Oklahoma Releases 2021 Depth Chart
The Oklahoma Sooners released their first official depth chart of the 2021 season on Wednesday afternoon.
And while the return of Spencer Rattler eliminated the need for a starting quarterback competition in Norman, there are still plenty of position battles to sort out.
Tuesday, Lincoln Riley laid out the initial starting line for Tulane.
Marquis Hayes will get the nod at left guard, while Chris Murray will start across from him at right guard and Tyrese Robinson will slide out to right tackle. Riley said that Andrew Raym and Robert Congel were still battling for the center spot, and that Wanya Morris, Anton Harrison and Erik Swenson were all still in contention to start at left tackle.
In the end, Swenson and Harrison were named co-starters, and Morris wasn't listed at left tackle.
Morris was listed as a co-starter beside Robinson at right tackle.
Running behind the offensive line, Kennedy Brooks and Eric Gray were named co-starters, separated on the depth chart by an “or”.
At wide receiver, there wasn’t a ton of clarity at who would start which makes sense considering that outside wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons said he’d love to have six to eight guys ready to play last week.
Jadon Haselwood and Theo Wease were both listed as starters separated by an "or" at the X receiver spot, Marvin Mims and Drake Stoops shared the honors at the Y, and Mike Woods was named alongside Mario Williams at the Z receiver spot.
Flipping over to the defensive side of the ball, it should come as no shock that Isiah Thomas, Perrion Winfrey and Nik Bonitto will start for the Sooners along the defensive front.
Reggie Grimes will back up Thomas, while Josh Ellison and Jalen Redmond were both listed as co-starters at defensive tackle.
Brian Odom sang the praises of the depth at inside linebacker, and that was reflected on the initial depth chart.
Davis Ugwoegbu and DaShaun White were separated by an "or" at mike linebacker, and White and Brian Asamoah also shared the honors at Will linebacker.
Caleb Kelley was listed as the backup at rush linebacker alongside Marcus Stripling.
The rotation will bleed over into the secondary, as Grinch has plenty of guys he feels confident with throwing onto the field to start against Tulane.
Pat Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell retained the starting safety spots, while Woodi Washington was named the starting corner on one side of the field.
D.J. Graham and Jaden Davis will continue to battle for the other corner spot as they were listed as co-starters, as was Billy Bowman and Jeremiah Criddell at the nickel corner position.
It should come as no shock that Gabe Brkic is the starting kicker for the Sooners, but the punting battle was made more interesting as Oklahoma took not one but two transfer punters from Arizona State.
One of those transfers, Michael Turk, won the punting job though, beating out Reeves Mundschau to start the season against Tulane.
Heading into the season opener against Tulane, there is still plenty to sort out for Oklahoma, a testament to the depth the program has built on both sides of the football.
