OU 2024 roster tracker: Vital defensive players returning
The OU regular season is done. The Sooners bounced back in a huge way with a 10-2 year for Team 129. Although it was solid season, it is indeed transfer portal time.
You shouldn’t expect massive defections, but there will be guys that leave the program. A lot of it, though, is accounted for. The staff has a good idea of who was in the 2024 plans. And the guys who were not. Then again, you never know when that unexpected surprise is going to come.
OU hit it out of the park in the portal for the 2023 class. See if Oklahoma can do it again.
“I love putting puzzles, the pieces of the puzzle, together,” said head coach Brent Venables last week. “I’ve always really enjoyed that. Try to find great people. That’s exciting to me. I’ve got amazing appreciation, thankfulness and respect for what it means to be the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and the excellence it’s represented for over a hundred years.
“Every decision I make, when it comes to our current roster, potentially a new player that we’re going to bring into our program, I know everybody’s counting on me to make a right decision. I love that, love relationships. I love finding great people that also align in the values and the respect and appreciation for all the great things that Oklahoma has to offer.”
Here is a look at some of the biggest announcements in the OU portal/roster world.
Staying for 2024
S Billy Bowman
The story: Whew, that was a sigh of relief for OU fans. Bowman was so good, especially late in the season, that you could have seen him leaving for the NFL Draft. Instead, Bowman said he is ready for one more season, and OU’s first season in the SEC. A breakout playmaker, Bowman had six interceptions and four pass breakups. And, of course, returned three of those picks for touchdowns, including one in each of the final two OU victories.
LB Danny Stutsman
The story: Will he? Or will he not? It has been a roller coaster with Stutsman, trying to figure out what he wants to do. His heart, though? It’s still in Norman, still with the Sooners. OU was even recruiting linebackers in the transfer portal last weekend. That’s how quickly things can change. Stutsman back in the fold is arguably better than any incoming transfer. He was one of the best linebackers in the country in 2023. He will be again, no question, in 2024.
DT Da’Jon Terry
The story: Oh, another OU victory that maybe the Sooners would not have gotten in the past. Terry really started to emerge during the second half of the season. He went from a key rotational guy to an unquestioned starter. Another year under Todd Bates and headed back to the SEC (transferred from Tennessee), and you wonder just how good Terry might become in 2024.
Transfer portal additions
RB Samuel Franklin (Tenn-Martin)
The story: You rush for more than 1,300 yards at any level of college football and that is going to resonate. One thing OU has really been looking for with the majority of its portal candidates are guys with multiple years to play. Franklin is someone who has only gotten better with each season, and OU worked hard and fast to try to make him a Sooner.
WR Deion Burks (Purdue)
There are positions where OU needs like two or three bodies, but receiver wasn’t one of them. OU had its eyes on a single addition, and Burks was the right guy at the right time. Coming off a 47-catch, 629-yard season with the Boilermakers with seven touchdowns in the Big Ten, expectations are high as he arrives in Norman. Burks will be a redshirt junior for the Sooners in 2024.
CB Dez Malone (San Diego State)
The story: You could tell OU was on the hunt for a cornerback who has played a lot of ball. Malone certainly checks that box. The fact he will have two seasons of eligibility remaining just makes it all the better. The Sooners have a ton of young players who could emerge into special corners in due time. But the need for Malone was very obvious and one OU had to address.
OT Spencer Brown (Michigan State)
The story: The first portal addition for the Sooners. OU once again needs to dip in the portal for the offensive tackle spot. Brown was identified by the OU coaching staff immediately, and it did not take long for both sides to come together. Jacob Sexton is returning, but the Sooners needed an experienced offensive tackle on the other side. Enter Brown and problem solved.
Transfer portal defections
QB Dillon Gabriel (Oregon)
The story: Say what? The OU-Gabriel love affair took a turn in recent days. It appears as though Gabriel has been in the middle of the Cayden Green exit from Norman. It’s a big reason why Oregon is one of the leaders to land Green in the days or weeks to come. Gabriel meant a whole heck of a lot to the program in the last two years. But this recent development has soured quite a few OU fans, no matter how innocent it might have been.
RB Marcus Major
The story: Writing was on the wall here. OU gave Major chance after chance. Injuries certainly hampered him early on in his career. And when he was healthy, he was OK. Not terrible by any means. However, it became clear a healthy Gavin Sawchuk was the way to go. Major fought through some tough times when he was younger, but he can be a good addition for someone as a sixth-year player in 2024.
