The projected depth chart for the 2017 Oklahoma football team.
Oklahoma football started the 2016 season on a down note, losing to Tom Herman’s Houston team; they’ll have to face Herman again in 2017, with Texas hiring him as their head coach. However, they finished 11-2, claimed first place in the Big 12, and won every conference game.
The Sooners will look different from their 2016 team, with multiple offensive pieces out the door and off to the NFL. The face of the program is gone as well, as head coach Bob Stoops retired in June. He spent 18 seasons in charge, compiling a 190-48 record and one National Championship win (2000).
In Stoops’ place will be former offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. This simultaneously took place when the former retired.
Riley was the Oklahoma offensive coordinator for the past two seasons. He contributed to leading one of the nation’s best offenses in 2015 and 2016, before getting promoted to head coach.
Riley will be tasked with leading this Oklahoma team to another Big 12 Conference championship. Main competition will include Oklahoma State, West Virginia and a potentially improved Texas team.
For the first-year head coach’s team, he’ll have old faces and new recruits to work with. They’ll all be assembled on the program’s depth chart, before the 2017 college football season starts. This includes the players that will surround quarterback Baker Mayfield on offense.
Let’s take a look at the projected Oklahoma depth chart on both offense and defense. Who could get the opening week nod in the starting lineup?
Offense
Notable losses: Oklahoma football lost three of their main offensive contributors, all of which were skill-position players: Semaje Perine, Joe Mixon, and Dede Westbrook. All of them left for the NFL. So new faces will need to step up for the Sooners if they want to keep up their offensive pace for the 2017 season.
QB: Baker Mayfield, Redshirt Senior
Mayfield is the main player returning for the Sooners on offense. He chose to return for his redshirt senior season in Norman, and will look to replicate his Heisman-esque campaign from 2016 that saw him throw for nearly 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns.
RB: Abdul Adams, Sophomore
Losing two 1,000-yard running backs would be difficult for anyone to replace. It may be worse for the player who has to fill those shoes, which is the potential job for sophomore Abdul Adams. He flashed promise in the 2016 season, putting up 283 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per carry. Redshirt sophomore Rodney Anderson is another candidate for carries this season.
FB: Dimitri Flowers, Senior
WR: Jeffrey Mead, Senior
Losing Westbrook will hurt, as well as the loss of Geno Lewis for depth. That will potentially lead to Jeffrey Mead stepping in as a starter at wide receiver. The senior had just 150 yards in 2016, and will look to build on that in his final season at Oklahoma.
WR: Nick Basquine, Redshirt Junior
Basquine should get a fair amount of targets in this new-look set of wide receivers for Oklahoma. He had 265 yards in 2016 and should play the No. 2 role to Mead, along with Jeff Badet getting opportunities one spot below on the depth chart.
WR: Jeff Badet, Senior
H: Mark Andrews, Redshirt Junior
LT: Orlando Brown, Redshirt Junior
LG: Ben Powers, Junior
C: Erick Wren, Redshirt Senior
RG: Dru Samira, Junior
RT: Bobby Evans, Redshirt Sophomore