OU may need JUCO lineman to hit ground running
As basketball player Juan Pattillo showed over the weekend, relying on junior-college players in any sport is, at best, a 50-50 proposition.
But that’s exactly what the Oklahoma football team may have to do on the interior of its offensive line.
During the spring, the Sooners lost center Jason Hannan and guard Kody Cooke, who both decided to transfer.
Now, word is that reserve guard Alex Williams is in the doghouse due to a lack of work ethic and his status with the team is tenuous (remember Bob Stoops’ calling out of the offensive line before spring drills?)
Essentially, that leaves OU with three returning scholarship players on the interior in good standing: guard Brian Simmons, center Ben Habern and guard Stephen Good, who missed the Red-White Spring Game with a shoulder injury.
Walk-on Brian Lepak proved to be a capable back-up. But after that, who knows.
An injury or two to the interior line could leave OU in an unenviable position.
That’s why OU may be counting on 2-star junior-college transfer Tavaris Jeffries to rise to the occasion and contribute immediately to the line rotation, a spot where OU has had pretty good fortune with JUCOs in the past.
Brandon Walker and Phil Loadholt both proved to be instant starters, though those two were highly recruited players, while Jefferies had almost no other Division I offers.
But talking with the coaches in the spring, they feel like Jeffries has tremendous upside and is capable of contributing fairly fast.
Should Williams remain in the doghouse, or someone like Good or Habern, who have injury histories, get hurt, OU will need Jeffries to do just that to avoid major depth issues in the middle of the line.
By Jake Trotter
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You mention, relying on JUCO players is a 50-50 proposition. The Sooners track record with JUCOs speaks for itself. Hell, what are HS players, 30-70?