Column: We Have Questions About Oklahoma's Situation With RB Jaydn Ott

The Sooners step into SEC play this week against Auburn, but there's less clarity than ever surrounding their talented transfer running back.

Oklahoma running back Jaydn Ott | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

What should Oklahoma fans think about the ongoing situation with transfer running back Jaydn Ott?

There are so many ways to go with that.

First and foremost: does it even matter? 

Ott was voted preseason second-team All-SEC, but he has been a non-factor as the Sooners have climbed to No. 11 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. OU is 3-0 heading into Saturday’s SEC opener against Jackson Arnold and the No. 22-ranked Auburn Tigers.

Furthermore, the guy who has taken all of Ott’s snaps is a true freshman, Tory Blaylock, who has emerged as the best performer in the Sooners’ crowded running back room. 

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Blaylock hit 100 yards on Saturday at Temple and on Monday was named SEC Freshman of the Week. 

Blaylock leads the Sooners through three games with 166 yards on the ground (quarterback John Mateer has 161), paces the group at 5.4 yards per attempt (Mateer is second at 4.9) and is second with three touchdowns (Mateer is first with four).

So Ott’s non-contributions haven’t stung Ben Arbuckle’s offense too much, even though he has carried the football just nine times for 17 yards — a paltry 1.9 yards per attempt.

Cal's Jaydn Ott is 2025 draft's "if you give him a crease" runner.

Explosive smooth-strider is a true 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧. 💨💨💨@THEJAYDNOTT had 131 yards in 1Q vs. USC!

Got a couple old-school comps locked & loaded for Ott this fall.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/b42P3Yii9O

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_Sooners) July 6, 2024

Ott was heralded — mostly by new general manager Jim Nagy as early as last summer, when Nagy was still with the Senior Bowl and Ott was considering the NFL Draft — as an elite talent, a breakaway threat, a versatile pass catcher out of the backfield with great instinct and vision at the line of scrimmage and a natural elusiveness that OU running backs have lacked in the last three years.

“He’s a home-run hitter, great, natural runner,” OU head coach Brent Venables echoed in July. “He’s got great instincts, runs well behind his pads. His yards after contact are eye-popping. He makes plays, as opposed to ‘take what they give you.’ ”

“He’s got a great presence to him,” Venables added a couple weeks later. “And … has shown tremendous work ethic. Again, the natural things that you see on tape — his pace, his speed, his explosiveness, his ability to break tackles, his instincts, his ability to do a lot of things out of the backfield, pass-protect, all of those things, lends credibility. … He’s going to have a chance to have success in this conference.” 

At Cal, Ott ran for 1,315 yards as a sophomore, 897 as a true freshman. Last year, with a bum ankle, he had just 385 yards on 116 carries. But through it all, Ott came to Oklahoma with 3,333 yards from scrimmage and 30 touchdowns.

And a quarter of the way through the season, Sooner Nation has seen none of it.

Ott’s mid-summer transfer from Cal was supposed to be the final ingredient to Arbuckle’s football chef d’oeuvre  — liberal amounts of Mateer sprinkled with explosive receivers and reliable tight ends, topped off with a dash of Ott in the running game and served on a bed of healthy offensive line play.

But Venables hasn’t been very revealing about the Ott situation in any of his press briefings. Saturday’s postgame — much like Ott’s brief appearance on the Sooners’ final possession against the Owls — was as mysterious as any of what came before.

“You wish he was a little further along in every way,” Venables said after the 42-3 victory in Philadelphia. “But, you get in there — whatever opportunities you have — you get in there, you’re ready. You’ve got good juice, energy, aggressiveness, have an attack mindset, all those things. Everything adds up. Everything matters. So we’d love to get him going. If all things are good in that regard, that I just said — his instincts, his speed, all those things — can be a real weapon.”

Last week, before the Michigan game, Arbuckle said Ott was in a “great headspace” and was excited about “getting him out there against Michigan.”

In which Ott played all of 22 offensive snaps — which is more than twice what he got against Illinois State (four) and Temple (six) combined. In his three seasons in Berkley, Ott played 561, 637 and 440 snaps.

For a guy that was widely (and incorrectly) projected as OU's RB1, most of Ott’s appearances have been late or very late in games.

So let’s break down what’s going on with Jaydn Ott:

How Much is This an Injury Thing?

Oklahoma running backs Jaydn Ott (0) and Tory Blaylock (6) wait between reps at one of the Sooners' fall camp practices. | Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

It started out in that category. But it’s moved well beyond that now.

Ott sustained a pretty serious sprain of the AC joint in his shoulder in the second week of preseason. 

Having arrived as a late transfer (see below), Ott’s progression as a tool in Arbuckle’s toolbox was set back with every rep he missed in preseason camp.

But it can’t be explained away now as any sort of injury precaution.

If Ott was too hurt to play, would the coaches have inserted him into the early part of the fourth quarter of the opener with Illinois State in which OU led 28-3 at the time for four brief plays (one rushing attempt, one receiving target)? Or ran him out for a kickoff return?

