2023 the year we see the Marcus Major breakout season? Jackson Arnold impressing Sooners teammates!

don't call it a comeback he's been here for years but it's now the time for Marcus major we'll talk about that and more on today's episode of Locked on Sooners you are locked on Sooners your daily podcast on the Oklahoma Sooners part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] breakfast [Music] what's up Center Nation welcome to locked on Sooners and thank you for making lockdown Sooners your first lesson every single day today's episode is brought to you by bird dogs go to birddogs.com locked oncollege to enter promo code locked on college for a free white Tech hat with any purchase you won't want to take your bird dogs off we promise you my wife loves that hat by the way it came in the mail and I haven't been able to wear it because my wife took it and she's had it non-stop my name is John Williams you can follow me on Twitter at John 9 Williams my buddy here's Josh Helmer you can follow him on Twitter at Josh on ref you can also hear a Monday through Friday from nine to noon on the kref sports app Josh how are we doing friend doing great doing great yeah I maybe I need to give uh my girlfriend the bird dogs hat it looks looks pretty sharp looks pretty sharp it is there's nothing there's nothing like a nice clean white accessory of any sort whether it's a white t-shirt that white hat now with with several kids it's not going to be long before that white Hat's no longer white but we're enjoying it while it is man the buzz out of Camp Josh is that what we think the running back depth chart might look like may not be entirely accurate with you know Javonte Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk being the clear-cut Front Runners out of Camp there's a lot of positive things being talked about with Marcus major who's been with the Oklahoma Sooners for several years now we've seen flashes out of him whether it was in what was it the the Cotton Bowl game against Florida this was a guy that has shown the capability of creating big plays as a running back as a receiver yet he's struggled to stay healthy he had some we could just call it maturity things going on early in his career with the Sooners but now I mean Jeff Levy talk spoke really really highly of him after practice on Tuesday evening and saying he expects big things at a Marcus major this year don't write the uh don't don't close the book until the full story has been written and read with Marcus major yeah we'll uh we'll see I mean obviously career starts out and you red shirt and you know because you miss majority of the Season due to injury and then uh you know that that nice cap to 2020 that you mentioned where Marcus major carried nine times for his still career-high 110 yards including the 46-yard touchdown running The Romp over Florida and then obviously the the frustration to start 2021 when we thought okay well you know maybe is this gonna be Marcus Majors backfield for Oklahoma you get you know ruled and eligible and then uh really uh hasn't been able to crack the code for Oklahoma ever since and so you know along the way it feels like there's been some positives John and you know his career average all of that the bits and pieces that we've seen I think that it's been good for Marcus major but a combination of getting ruled and eligible and uh you know obviously uh the injury concerns and then just getting beat out by a couple of talented backs along the way too has kind of kept him from being the guy and so naturally when you go far enough into a career everybody's sort of ready to say ah I don't know that it's gonna happen for Marcus major but ah Lee Corso not so fast and not so fast my friend Marcus major looks like he's on the verge of a breakout I mean this is a guy that again as you mentioned he's flashed when he's been on the field and even going into last year I mean he was the clear-cut rb2 behind Eric gray again injuries kind of interrupted his season or or put a damper on his season because he was having a solid year to that point and then Javonte Barnes kind of took over from there but he's got the playing potential and he's got the ability to create some things and he runs hard I mean he's a guy that can again make people Miss in the open field it's just a lot of things a lot of extenuating circumstances for major and you hope you really do hope that this is the year that he kind of finally puts it all together and is able to be a big time contributor for the Sooners they're wanting to run the football a lot this year Jeff Levy talked about it again post practice on Tuesday night they want to be balanced they want to run the football they don't want to be an air it out offense they want to be able to run the football set up the pass control the clock I know that that's a misnomer a little bit in the Jeff Levy offense but they want to control the ball and Brent venables talked about it at OU media day they want to be a good running football team and in order to do that at a at the high Pace that Jeff Levy wants to play you're going to need several backs to be able to get in there and play a lot because they're going to run 70 to 80 to 90 snaps in a game and you're gonna need to have two three maybe four guys that can contribute throughout to keep guys fresh to have your starter ready to go at the end of the game if it's a Javonte Barnes allowing him to close out games and and kind of milk the clock so the fact that maybe Marcus major has put himself