OT: Football Talk

[Eielson]

While I don’t disagree about the rebuild, I don’t think we are so far off from having a formidable offense with the right moves. Bear with me here:

QB: bring in Mateer. At this point that is a must. There’s connections there and we NEED a guy that can stabilize that position for a couple seasons

RB: keep XRob and Tatum (and hope he learns how to hold onto the ball before next season)

WR: Bring back at least 2 of the 5 injured guys (likely down to Farooq, Gibson, and Burks) and add a guy or two from the portal. There will be a heavy amount of WR in the portal and with the rumors of money pouring in for transfer guys, we should be able to grab one.

TE: I got nothin here. I guess hope Davon Mitchell figures it out by next year or that we luck into a solid one in the portal. Pretty gross positional outlook right now tbh.

OL: returning Howland, Ozaeta, and Everett - all of whom were playing good ball the last month of the season - as well as EPL, Sexton, Nwaiwu, Taylor, and Eugene Brooks. PLUS adding the best high school OL class in the country (although they may not contribute right away).

If we can land Mateer and a decent WR out of the portal plus a capable TE, the offense could still be formidable with a new scheme. I know that’s a lot of ifs, but those are all reasonable takes as far as future outcomes go.

I can't say I'm overwhelmed with Mateer, but he knows the offense, so he's the quickest path to an 8+ win season.

I'm not worried at all about RB.

WR is probably a hard reset. I'm not sure we bring back anybody major, and I'm not sure we need to. It's a different QB and offense, so I don't think continuity is important.

OL looked better toward the end of the year, and I'm optimistic we'll get off to a much better start with the young guy. But that's the same story ever year with BB. Slow start and strong finish. You'd have to think we bring in a couple guys at 1M+ this offseason instead of loading up the defense, especially if we're getting a discount at QB.

 

[stormspencer]

I’ve heard he could’ve played for awhile. Burks, Farooq, & Anthony tried like crazy to come back. So even if they leave at least they tried to play for OU while they were there.

If I'm Arbuckle, one of the first things that I do is talk to those three and gauge whether or not they want to play in his offense or can play physically. Any of those three have the potential to put up pretty good numbers in Arbuckle's scheme....given that we hopefully improve up front. We will find out pretty quick as Michigan comes to town for the second game.....and we should expect them to be stout up front and test what we have right off the bat.

 

[Eielson]

You and Boulder are both correct. When Stone was in the rotation, he won more than his share of one-on-one plays....at least according to Gabe and Teddy. But his plays were limited to some degree until later in the season. I expect him to make more of an impact next year now that Dajon Terry will be leaving.

I get the skepticism with a guy like PJ who was hyped entirely based on potential. But Stone actually cracked the rotation and played well in meaningful snaps. PJ was more of a guy that everybody had fun watching at the end of blowouts. I'm not saying Stone is on the Tommie Harris path, and I'm certainly not guaranteeing he's a first round draft pick, but he had a very good freshman season.

I know Stone can play meaningful snaps next year on a good/healthy defense...because he did this year.

 

[Eielson]

If I'm Arbuckle, one of the first things that I do is talk to those three and gauge whether or not they want to play in his offense or can play physically. Any of those three have the potential to put up pretty good numbers in Arbuckle's scheme....given that we hopefully improve up front. We will find out pretty quick as Michigan comes to town for the second game.....and we should expect them to be stout up front and test what we have right off the bat.

Burks is headed to NFL from everything I've heard. Huge loss. The rest...meh. All can easily be replaced with NIL.

 

[stormspencer]

Burks is headed to NFL from everything I've heard. Huge loss. The rest...meh. All can easily be replaced with NIL.

I hadn't heard that about Burks.....but I haven't been paying too close attention. That's too bad, I think he could potentially light it up (when healthy) in an offensive system like this. Outside of his fumbling, I've always been a fan of Farooq. He plays hard and he is our best run blocker at WR by a good margin. I would like to have him back if possible. I'm afraid Anthony is likely damaged goods and won't ever be the same.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Burks is headed to NFL from everything I've heard. Huge loss. The rest...meh. All can easily be replaced with NIL.

It’s hard to say how big a loss Burks would be. Our offense was so inept that we didn’t see him do anything of note. Maybe he is as good as the preseason hype, maybe not. It’s hard to know since the media and coaches have been wrong about so many of our guys the past two or three years.

Regardless of how much of it is true, the social media discussion about the medical staff is yet another black eye. This is why I find all the “culture” talk so irritating. Brent can put guys in suit and talk about the SOUL mission all he wants, but nothing about the program seems right.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Castiglione is a relic and needs to be put out to pasture asap

lol

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Joe c. made BV hire littrell for "stability and continuity".. which is terrible for many reasons

lol no he didn’t.

