Oklahoma Spring Review: Depth at Safety Could Be Serious Point of Strength
With spring practice in the past and the NCAA Transfer Portal spring window now closed, it’s the ideal time to assess the Oklahoma roster heading into summer.
AllSooners has compiled a 10-part series, position by position, reviewing the Sooners’ spring and where that position goes from here.
Safety
After struggling in the secondary for nearly the entire decade, suddenly, parts of the secondary might be a strength of the Oklahoma football team.
OU returns plenty of firepower and experience in the safeties room, and the group could be the one to lead the Sooners’ defensive turnaround.
For More Spring Reviews
- Offensive Line Needs Numbers and Some Good Luck
- LBs Performed Well, But It's Clear More Depth is Needed
- RBs Had Some Setbacks, Some Growth
- Defensive Line Could Now be a Strength
Last season, the Sooners fell severely short, and the back end of the defense looked lost and confused a good portion of the time. With transfers, in-house improvement and highly touted recruits, help is on the way — and fast.
“Key Lawrence, Reggie Pearson and Peyton Bowen — and obviously Billy Bowman, those guys at safety give us more of what a defensive secondary should look like,” head coach Brent Venables said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I do see, to answer your question, playmakers at all three levels.”
All four players Venables named could be game changers on the field for the Sooners’ defense. But Bowman, who has been a special talent when healthy, has a chance to have one of the biggest impacts on the team — not just the defense. He’s only been in Norman for two years, but he’s been a big name, playing in nearly 20 games.
“Billy wants to be a leader,” safeties coach Brandon Hall said. “Billy cares. Billy wants to win every rep. The thing about Billy is that Billy's worst enemy is always going to be him. He holds himself to such a high standard, and the good thing for him is that as he gets more and more experience in this defense, I think you're going to see him start to become more vocal. That's something that we need at our position the most.”
He registered 60 total tackles, 2.0 for loss and three interceptions. Bowman, a hard hitter, also notched five pass deflections a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Being part of a more complete defense will do wonders for a player like Bowman, who has been asked to fill many holes over the last two years. With added depth, he won’t have to play out of position again.
Pearson is the wildcard in the room, as his presence on the field could have a bigger impact than people truly realize. He’ll do wonders for Oklahoma’s run defense and he’ll be able to follow the ball with talent around him.
At Texas Tech a season ago, Pearson was a game changer, totaling 55 tackles, two interceptions, four pass deflections and a fumble recovery.
“You can tell he's played a lot of snaps,” Hall said. “Everyone knows he's a physical football player. But the thing that I appreciate most about him is because of the amount of snaps that he's played, he doesn't get rattled. He's been under a number of coaches, obviously. And I think sometimes that's a good thing because all you've got to do is figure out that language barrier and how to communicate with him.
“You basically say, 'Hey, this is like that, and this is like this.' He's very confident in himself. He's quiet, he's a learner and he's a leader. He really takes the younger guys under his wing and tries to help those guys out as well.”
His addition makes it that much easier for a talented player like Lawrence to find his footing. He’s shown the ability to make big-time plays for the Sooners but has been plagued by inconsistency and a lack of overall talent in the secondary last year.
At times, it looked like Lawrence was simply taking poor angles on the field. But he was clearly one of the most talented players Oklahoma had to offer in the secondary, so he had to play — healthy or not. His spring allowed him to make another leap forward.
“I think for Key, for me, I've seen a huge jump,” Hall said. “He was somebody last year who you could tell at times was thinking too much. You're seeing him start to make a lot more plays. He had an interception today. I think that just comes from confidence and not having to think and playing fast. He's starting to smile a lot more. That's something I can see, that he's enjoying playing the game.”
With an offseason to reset, Lawrence’s potential remains high and his production could shoot up. He recorded 58 total tackles and an interception a season ago, helping Oklahoma’s struggling defense where he could.
“What's really good is that Coach Venables puts such an emphasis on guys preparing when they've got their own time,” Hall said. “We've got a bunch of guys who now come through this a second time.
“They've taken those young guys under their wing and they've taught those guys how to prepare, how to learn in the free time and take advantage of when we're not around. They're really teaching each other, and that's something that I don't think they quite understood yet. You're seeing a lot more of that this year.”
One of those young guys is Bowen, a highly talented signee, who was Venables’ prize of the 2023 recruiting class. His recruitment was one for the ages, but ultimately ending up in Norman felt like the coaching staff’s biggest win since taking over. Those are the types of players you’re able to build a defense — and a foundation — around.
A 5-star from Denton, TX, Bowen showed off his skills immediately in the spring game, recording the play of the day on a diving interception in deep coverage. He located the ball, tracked it down, and picked off starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the process. His development and maturity early on could unlock a new level of potential for the Sooners’ defense.
“The interception with Peyton, he was in place, did a great job of locating the ball and he went up and high-pointed it and made the pick,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “And football’s such a game of inches. There’s a small margin for error, and when you go up and make those plays versus not making them, it’s a big difference in a game, season the whole deal. Pleased with him, he’s had a great spring, excited to be taking the next step and moving forward.”
Bowen’s high-level track speed and his knack for finding the ball could go a long way in Oklahoma’s secondary improvement. It’s clear his mindset is in the right spot, as the entire freshman class wants to make sure a repeat of last season isn’t in the cards. And truthfully, the turnaround could start on defense.
“We’re trying to bring a new perspective,” Bowen said after the spring game. “We’re trying to bring life. We went 6-7, we don’t want to do that again. We want to bring in a winning culture again, set the standard high and just bring back Oklahoma.”
In addition to Oklahoma's already talented room, young guys like Robert Spears-Jennings are waiting in the wings ready for an opportunity. He stepped up on multiple occasions as a freshman when his number was called, and he could push for playing time.
He missed most of the spring after shoulder surgery, but he'll be back in the mix ready to jump in for fall camp.
No matter which way you look at it, Oklahoma's talent at the safety position appears to be in a much better spot than it was a year ago.
"We're deeper," Hall said of his group. "We're deeper, and we've got more experience in this system. And we'll have more experience next year and the year after. That just comes with time. Like I said, we're very multiple in what we do.
"We ask a lot of our safeties to do a lot of things and to play a lot of different techniques. In time, as we get better and we get more experienced, you're going to see less of a learning curve and more of an opportunity to make plays."
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