If Ott was too hurt to play, would he have gotten 22 snaps against the hard-hitting Wolverines, which included one carry on the opening drive, another in the first quarter and two more kickoff returns in the second half?

If Ott was too hurt to play, would he even have made the trip to Temple, much less get called on to run it four times late in the fourth quarter with OU up by nearly 40?

Assuming Ott is healthy enough to get those snaps in those scenarios, he has to be healthy enough to carry a starting role.

Has Ott Learned Ben Arbuckle’s Offense?

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer lines up next to running back Jaydn Ott against Illinois State. | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

This one actually makes a lot of sense and would explain a lot.

During Ott’s three seasons at Cal, he played for two offensive coordinators: Bill Musgrave (2022) and Mike Bloesch (2023 and 2024). This year, head coach Justin Wilcox brought in Bryan Harsin to run the offense, which might have emboldened Ott's decision to leave.

Bringing Ott into Arbuckle’s system in mid-June and asking him to be proficient in it by the end of August or even early September may have been pie in the sky. 

That learning curve is real, and maybe Ott just didn’t pick it up as quickly as everyone hoped he would.

Still, Ott said in August that his familiarity with Mateer “played a big part in my decision coming here as well as my familiarity with Arbuckle and his system.” 

By that early account, Ott was having no trouble picking up the nuances of Arbuckle’s playbook — indeed, was actually looking forward to being a part of it.

Did Ott Get Sideways With DeMarco Murray?

Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray is notoriously demanding of his position group in Norman. | John E. Hoover / Sooners on SI

This is a very real possibility. And, if Ott had any mental missteps picking up his pass protection keys, for instance, it could have compounded things from the last question.

Murray coaches hard — real hard. He communicates with his players through a singular, burning intensity, behind a loud but unrelenting focus. The standard he has for his running backs is the same standard that he met as one of the most prolific football players Oklahoma has ever produced.

Players who expect greatness of themselves certainly shouldn’t avoid high standards set by their own position coach. 

But Murray has sent players to his doghouse before with mixed results.

There were times Tawee Walker was clearly OU’s best option for running the football, but because he’d gotten into a “disagreement,” let’s call it, with Murray, he might not see the field at all.

If Ott had grown frustrated with himself as he explored the far corners of Arbuckle’s playbook, and if Murray perceived a moment of hesitation as a loaf or a mental lapse, well, otherwise innocent misunderstandings in this particular arena can quickly escalate into something else. It’s college football. Type-A personalities clash. Happens every day. 

Could the OU Staff Simply Be Saving Ott for SEC Play?

Jaydn Ott has carried the ball nine times for 17 yards through Oklahoma's first three games. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Sure. Especially if that shoulder is still a bit tender. 

But then Blaylock injured his shoulder in the opener against Illinois State, and was still on the field the following week running hard against Michigan, and was simply fantastic against Temple. A sore shoulder doesn’t mean a trip to football purgatory.

At this level of football, it’s extremely unlikely Blaylock or any one player could hold onto the starting job for three months. That’s a lot of pounding on a true freshman running back, or anybody. The Sooners will need Ott this season. And they’ll need Xavier Robinson. And they’ll need Jovantae Barnes. And the sooner Taylor Tatum gets back from his hamstring injury, the better for the entire group.

But OU isn’t ”hiding” Ott. SEC coaches are pretty smart. They don’t have to wonder what Ott’s potential as a Sooner might be. There’s plenty of Cal film out there. They know what to expect when he gets on the field. He’s not going to suddenly burst from the sidelines riding a unicycle and juggling flaming knives.

How Does This Ultimately Play Out?

Oklahoma's John Mateer hands the ball off to Jaydn Ott in the Sooners' win over Michigan. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Obviously, that’s the part that’s hard to guess.

But Nagy, Venables and the OU program have invested heavily in Ott. On3 projects his NIL valuation at around $240,000, although various unconfirmed reports have Ott’s price tag at closer to $800,000. One estimate of $2 million seems well beyond unlikely.

If it’s closer to the middle figure, that’s a substantial amount of money to pay a running back who doesn’t play much.

And in this particular era of college football, one must also keep the notion of “opting out,” at least on the back burner. If Ott reaches his four-game redshirt limit this week against Auburn, that suddenly becomes a possibility. Then if he plays against Kent State on Oct. 4, that would seem off the table — unless an early entry into the NFL Draft is under consideration.

Blaylock has seized the reins of the OU running back job on his own merits, and now, if he stays healthy, someone will have to wrest it away from him.

If Blaylock slips up or if the unforeseen should happen, and if Ott’s shoulder is OK, and if Murray is fair with Ott, and if Ott has gained intimate knowledge of Arbuckle’s offense, then the odds would seem good that Ott gets a lot more carries very, very soon — perhaps this week against Auburn, even.

You just can’t pay a guy 800 grand to fair catch kickoffs in the fourth quarter.