2 Answers, 2 Lingering Questions About the Oklahoma Depth Chart After Spring Football

The Sooners targeted key areas of growth this spring ahead of a massive 2026 campaign.

Oklahoma defensive end Danny Okoye celebrates after registering a sack against Kent State. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Spring football has come and gone in Norman. 

The focus this week for the roster will be on closing out the spring semester on a high note, but that will immediately clear the way for summer workouts to begin. 

The coaching staff is hard at work building the Sooners’ recruiting classes of the future. 

With no post-spring transfer portal window, any lingering questions on the team will have to be answered by the pieces currently on the roster once fall camp rolls around. 

Spring practice was a productive period, as players on both sides of the ball emerged, which sets the stage for a crucial summer before OU gets underway in 2026. 

Danny Okoye is the answer at defensive end across from Taylor Wein

Oklahoma defensive end Danny Okoye lines up before a snap in spring practice. | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

Taylor Wein proved he can produce when he’s one of the top names on the opposing scouting report when R Mason Thomas went down last November. 

This spring, the Sooners needed to start to figure out the rest of their rotation at defensive end. 

Adepoju Adebawore missed the practice period with a foot injury. His task would have been to emerge as a pass rusher to add to his solid work defending the run. 

Redshirt sophomore Danny Okoye made the most of his snaps, however, and he seems primed to make the jump Wein did a year ago. 

Okoye finished last year with six tackles, two sacks and a pass defended, but the urgency with which he attacked spring ball drew praise from coaches and teammates alike. 

If the OU Spring Game was any indication of what Okoye can do opposite of Wein, then defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis is going to be a happy man this fall. 

Okoye camped out in the backfield and was disruptive. 

A breakout year from Okoye would ease the pressure on freshman Jake Kreul and UTSA transfer Kenny Ozowalu. Both flashed throughout spring ball, but the challenge for the pair will be to raise their levels of consistency. 

Okoye’s emergence will give that duo ample time to earn everyone’s trust, which means the rotation at defensive end projects to be deep again in 2026. 

How big will Oklahoma’s running back rotation actually be?

Oklahoma running back Jonathan Hatton Jr. (20) rushes in the spring game. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

New running backs coach Deland McCullough picked Oklahoma because he was excited about the players he would have to work with. 

Tory Blaylock and Xavier Robinson are back after leading the way for the Sooners in 2025, but both missed significant time this spring due to injury. 

Oklahoma was able to make the best out of a less-than-ideal situation, however, as it used the time to get freshmen Jonathan Hatton Jr. and DeZephen Walker up to speed. 

Hatton, a consensus top-100 recruit, arrived with fanfare and immediately showed off the physicality that excited the Sooners, Texas A&M and other coaching staff across the country in high school. 

Walker turned heads as well in his first months with the program, and OU also handed the ball off plenty to Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant. 

McCullough acknowledged that he wanted to use his entire room throughout the spring to avoid overtaxing anyone before the season got underway, but one of the issues that plagued DeMarco Murray was his puzzling rotation in games over the past few years.

Will it be as simple as McCullough turning back to Robinson and Blaylock with a steady dose of Hatton? Or will he try to deal out carries consistently to four guys in Oklahoma’s backfield?

Are the Sooners still light at linebacker?

Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke after the Sooners' spring game. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

Owen Heinecke’s return means Brent Venables will get his top two tacklers from a year ago. 

Heinecke and Kip Lewis will lead the way, and the excitement around Michigan transfer Cole Sullivan is real. 

The front line at linebacker will be difference-makers, there’s no doubt about that. 

But it’s still an open question if the Sooners have enough depth at linebacker. 

James Nesta was talked up by the coaching staff over the spring, and he figures to step into a larger role this year, but he’s still untested if he needs to be thrown into a massive conference tilt this season. 

There is no like-for-like replacement for Kendal Daniels, who had the perfect skillset to do everything Venables asked of him at cheetah linebacker.

Venables’ OU defenses have had a relative unknown step up and fill a void over the past few years, which might be what Oklahoma needs as it heads into fall camp to round out the depth at linebacker in case the group gets thin at any point this fall. 

Oklahoma’s tight ends will be able to help the ground attack in 2026

Oklahoma tight end Hayden Hansen (89) runs after a catch in the spring game. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

The Sooners placed a high priority on tight end over the offseason. 

OU hired a legend, Jason Witten, to take over the group and brought in three experienced pieces for him to work with. 

Hayden Hansen moved over from Florida, and he’s confident in what Oklahoma will be able to do to rush the ball this year. 

The Sooners added more SEC experience in Tennessee’s Jack Van Dorselaer, and general manager Jim Nagy dipped into the portal once more to add redshirt senior Rocky Beers from Colorado State.

Jaren Kanak was a nice addition to the tight end room a year ago, as he caught 44 passes for 533 yards, which helped him get drafted, but the group was generally overmatched when they were asked to help block.

There may not be an OU tight end with 44 receptions in 2026, but they’ll be able to help quarterback John Mateer in other ways by setting the edge and contributing to a more explosive rushing attack.