Look what we have here. On3's Pete Nakos mentioned that an early team to watch for former California Golden Bears star running back Jaydn Ott in the transfer portal would have to be the Oklahoma Sooners. We know that their new GM, Jim Nagy, is well-versed in college football talent from his days running the Senior Bowl. If Brent Venables' team landed Ott, look out over in the SEC.
Ott has long been a favorite of Cody Williams and I over on False Start. For some reason, we gave him the nickname Zach because of course we did. We suck at names, pronunciations and doing math, but not covering college football! Regardless, we have long thought this running back is a star in the making. He just needed to go to a program that would put his undeniable talent front and center.
With Oklahoma entering a critical season for Venables and the Sooners, more power to them trying to make this happen. Not only did they add Nagy to the staff, but they were able to retain running backs coach DeMarco Murray amid a potential poaching at the hands of James Franklin's Penn State Nittany Lions. Most importantly, QB John Mateer needs someone great to hand the football off to now.
If Ott were to leave Berkeley for Norman, that could change how I feel about OU moving forward.
Jaydn Ott tied to Oklahoma Sooners in the spring transfer portal window
After last season, Cal and Oklahoma were more similar than they were different. These are two programs with rich football tradition being tasked with joining a new league in the latest wave of realignment. I would argue Cal had a slightly easier time in the ACC than Oklahoma in the SEC, but not by much. They did almost beat Miami, whereas Oklahoma somehow upset Alabama late last season.
What I am getting at is maybe only one of these middling .500 teams in the Power Four is on its way to leveling up. Cal cares about its teams, but Oklahoma would do anything for its athletic department. With arch rival Texas having made it to back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals, I would argue OU has the far greater crashing sense of urgency to figure it out over Cal. (The less said about Stanford right now, the better.)
Ultimately, we have seen new backfields come together in a hurry and gel together quite well. Look no further than how great Will Howard and Quinshon Judkins were joining TreVeyon Henderson's backfield at Ohio State last season. Oklahoma is not a national championship contender, but they could be a fringe College Football Playoff contender if Ott and Mateer mesh similarly for new OC Ben Arbuckle.
Against my better judgement, I am starting to become more of a believer in Oklahoma than I should.