in the conversation to get a significant workload is only a good thing that's a great thing that's not that should not be considered any slight to anybody else because as we've talked about he's got the ability it's just the it's the it's been the inability to stay available for the Oklahoma Sooners that has really limited his production limited where he's going to go in his sooner's career yeah I mean it has been those things that's uh put him behind the eight ball and then he just hasn't been able to overcome it I'll believe it when I see it I'll be I'll be transparent with you you know I we've heard a lot of Buzz about a bunch of different guys though throughout Camp you you kind of heard every once in a while oh well Caleb Hicks the best back that they have uh even what uh Teddy and Gabe have said well one of the days we were out there Tommy Walker was the best back and I know that some people kind of turn their nose up a little bit at that but need I remind everyone about Dominique Whaley we've seen the uh you know walk-on burst onto the scene and be Oklahoma's best running back so it's not an impossibility for OU I'm still sticking with I think until proven otherwise that Javonte Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk are the two best running backs on this roster for Oklahoma I'd love to see it for Marcus major though I think it'd be you know a great close to his career it would be a terrific story and again we've seen when given opportunities the potential it's been that availability and then he's you're an Oklahoma running back there's talented guys around you there's a Kennedy Brooks there's an Eric gray right now there's a Javonte Barnes and a Gavin sawchuck that you're trying to beat out so I'll believe it when I see it but I'd love to see it for Marcus major what did Bill Parcells used to say the best ability is availability and if Marcus major truly is available all season long I think it's going to be a great things for the Sooners because you're going to be able to go three running backs deep with really really talented players guys they can all create a big play every time they touch the football so looking forward to seeing how that plays out and transpires is Jackson Arnold already getting some Caleb Williams comps this is coming from inside the team we'll talk about that but first let me talk to you about our friends over at bird dogs this summer heat has been ridiculous absolutely ridiculous but this is also the perfect time to get your bird dogs because with as hot as it is bird dogs they keep you cool 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pickup going to the grocery store it's helping keep her head nice and cool again in these extreme Heats that we're experiencing right now so again birddogs.com locked on College get that free white Tech hat Josh I I I can't believe my ears but our man John Hoover at all Sooners S.I wrote a piece this evening or Tuesday evening based on some quotes from offensive lineman Andrew rames Savion bird and they're asking or they're saying some pretty impressive things Andrew rames says of Jackson Arnold man he's just an athlete he reminds me a little of Caleb Williams the way he runs the way he can throw outside the pocket Savion bird he's going to be such a good quarterback like without a doubt he's going to be such a good quarterback rain goes on to say once he gets settled down and understands the offense he's going to be a really good player and bird says he's going to be a star one day he already has like the traits of a champion football is just a developmental game and the more you do it the better you get at it Josh Jackson Arnold's not going to play much this year hopefully hopefully Dylan Gabriel is great and we don't have to ask the question about should Jackson Arnold start are we getting a little ahead of ourselves comparing him to a Heisman Trophy winner a guy that's going to be the number one overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft you know if I'm one of the guys on this roster and and I've been around both and he's demonstrating similar traits then no it's it's not ahead of schedule it's right on schedule and those guys would know better than anybody else because again rainbows around both right so if he says it looks similar then I'm gonna believe that he's doing some similar things now I don't know that you know rayne's quote wasn't Jackson Arnold will be Caleb Williams or better you know I mean it was hey he's doing things like Caleb Williams which I'm going to take him at face value that he's looking like a five-star signee now you look at Jackson Arnold and what he did in high school and the way that he ran the football and Andrew Rams right he runs a lot like Caleb Williams a big physical guy who can make a few people missing the open field not overly like add like not really agile not like I love Mark Jackson type but kind of running more like a Cam Newton more physical straight lined you know uh big strides that kind of that kind of thing but can make people miss not saying Jackson Arnold's Cam Newton again let's let's throw that out there but it is intriguing at least that Jackson Arnold is getting these comps early in his career I mean we saw on the Spring Green Spring Game there was a little bit of inefficiency but when he got a chance to play behind the first team offensive line did a lot of really really nice things the dude's talented the dude's got the athletic ability it would not surprise me to see him put that on