RB Daylan Smothers
The story: Hmm, OK. The third running back to hit the portal in the span of week. You just knew that position was going to be gutted. It had to, based on numbers and based on the rotation that nobody quite understood for the better part of the season. OU did Smothers a favor, though. He only played four games, so he’ll just be a redshirt freshman wherever he ends up for 2024 and beyond.
OG Cayden Green
The story: The shock of the 2023 portal season. The shock of any OU portal season. Green was looked to be among the foundation for OU’s offensive line for 2024 and beyond. Heck, he was a team captain for OU during its trip to BYU. A move that very few saw coming and that seems to be getting messier and messier between all parties with each passing day. A massive piece for OU to now find in the portal that it simply never thought it would have to do.
OG Savion Byrd
The story: Oh, what could have been. Simply put, though, it wasn’t. Everybody had high hopes for Byrd after a sensational outing in the Cheez-It Bowl vs. Florida State. Consistency, however, was never there. If Byrd can get everything put together physically and mentally, that’s quite a package. It’s a big if, though. With Cayden Green leaving, does the door open a bit for Byrd to come back?
OL Nate Anderson
The story: Stuck around, stuck around, but if Anderson wants to play, it wasn’t going to happen at OU. Guys like that exist, and there’s no hard feelings or anything. Anderson has already received an offer from SMU since hitting the portal Monday morning.
DE Reggie Grimes
The story: A tremendous representative for OU, a very engaging personality. It was clear that others were passing up Grimes on the depth chart. Another example, though, of the Sooners helping someone out. Grimes only played four games in 2023. That gives him two seasons to play with instead of one had he played that fifth game. A key cog in trying to keep things together in 2022.
DT Kelvin Gilliam
The story: A story that just never took off and had a first chapter. Gilliam was young early, hurt during 2022. Expectations were of a bounce back type of season in 2023. However, we never saw Gilliam in those crunch time moments. He played some, but never enough to where you knew he was absolutely a part of the 2024 plans.
S Key Lawrence (Ole Miss)
The story: Something happened in the last month of the season. Lawrence was healthy, but he wasn’t getting the same amount of reps he had in the first month of the season. He was playing his best ball as a Sooner in September but couldn’t maintain it. The Tennessee trio (Eric Gray, Wanya Morris) is officially no longer in Norman. Lawrence committed to Ole Miss. OU heads to Oxford next season.
RB Tawee Walker
The story: Hey, guy wants an opportunity. When healthy, Walker showed what he could for the Sooners. Incredibly tough to tackle, Walker could get all the tough yards and then some. He even scored two touchdowns against Texas. But something went wrong in the locker room, and he is not on scholarship. No hard feelings. He’s earned a shot.
TE Jason Llewelyn
The story: Never got off first base. It felt like a big deal when Llewelyn opted to stay with OU after the coaching chaos of December 2021. But things never materialized at all in Norman. There were some injury issues. But after Llewelyn was healthy, you still never heard his name.
DL Marcus Hicks (South Dakota State)
The story: Just a tale of never being able to be on the same page and healthy at the same time. From defensive line to offensive line back to defensive line. But injuries were just as big of a part of Hicks’ story as anything else. He wasn’t on OU’s roster for the 2023 season but did announce earlier this month he is headed for the portal.
WR D.J. Graham
The story: It was the childhood dream for Graham to be a Sooner. He got to live it, even if the ending wasn’t quite what all parties involved were hoping for. Graham will always be remembered for his one-handed interception vs. Nebraska in 2021. But he’ll want to show he can do more. A move to receiver never took off the ground because of a season-ending injury before it started.
NFL Draft
C Andrew Raym
The story: You just wonder if there was anything else for Raym to do at OU that could have improved his NFL Draft stock? He’s close to a finished product and has a lot of wear and tear on him from being such an integral part of the program since being a freshman. It wasn’t a surprise, clearly, and it’ll be interesting to see where Raym goes from here and OU. Is it time for Troy Everett to take over and be the man in the middle? Raym is already in full preparation for that next step. Raym is headed to the Senior Bowl, too.
OT Tyler Guyton
The story: Nobody really made any sort of celebration when Guyton picked OU following the 2021 season. Not sure anybody had any idea of what type of player he would turn into. Preseason expectations were high, and Guyton lived up to the billing. He’s getting that first-round grade where everybody agrees that if that’s the reading, you better jump. His athletic ability should make him one to watch through the Combine process.
TBD
CB Woodi WashingtonDE Trace FordDT Jacob LaceyWR Jalil Farooq
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