All Sooners

Observations From Oklahoma's Second Practice of Fall Camp

The first portion of Oklahoma's practice was opened up to local media on Friday morning.

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NORMAN — The August sun did little to slow down Oklahoma as the Sooners hit the field for the second day of fall camp on Friday.

Looking to erase memories of last year’s 6-7 campaign, Brent Venables’ coaching staff aggressively worked to turn over the roster this offseason.

The first portion of practice was opened to local media, and here were observations from the AllSooners staff on hand:

There is no quarterback contraversy leading up to the 2023 season, but eyes were still trained on true freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Arnold was with the Sooners throughout spring practice, so it wasn’t his first trip to the practice fields, but still he looked plenty comfortable running through individual drills behind Dillon Gabriel.

Both quarterbacks were unbothered by offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby having them roll out to either side, delivering accurate passes on air.

On the defensive side of the practice field, it came as no surprised to see Venables closely monitoring his linebackers.

Dasan McCullough and Justin Harrington towered over the group, bringing a very different body type to the group.

After practice, Venables noted both McCullough and Harrington were working at the cheetah linebacker position as well as defensive backs Reggie Pearson and Peyton Bowen. 

As expected, Danny Stutsman was not only the vocal leader of the linebackers, but he also didn’t hesitate to step in at the start of the drill to display exactly how it should be run.

Jaren Kanak closely tailed Stutsman in drills, and Konnor Near got a taste of the attention to detail Venables demands in how to conduct every drill as he gets up to speed with the scheme at Oklahoma.

Brandon Hall ensured his safeties weren’t shying away from any contact on the second day of camp, either.

Billy Bowman, Key Lawrence, Bowen and Pearson all displayed their physicality, rag-dolling a tackling dummy during individual drills while former Sooner Justin Broiles looked on to give encouragement.

Robert Spears-Jennings, who is not fully cleared for full contact due to an operation on his shoulder from the spring, participated in a non-contact drill with the rest of the safeties while donning a blue jersey as well. 

After practice, Venables confirmed Broiles is limited to just that level of involvement as he is not currently with the program in a graduate assistant capacity. 

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