar Harris, LB Dylan Hughley, DB Joseph Ibiloye, LB Emmanuel Jones, OT Jarvis Jones, QB Landry Jones, DE David King, OL Brian Lepak, DT Stacy McGee, TE Josh New, QB Ben Sherrard, TE James Toms, DT Casey Walker, DE R.J. Washington, K Tress Way.

New Players To Watch

Obviously we know about what we're getting from guys who were on the field regularly. But there's some new recruits or redshirts from last year who you should keep an eye on, especially in the spring game:

DE R.J. Washington - This guy was a 5 star recruit coming out of Keller, Texas. He was redshirted last year, but everyone was real excited about him. I'm not sure how much of the field he'll see with really only one DE graduating, but I would expect to see him become a part of the rotation. Here's some YouTube highlights.

WR's Jameel Owens and DeJuan Miller - Both of these guys were recruited last year as well. They both have good size. Owens is 6'3" 210 and Miller is 6'5" 200. While Ryan Broyles will be one of the obvious starters, and upperclassmen Adron Tennell and Brandon Caleb will be given every opportunity to win the other spot, I would expect to see both of these guys challenge for significant playing time and/or a starting spot. They were both 4 star recruits, so both of them have the talent to be big impact receivers. I would expect one of them to step up big time and impress.

S Quinton Carter - He isn't really new, but I would love to see him step up. In the playing time he did get, he was sort of a spark plug. He hits hard and would play well as a strong safety I think. We're going to need a centerfielder out there with a little bit more range and fluid hips in and out of turns, but I liked what I saw of Carter last year. Here are some samples of his work:

Ben Habern, Stephen Good and Jarvis Jones - All of these offensive lineman were highly rated in recruiting services. Jarvis Jones was a starter at LSU as a freshman before he transferred to OU. They all have the size to be successful in Division 1 college football, but will their skills transfer? If so, our offensive line could be almost as good as it was last year, which was basically untouchable.

RB Jermie Calhoun and RB Justin Johnson - Both of these guys were 5 star running back recruits last year. With Murray, Brown and Madu, they didn't get any playing time last year. However, they are both obviously very talented, and the majority of the buzz has been about Calhoun (he hasn't seen the field at all, he was redshirted). With the possibility of Mossis Madu moving to WR, that could open up the possibility of one of these guys sliding into 3rd down back or quality depth back role. I'm particularly excited to see Calhoun finally.

If a lot of those guys step up and help fill in major roles vacated by departing players, I think we'll be close to last year's level of competitiveness. We are returning a lot of starters, especially on defense.

The next spring preview issue should involve the major holes that have opened up, and the players that we should expect to step up and fill in these roles.