 

[hoopsaustin]

lol no he didn’t.

Oh ok. I stand corrected...

 

[WaymanFan]

Oh ok. I stand corrected...

From a purely common-sense standpoint, no AD will micromanage a head coach to the point where they are deciding who they should have on their staff. You may be half-correct as it wouldn't be a stretch to believe Joe C may have had a friendship with Littrell and expressed some opinions. That said, there was a time (pre-NIL) when I would not trade Joe C for any AD in the country. For whatever reason, Joe C just hasn't been able to stay on top of his game since the advent of NIL and it has hurt the school tremendously. Joe C and I are about the same age. I knew a couple of years back that it was time for me to find something different to focus on as I was entering the 4th quarter of my life. I think that's the same for a lot of people as careers often have expiration dates.

 

[hoopsaustin]

From a purely common-sense standpoint, no AD will micromanage a head coach to the point where they are deciding who they should have on their staff. You may be half-correct as it wouldn't be a stretch to believe Joe C may have had a friendship with Littrell and expressed some opinions. That said, there was a time (pre-NIL) when I would not trade Joe C for any AD in the country. For whatever reason, Joe C just hasn't been able to stay on top of his game since the advent of NIL and it has hurt the school tremendously. Joe C and I are about the same age. I knew a couple of years back that it was time for me to find something different to focus on as I was entering the 4th quarter of my life. I think that's the same for a lot of people as careers often have expiration dates.

I have heard some crazy things this year re the extent to which Joe c is involving himself with ou football. Including that in fact, he forced BV to hire littrell. BV is pissed at the admin and medical too. BV was promised things that haven't come to fruition. And I'm not a BV guy but I'm starting to take up for him more and more bc of Joe c

 

[Sooner04]

I have heard some crazy things this year re the extent to which Joe c is involving himself with ou football. Including that in fact, he forced BV to hire littrell. BV is pissed at the admin and medical too. BV was promised things that haven't come to fruition. And I'm not a BV guy but I'm starting to take up for him more and more bc of Joe c

Don't over-estimate the Harroz influence when it comes to the rumors of meddling.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I have heard some crazy things this year re the extent to which Joe c is involving himself with ou football. Including that in fact, he forced BV to hire littrell. BV is pissed at the admin and medical too. BV was promised things that haven't come to fruition. And I'm not a BV guy but I'm starting to take up for him more and more bc of Joe c

The classic message board rumors lol

Joe c is smart enough to know how much he can mettle

And why would he force littrell? Makes zero sense

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Don't over-estimate the Harroz influence when it comes to the rumors of meddling.

lol ok

This happens all the time. The team is underperforming so there must be meddling by the administration

Yall are nuts

 

[thegreyghost]

2024 Manning Award Finalists
Carson Beck, Georgia
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Quinn Ewers, Texas
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
John Mateer, Washington State
Kyle McCord, Syracuse
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
Cam Ward, Miami (FL)

 

[hoopsaustin]

The classic message board rumors lol

Joe c is smart enough to know how much he can mettle

And why would he force littrell? Makes zero sense

Wait til you hear about the medical staff stuff. I was told about that mid-season. I've got names for that but can't say yet. I was told today a journalist already has an article written about it but it won't come out until after the season

 

[mict085]

lol ok

This happens all the time. The team is underperforming so there must be meddling by the administration

Yall are nuts

I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe the medical staff could’ve messed up or the admin is doing things they shouldn’t be doing. It’s definitely plausible.

 

[hoopsaustin]

I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe the medical staff could’ve messed up or the admin is doing things they shouldn’t be doing. It’s definitely plausible.

Let him keep giggling he doesn't know anything

 

[skyvue]

Teddy and Gabe posted an "In the Weeds" edition of their podcast about the medical issues today. They gave Anderson's side of the story and offered some other insights. They said Anderson loves OU and the coaches and didn't want to leave, but he's frustrated with the medical team (with good reason, if his version of the story, as related by Teddy and Gabe, is accurate) and that's why he's leaving. He sees this season as vital to his NFL prospects.

Teddy and Gabe did say that OU is working towards seriously upgrading its medical capabilities, modeling it after the NFL's approach, but it seems that won't happen soon enough for Anderson.

 

[Sooner04]

Wait til you hear about the medical staff stuff. I was told about that mid-season. I've got names for that but can't say yet. I was told today a journalist already has an article written about it but it won't come out until after the season

A lot of smoke surrounding Anthony's rehab. None of it paints a pretty picture.