Oklahoma Spring Depth Chart Preview: OL Should Be Much Improved in 2025

Oklahoma opens spring practice Thursday, and Year 4 under Brent Venables needs to be a good one.

After going 6-7 in two of his first three seasons, Venables’ tenure as the Sooners’ head coach is in the spotlight more than ever. The Sooners’ spring game on April 12 could be quite revealing.

In this series, Sooners On SI previews OU’s 2025 spring by breaking down the depth chart at each position. Next up: offensive line:

————

Oklahoma’s most complicated matrix last year looks much simpler in 2025.

Spring practice could reveal much more, of course, but the Sooners’ offensive line would seem far less in flux going into Thursday’s open practice than at just about any point before November of the 2024 campaign.

The group needed to be rebuilt entirely last year, 5-for-5 across the front, and Bill Bedenbaugh never got close to settling on a new starting five until the final month of the season.

When that finally did happen, however, the Sooners’ offense did experience an uptick. Due to newcomers, various inconsistencies, lack of chemistry or lack of talent, Bedenbaugh had a different starting lineup in each of the first nine games.

Bedenbaugh ran out three different left tackles, three different left guards, three different centers, and three different right tackles — all in various combinations. Only right guard Febechi Nwaiwu remained in the starting lineup for all 13 games.

But then in the final four games, as everyone finally got (and stayed) healthy, the starting five stayed the same, and the offense showed real improvement, although more — much more — will be needed in OU’s second season of SEC play.

This year, Bedenbaugh is relying much less on the transfer portal (two newcomers instead of the five he brought in last year) and seems to be better set up to build for the future (5-star recruit Michael Fasusi and 4-star Ryan Fodje lead a group of four incoming freshmen after having added five rookies in 2024.)

So, working on the assumption that half his players aren’t in the athletic training facility this year, Bedenbaugh’s job of identifying and developing the first five and the second five should be much more straightforward. With only three seniors graduating (all ’24 transfers), and with so many players being forced into action last year because of the widespread injuries, Bedenbaugh doesn’t have to look far to find 10 experienced candidates this spring.

Nwaiwu returns at right guard, where he struggled at times stepping up from North Texas to the SEC, but he nonetheless was a rock for Bedenbaugh. The 6-foot-4, 339-pound Nwaiwu played 864 snaps last season after playing 883 and 713 in his last two years at UNT. His Pro Football Focus grade as a run blocker plunged from 75.5 to 53.9, but as a pass blocker jumped from 59.6 to 72.1. His overall PFF grade fell from 70.2 to 59.6. He allowed 16 total pressures (four quarterback sacks) and committed four penalties.

Oklahoma Sooners Febechi Nwaiwu — Oklahoma offensive lineman Febechi Nwaiwu (54) | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After redshirting in 2023, Logan Howland was the backup left tackle to begin 2024, but quickly ascended as his teammates were injured and shuffled around. The 6-6, 309-pound Howland started Week 3 against Tulane and continued to get into the rotation before returning permanently in Week 10 against Maine. Once he and Bedenbaugh solved a glitch in his pass protection, Howland got better, and so the OU offense. He finished the season with 502 snaps and a 67.9 PFF grade. He allowed 14 QB pressures and just two sacks, both coming off the bench against Ole Miss and wasn’t assessed a penalty all season.

Heath Ozaeta also redshirted in 2023 and was the backup to start the ’24 season, but by the second game was playing left guard and ended up starting eight times. The 6-5, 318-pound Ozaeta gave up 15 pressures all season with four sacks (two against LSU). He finished the season playing 630 offensive snaps and posted a PFF grade of 57.3, which included a 67.9 as a pass blocker. As Ozaeta got more experience, his blocking stabilized, and so did the Sooner offense.

Troy Everett was being counted on as the starting center last spring, but a serious knee injury took him out of the lineup until midseason. He finally returned for some late action (22 snaps) against Texas and, after six weeks of searching, Bedenbaugh began to see small improvements as Everett returned to the field. The 6-3, 308-pound Everett played 523 snaps last season and posted a career-best PFF grade of 68.2, which included two games over 72 and only one game (Maine) below 59. For the season, he allowed just seven pressures and four sacks and was flagged for two penalties (both against LSU). Everett, a former transfer from Appalachian State, brought experience, savvy and leadership to a unit that had almost none.

Right tackle looks like the best spot for an immediate competition this spring, although that could certainly change. OU’s two Jakes — Jake Taylor and Jacob Sexton, who came in as freshmen in 2022 — would seem to be ideal candidates to compete at right tackle this spring.

More Oklahoma Spring Depth Chart Previews

(Follow these links to catch up)
Feb. 26: Defensive Back
Feb. 27: Wide Receiver
Feb. 28: Linebacker
March 1: Running Back
March 2: Defensive Line

March 3: Offensive Line
March 4: Tight End
March 5: Special Teams
March 6: Quarterback

The 6-6, 309-pound Taylor began the 2024 season No. 2 at right tackle and played in just four games last year before an injury ended his campaign. He logged 169 offensive snaps with a PFF grade of 56.2. Taylor allowed 10 pressures and two sacks, per PFF, but did not commit a penalty. Taylor showed not only talent but toughness as well, playing through extensive and multiple injuries before finally being forced out of the lineup.

The 6-6, 322-pound Sexton got extensive time over the second half of 2023, playing 410 snaps, and was listed as the starting left guard to begin 2024, but found himself instead starting at left tackle in Week 1. The next two games, he started at left guard, and in Week 4 he was back at tackle. Injuries elsewhere necessitated all the movement, and Sexton ended up making four starts at left tackle and four starts at left guard before an injury took him out for the final four games.

Sexton struggled in pass pro at times, allowing 18 pressures and four sacks, and also was hit with four penalties. But Sexton proved his value and versatility last season, and could be a strong candidate to start at either position on the left side again this year. But with younger players like Howland and Ozaeta already coming up fast, Sexton’s best role for 2025 might be on the right side or as a flex player at just about any position.

Oklahoma Sooners Jacob Sexton — Oklahoma offensive lineman Jacob Sexton | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Last year’s talented freshmen class made an impact in 2024 — out of necessity, unfortunately for Bedenbaugh — but that made them better and will likely project them into the two-deep for 2025.

Isaiah Autry-Dent played just one game last season (Maine) and logged 26 snaps, but by the end of the year, he was a consistent presence in the two-deep at left tackle behind Howland. Daniel Akinkunmi got limited snaps against Maine as well but was listed No. 2 at left guard behind Ozaeta for the bowl game. Eddy Pierre-Louis was on the two-deep all year as the right guard behind Nwaiwu. And even going back to last spring, Josh Aisosa got some early looks at center as Bedenbaugh sorted through injuries at that position.

Bedenbaugh lost three transfers who might have competed for time this year in Josh Bates, Eugene Brooks and Geirean Hatchett, but also added two newcomers in Luke Baklenko from Stanford and Derek Simmons from Western Carolina. Both might need more time to catch up to Bedenbaugh’s way of doing things, so this spring should be big for them. Baklenko played 1,016 snaps for the Cardinal the last two seasons, and Simmons logged 1,579 snaps for the Catamounts over the last three seasons.

Too much shouldn’t be expected of any freshman class, but being a 5-star places high expectations on Fasusi. And recruiting insiders have suggested that it might actually be Fodje who’s best-equipped to start in his rookie season. Bedenbaugh has shown before he’s not unwilling to give first-year players a shot at playing time.