Oklahoma's Finest: Why TE Brayden Willis Represents the Epitome of 'OUDNA'
NOTE: Part 3 of a series spotlighting the Sooners' best performances of 2022.
Statistically, others had better seasons. But when it comes to playing the game of football the right way, it’s likely no one had a better year at Oklahoma than Brayden Willis.
Willis, a fifth-year senior from Arlington, TX, played 732 offensive snaps for the Sooners this year, according to Pro Football Focus, and impressed everywhere he went.
Willis played 294 snaps as a slot receiver, 278 as an inline tight end and 121 in the backfield. He also played out wide 22 times, lined up at quarterback 13 times, and even got two snaps inside in an offensive line set, per PFF. He also got 55 plays on kickoff return, 54 on placekicks, 51 on punt coverage and one on kickoff coverage.
“I think that he's like all great leaders,” head coach Brent Venables said. “He’s selfless, willing to sacrifice, great toughness. He's a model of consistency. Great humility. He loves the work. Loves the grind. Loves his teammates and he's willing to say and do the uncomfortable and the things that are not popular.”
Willis’ selflessness stood out in the Sooners’ season opener against UTEP, when he blocked two players at the line of scrimmage, then raced 40 yards downfield to block another one as freshman Gavin Freeman scored a 46-yard touchdown.
Willis graded out at 71.7 overall this year, which is down slightly from his previous two seasons. But his run blocking was phenomenal: a team-best 85.3, per PFF, which ranks No. 2 nationally among 400 tight ends graded and 17th in the nation among all players with more than 100 run blocking plays.
The 6-foot-4, 239-pound Willis made the decision to come back to Oklahoma last year, and although the Sooners have stumbled to a 6-6 record, Willis was named second-team All-Big 12 this week and probably made himself a lot of money in the NFL Draft.
Coaches say he’s at the top of the list for almost any NFL scout that comes through Norman.
“He put great trust in us and I’m so incredibly appreciative for that,” said offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, “and it's paying off for him. Any opportunity I get to brag on B-Will, I'm going to. He is Oklahoma football. It's who the kid is to the core and it's what we want to want to be about.”
For Willis, he didn’t chase early dollars as a junior last year, but rather figured he could improve his draft stock by returning for 2022. And being one of the captains of this team has afforded him numerous opportunities to emerge as a forceful leader.
It’s one of his many gifts, to be able to see the bigger picture.
“That's just an attribute that I have,” Willis said. “I just think I always am able to foresee stuff. Like I said, it's a tough year. It's been a tough year, as far as wins or losses are concerned. But there's some really good teaching moments from this year.
“Like I said to the guys, I think last week, we've been through a lot of different situations this year. We've lost in a couple of different ways. We've had blowout losses. We've had close losses. We've had game losing field goals, and we've won in a variety of different ways. And what that does is teach the young guys how to not lose. So when they’re in these situations next year and the following years to come, they’ll know how to get themselves out of that and respond a little bit better.”
Willis isn't perfect. He's made his share of mistakes. He drifted too deep on a route that led to an offensive pass interference penalty and took his touchdown off the board in the three-point loss at West Virginia. He fumbled a football near the goal line that could have given the Sooners a 35-0 lead in the first quarter against Oklahoma State — a game that got uncomfortably tight at the end. And he dropped a certain touchdown on a fake field goal in a three-point loss at Texas Tech last week.
Yet, despite those critical errors, or maybe because he simply illustrates how to overcome them, Willis will go down as maybe the most popular player on this team.
This season, Willis has career-highs of 35 receptions for 456 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s also carried the football, mostly as a wildcat quarterback, 10 times for 26 yards. In his career, Willis has 83 touches for 965 yards and 11 TDs.
And yet, it won’t be the statistics that Willis leaves behind. It’ll be a true legacy.
“Got great, great appreciation for his journey, for his development,” Venables said. “I know he wasn't a highly recruited guy, but man, he has over delivered throughout his career. Nobody on our team has more command and respect than Brayden and he's willing to say the things that everyone needs to hear sometimes a lot of guys won't say. So he got a tremendous legacy here because of his investment in this university.”
“I’m just proud of how this team responds,” Willis said. “And this team is resilient no matter what we've gone through. It's kind of hard to see that on the outside. But me being a leader, I could tell how resilient these guys are and I'm just proud of them.”
