The Oklahoma Sooners are in the midst of spring football as they prepare for the 2025 season. Year 4 under head coach Brent Venables and Year 2 in the SEC is crucial for this program. OU is looking to rebound from their second losing season under Brent Venables, the only losing seasons they’ve had since 1998.
The first season in the SEC provided a glimpse at just how far Oklahoma is from the top of the world of college football. At key spots on the coaching staff, at quarterback, and along the offensive line, OU was not nearly good enough in 2024.
The offensive line is still a big question mark. CBS Sports Will Backus believes the Sooners’ offensive line is the biggest question for OU in 2025.
Oklahoma allowed an FBS-worst 50 sacks last season, as the Sooners’ offense sputtered in their third year under coach Brent Venables. The offensive line has been a fairly consistent issue throughout Venables’ tenure, despite the presence of veteran OL coach Bill Bedenbaugh. Oklahoma isn’t going to take a step toward SEC contention if it can’t upgrade in the trenches. Starting left tackle Logan Howland is back as a good starting point. He played better as the 2024 season went on. The Sooners also earned the pledge of four-star offensive line transfer Derek Simmons (Western Carolina) and signed Michael Fasusi, the top offensive tackle in the 2025 recruiting class. Fasusi has a college-ready frame and could see plenty of snaps early. Oklahoma is hoping those new faces are enough to upgrade the level of play. – Backus, CBS Sports
The offensive line during their 10-3 season in 2023 was pretty good, but the bottom fell out as Oklahoma had to replace all five starters in 2024. Venables and Bedenbaugh missed on portal additions, and injuries certainly didn’t help up front. The rest of the SEC showed the Sooners how far off they were along the offensive line. They struggled to get the ground gam going for much of the first half of the season, and for a lot of the season, they struggled to pass protect for either starting quarterback.
The best moment for the offensive line came in the win over Alabama where the Sooners ran their way to a huge upset at home.
The only true proven commodity up front is center Troy Everett, who took over midseason and played well as a leader on the o-line. They bring back Febechi Nwaiwu, who started every game for the Sooners at right guard and began to play better toward the end of the season, earning SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors. The Sooners added veteran options like Derek Simmons from Western Carolina and Luke Baklenko from Stanford. If there’s a strength in this unit, it’s that they bring back everyone from last year’s group, and a lot of those guys received valuable snaps during the 2024 season. The Sooners have a number of options up front that negated their need to be aggressive in the transfer portal.
Although Logan Howland and Heath Ozaeta will miss spring ball with injuries, the Sooners have some really good young options from the last two recruiting cycles that will be competing for jobs this offseason. Eddy Pierre-Louis has a chance to be a factor at left guard, and Isaiah Autry-Dent, Michael Fasusi and Ryan Fodje could compete for snaps at offensive tackle.
If Oklahoma wants to compete for championships again in football, the program must improve along the offensive line. The offensive line can be easy to overlook, but it’s an extremely important piece of the puzzle as the Sooners try to rebound from last season’s offensive disaster.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Can the Oklahoma Sooners fix their offensive line?
