Which Under the Radar Sooners Could Star Against Georgia?

Jayden Jackson

Brent Venables sounded impossibly optimistic on Tuesday when he said “if David (Stone) is unavailable this week” against Georgia. Stone, OU’s star defensive tackle, was injured Monday in practice and multiple sources confirmed it was knee injury — initially called a “dislocated knee” — although results of multiple medical tests this week have not been made public. In any case, Stone’s running mate for the last four-plus years, Jayden Jackson, will need to respond to Stone’s absence by dominating his position. That means holding his ground against hard-running Nate Frazier, a mostly veteran offensive line and a Bulldogs offense that averages 253 yards per game and 7.3 yards per carry.

— John Hoover

CB Eli Bowen

Eli Bowen is no stranger to delivering in big road games. He's yet to get a prime chance to flip the field this season with an interception, but Oklahoma's secondary has looked crips. Eli's brother, Payton, was close to jumping a pair of passes against New Mexico; things could have gone very different. The Sooners hope to keep Gunner Stockton in the pocket, which would give Eli Bowen a chance to come through with another massive turnover.

— Ryan Chapman

DL Trent Wilson

Trent Wilson has played a key depth role on OU’s defensive line in the Sooners’ first three games of 2026, logging more than 10 snaps in each contest. Wilson, a sophomore, has notched three quarterback hurries, two assisted tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. Because of David Stone’s injury, Wilson is one of several defensive tackles who will likely see a larger role against Georgia, along with Nigel Smith II, Bishop Thomas, Braxton Fely, Danny Saili and James Carrington. OU coach Brent Venables raved about Wilson’s development and “coachable” nature at his Tuesday press conference, and that makes him a likely candidate to see a higher snap count against the Bulldogs.

— Carson Field

C Jake Maikkula

Oklahoma's offensive line has been in the spotlight all season and will be again against Georgia. Without Michael Fasusi yet again, it'd be easy to turn the focus on Ryan Fodje, who has shifted to left tackle in Fasusi's absence. But Maikkula's experience, his struggles last week against New Mexico, and the Bulldogs' deep interior defensive line make center's performance particularly important. If Maikkula struggles, it will be hard for the Sooners to keep John Mateer clean in the pocket and even harder to run between the tackles. It will be plenty difficult to do that anyway but Maikkula figures to need a strong performance if the Sooners are to have a chance to pull off an upset.

— Ryan Aber

WR Elijah Thomas

Two weeks ago, Brent Venables vowed to get Elijah Thomas the ball. Had Jonathan Hatton not made a mental mistake on a blitz pick-up (he also went the wrong way at the start of the play — or John Mateer did), Mateer may have connected with Thomas on an explosive touchdown pass in the second quarter against New Mexico. Thomas has been open and is begging to be a factor in the offense. If, and this is a big if, but it the offensive line can protect and the running backs don't whiff on blocks, Mateer should have time to find Thomas streaking downfield.

— Brady Trantham

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