Oklahoma Adds Veteran OL Through Transfer Portal
After spending the 2023 season at USC, veteran offensive lineman Michael Tarquin will transfer to Oklahoma.
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, Tarquin spent four years at Florida prior to his time at Southern Cal. For the Gators, Tarquin made 10 career starts at left guard and 10 starts at left tackle.
The redshirt senior offensive lineman started at right tackle for the Trojans this season.
Hailing from Citra, FL, Tarquin was a 4-star recruit in the 2019 class, rated the No. 22 offensive tackle in the cycle.
Coming out of high school, the Sooners' newest addition received an offer from Oklahoma and even took a visit to Norman. The transfer recently visited OU again, and decided to announce ihs pledge shortly after.
Tarquin has one season of eligibility left.
Tarquin started eight games at right tackle for USC this season, blocking for former Sooners QB Caleb Williams. He played a season-high 59 snaps against Colorado and 48 against Arizona State, finishing the season with 332 total snaps. On pass plays, Tarquin graded out at 86.5, although his pass blocking grade was 59.0 and his overall offensive grade was 62.8, per Pro Football Focus.
A two-year starter at Florida, Tarquin has extensive experience in the SEC.
In 2022, Tarquin played 355 snaps and graded out at 81.2 as a pass blocker and 72.5 overall, and in 2021, he played 352 snaps with a pass blocking grade of 69.8 and an overall grade of 55.6. He spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons as a backup at Florida.
Last year, Tarquin was married — and his father-in-law is USC legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle Tony Boselli, although he said that didn’t necessarily influence him to go to USC.
“He helped a lot,” Tarquin told 247 Sports last year. “He was very unbiased, he pretty much just told me, ‘Do what’s best for you. Don’t got to ‘SC just because of me.’ Obviously, it’d be really cool and it is now. But he was very helpful, he was very unbiased and he helped me make some good decisions there, for sure.”
With Aaryn Parks, Savion Byrd, Cayden Green and Nate Anderson entering the portal, Andrew Raym and Tyler Guyton declaring for the NFL draft and Caleb Shaffer, Walter Rouse and McKade Mettauer running out of eligibility, Tarquin is a much-needed addition, as the Sooners have plenty of spots to fill along the offensive line.
The former Gator and Trojan is the third o-lineman to commit to Bill Bedenbaugh out of the portal, joining Michigan State transfer Spencer Brown and North Texas transfer Febechi Nwaiwu.
With Brown, Nwaiwu and Tarquin joining returning starter Jacob Sexton, the Sooners have added three veteran offensive linemen to a group that desperately needed more experience heading into the SEC.
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