The biggest question leading into the 2009 season for the Oklahoma Offense is who will be starting on the offensive line.
With Trent Williams being the only starter from the 2008 BCS Championship game returning, who will be there to help protect the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford?
Oklahoma does not have a playing time experience question, what they have is a unit question when it comes to the o-line.
If there is a problem when it comes to the line, it is a problem that will be fixed with more starts as a unit, not personnel.
When Oklahoma travels to Dallas to play BYU, the offensive line will most likely look like this:
Senior Trent Williams will be the starter at Left Tackle. Williams has started 26 games as a Sooner over the last three seasons. He was named to the Sporting News All-Freshman team in 2006 after starting the final six games of the season. In 2008, he was named to the All- Big 12 first team by the coaches.
Senior Brian Simmons will most likely be starting at Left Guard. Simmons has played in 35 games with a total of 4 game starts. He has taken over 500 snaps as a guard for the Sooners, totaling over 131 knockdown blocks as a reserve and starter.
At the Center position, Redshirt Freshman Ben Habern should be named the starter. Habern received a medical redshirt last year after suffering an ankle injury against Baylor. He played in 3 games (including the Baylor game) before the injury. He recorded nine knockdown blocks in nine plays against Baylor.
Sophomore Stephen Good will most likely be the starting Right Guard. Good saw action in four games last season. His best game came against Nebraska recording 4 knockdown blocks. Coming out of High School, Good was rated the #29 player overall by Rivals.com.
At Right Tackle, look for Junior Cory Brandon to get the nod as the starter. Brandon has saw action in a total of 17 games. In his career as a back up he has recorded over 20 knockdown blocks.
This unit has the potential to be better than a year ago. All they need is time to gel and more work as a unit.
With the potential offensive line starters out of the way, the rest of the offense looks much like it did a season ago, minus the receivers.
Starting at QB will be Sam Bradford. In 2008 Bradford won the Heisman Trophy. With two seasons under his belt, Oklahoma should be adding more plays and giving Sam more responsibility when it comes to on the field audibles and plays. He has been nothing less than spectacular as a starter, finishing both seasons as the #1 rated passer in the nation.
The starting running backs will be the same. Oklahoma returns two 1,000 yard rushers from 2008 in DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown. However, they have also have the benefit of Mosis Madu and Jeremie Calhoun to give them both much needed rest if the need arises.
The Fullback will be Matt Clapp. Clapp is an exception blocker and can catch out of the backfield.
The Wide Receivers will most likely be Ryan Broyles and Adron Tennel split out wide. The split end will most likely feature Mosis Madu along with Jameel Owens.
The Tight Ends will be Preseason All-American Jermaine Gresham along with Brody Eldridge. Eldridge took snaps as a center earlier in the week, while the both backup center, Brian Lepak and Ben Habern sat out due to minor injury. He is also heralded as the best blocker on the team.
In 2008, Oklahoma ran a hurry up, fast pace offense. This led to more points and more plays for their offense. Look for Oklahoma to run much of the same in 2009.
Not many programs have the versatility that Oklahoma does.
When in the hurry up offense, Oklahoma does not need to substitute their personnel. This leads to defenses being unable to substitute as well as wearing down their opponent.
If Oklahoma can shore up their offensive line and give Sam Bradford four to five seconds a snap, look for the 2009 Oklahoma team to replicate their record breaking offense from a season ago, and repeat once again as the Big 12 Champions and a potential trip to the BCS Championship game in Pasadena.
