Expect These Oklahoma Players to Surprise This Training Camp

Every year, college football players on rosters all across the country emerge from the two-deep and make a move up the depth chart.

Outside observers call them surprises, but to those players — and their teammates and their coaches and their families — their ascension was not unexpected. Their rise was no surprise.

They’ve been great football players all their lives. They were elite in high school. They play college football for a reason. But this time, maybe they doubled their efforts in the offseason. Maybe they just really focused in and put in the work. Maybe the light just came on for them mentally. Maybe they got a surge of confidence. Maybe they just stayed healthy.

Or, worst case scenario, maybe someone ahead of them on the depth chart got hurt. Happens every year.

Whatever the case, a guy comes “out of nowhere,” figuratively speaking, and makes his move, going from forgotten redshirt to sudden playmaker, from special teams contributor to a spot on the two-deep, from rotational piece to starter, or from starter to star.

Oklahoma has literally dozens of candidates to make such a move this season.

With the Sooners opening preseason training camp on Thursday, here are three players we think could make a surprise move this year:

LB Taylor Heim

A third-year sophomore from Yukon, OK, Taylor Heim was a versatile 3-star prospect out of Bethany High School.

Now he’s a versatile linebacker that Brent Venables is trying to find a home for.

At 6-foot-6 and 227 pounds, Heim has the kind of frame Venables and strength coach Jerry Schmidt can build upon. He’s a natural athlete — he played quarterback, wide receiver and safety in high school, collecting 79 tackles, eight interceptions and 11 passes defensed and rushing for more than 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns and throwing for more than 2,300 yards and 26 TDs during his final two seasons.

Heim has played in just two games so far — the season opener against Arkansas State in 2023 and against Maine in 2024. But then last spring, Heim clearly made strides and “really stepped up a lot,” said starting middle linebacker Kobie McKinzie.

Heim went from lining up at weakside linebacker to competing for snaps at both middle linebacker and cheetah linebacker during spring practice. His progression was nothing unusual or unexpected for a third-year player.

“Just being in the system,” McKinzie said. “For a guy like him, he came in at a tough time, was kind of Year 2. So, me and Kip (Lewis) were still coming up (behind Danny Stutsman). Jaren (Kanak) was still over there. There was a lot. He didn’t really know where he was going to fit in, and he just kept staying with the program, and he got better through it.”

Heim said last spring he’s just been trying to gain weight and add muscle to his long frame. Figuring out the linebacker part was next.

“I’ve just been working,” he said.

Things could change, but as of now, Heim figures to be a rotational piece as Venables and new linebackers coach Nate Dreiling begin to think about OU’s future at linebacker once McKinzie and Lewis leave. Historically, that means more and more snaps on special teams — a place where a player of Heim’s stature could make a major difference this fall.

He said seeing both scout team snaps and actual practice reps have helped him gain a new perspective on college football in Norman.

“It’s really helped me develop pride for this place,” he said. “I love this place. It’s taught me so much about life, being a man, growing up.”

As for learning two positions at the same time, “it’s kind of like a big transition or switch,” he said. “But coaches do a good job of helping me out.”

WR Zion Kearney

Zion Kearney played plenty last season, but the OU passing game was too dysfunctional for any wide receiver to thrive — especially a true freshman.

Kearney was a 4-star prospect coming out of Hightower High School in Fresno, TX. Listed at 6-1 and 207 with a 10.89 time in the 100 meters, he’s physically equipped to excel as an SEC receiver.

Kearney played in 11 games as a rookie last season and, like everyone else in the Sooners’ offense, had his ups and downs.

He finished his freshman year with eight catches for 128 yards and a touchdown — highlighted by a fantastic breakaway 56-yard TD bomb on a Michael Hawkins scramble in the Armed Forces Bowl against Navy.

According to Pro Football Focus, Kearney logged 247 offensive snaps last year, including a season-high 45 against Tulane, 42 against Texas, 36 against Alabama and 33 in the bowl game. That’s some big-game experience upon which Kearney and wideouts coach Emmett Jones can build a strong foundation.

As he’s seen so many of his players sustain debilitating injuries or hit the transfer portal (or both) in the past 12 months, Jones dug deep into the transfer portal to add five newcomers.

But as he learns Ben Arbuckle’s new offense and establishes an offseason rapport with new quarterback John Mateer, Kearney may find himself getting more and more opportunities this preseason.

“Over the last seven months, I've seen big strides in his game, more so in his confidence than anything,” Arbuckle said at last week’s OU Football Coaches Luncheon. “I try to remind him every day like, ‘Hey, man, you're a big dude out here.’ He's 6-2, 215 pounds, and he can move and he can catch and he can run. And I try and reinforce that into him every single day.”

On a per-game basis, according to PFF, Kearney never posted an overall offensive grade below 53.2. That’s extremely impressive for a true freshman. On pass plays, his lowest single-game grade was 53.9. As a run blocker, Kearney only dipped below 60.0 once — a 58.6 against Navy, when he was otherwise racing through the Midshipmen secondary.

Of his 247 offensive snaps, 127 were pass plays. He was targeted 15 times, had eight catches, made six first downs and only had one dropped pass.

Jones will have a lot to sort through this August as Arbuckle and Mateer look for reliable targets. Kearney should have every opportunity to break into the rotation and become a regular contributor.

DE Danny Okoye

It’s not exactly a stretch to put Danny Okoye on this list. Not when Brent Venables proclaims what he did about Okoye at SEC Media Days and reiterated at last week’s coaches luncheon.

“Pound for pound,” Venables said, “might be the best athlete on our football team that loves to compete. Everything he does is wide open.”

That’s not a reach, either.

As a homeschool athlete playing at Tulsa NOAH, Okoye was a 4-star defensive end, but also played middle linebacker, safety, tight end, wide receiver and even punter.

Okoye has proven that he is willing to work. He showed up in spring of 2024 weighing 233 pounds. Now at 6-3 and 251, Okoye comes into 2025 having played in just two games as a true freshman last season (Temple and Maine) — but is eager for more.

The game is probably still moving fast for Okoye as Miguel Chavis looks for options to support All-SEC edge rusher R Mason Thomas and Florida State transfer Marvin Jones. Chavis would love to see Okoye take the next step alongside P.J. Adebawore, and other youngsters like Wyatt Gilmore, Taylor Wein, C.J. Nickson and Alex Shieldnight.

“Danny has all of it,” Thomas said at SEC Media Days. “So when Danny gets this defense down and uses his skillset, it's gonna be even crazier. Imagine what I just said, PJ, T-Wein, then you've got Danny, Marvin Jones, it's like we've got experience altogether. So our D-line is just cold.”