display if given the opportunity even this year I think we're gonna get a chance to see him this year when you know Oklahoma gets up big against Arkansas State against SMU against Tulsa and hopefully against some other teams down the line when Oklahoma gets up by you know 20 points third fourth quarter you get to see your Jackson Arnold just getting some live game reps every game rep that he can get is going to be valuable experience and so I think we will see him put some of those things on display especially the running ability when maybe they're not going to necessarily try to throw the ball a ton if they're up big right I mean you could absolutely have that type of package and you know more than anything it's just exciting to hear his teammates say that they're seeing positive things from Jackson Arnold they're seeing the type of potential because we think right that after this season hopefully uh you know somebody posed the question to us on the radio side if Dylan Gabriel has this great season where he winds up either right on The Fringe he gets to New York City does he think about I mean coming back and probably under that scenario he's performed well enough to get drafted somewhere and I think that would be Dylan Gabriel's approach right that you know this season ends and either Oklahoma then moves on to Jackson Arnold just of its natural own accord or Dylan Gabriel placed so great that he has a professional opportunity and it's time to move on to Jackson Arnold so one way or another even if there was okay this uh scenario where maybe in your mind you're like well should we have one more season of Dylan Gabriel I don't think that Dylan Gabriel would take that opportunity at OU so it's it's going to be Jackson Arnold's season before too long and that's going to coincide with Oklahoma's jump to the SEC so yeah for OU it's going to behoove them if Jackson Arnold is the Jackson Arnold that you I everybody thinks that Jackson Arnold is going to be when he signed as a five-star signee so these are just those positive initial breadcrumbs that you want to hear some other really interesting nuggets out of Camp Josh and this is involving the offensive line again you know McCain mathire you know talked about how how much better they are this year than they were last year and he says we have the ability to be much better than last year we can be much better the word is can we have to continue to prove ourselves every day and make sure we're in good enough shape and taking our reps seriously every day so we can have a standout online like we should I think that's what's different from last year is our skill level is a lot different I mean we had Anton juanier Chris those are really good guys I think we have the same if not better skill set they're just in different areas for each person we just need to prove our potential and prove what we can be that's that's pretty solid I mean if you think you've got the talent of a first round offensive tackle somewhere along your offensive line three offensive linemen getting drafted last year that's pretty salty for Oklahoma's offensive line heading into 2023. you know I think coach budenberg said about as much right from the get-go at Oklahoma's media day which was I'm not worried about the talent component for us I'm worried about the you know just putting it all together however you want to Define that John whatever coach biedenbow means by that if that's just understanding of the offense the day in day out work the week to week work whatever you want to Define that as he wasn't worried about the talent component he was worried about just all of it coming together the right way one last thing on McCabe and attire he had a really fascinating quote I think I know we've had a lot of people talking about how you know if my tires just started at Right Guard there's a problem you don't have enough offensive line depth but just listen to kind of what he talked about here um when he spoke after after practice I've worked with a lot of guys in Dallas trainers like Clint Anderson and people like that I worked with former OU offensive lineman Lane Johnson for a little bit on my pass Pro and that kind of stuff Coach B said Coach B coach Bill bedenbo said from the Florida State game last year to Spring ball he said I was night and day a completely different player so I'm really working on being Irreplaceable and just a guy that we can that we can lean on and a model of consistency for the o-line I mean if coach bill beatenbos says he's a different player which I assume to mean better player going into 2023 I think that's a good thing for the offensive line and I think it's great because you have a guy that's a very very experienced player continuing to develop and improve his game with the fact that you're starting a new left guard you're starting a guy at right tackle that has a few starts under his belt but hasn't played a ton in Tyler Guyton you need your experience guys like Walter Rouse Andrew Raymond McCade mathire to take their games up a notch so that you can help mitigate the inexperience that you have at those two spots yeah I mean definitely on the Interior right because as you pointed out that's where Raymond matar have started a lot of football games if that's what we're led to believe and we got a pretty good indication that you know at least to start and probably if things go well throughout the course of this season that it will be rain and matalya on the interior and probably bird or whatever other combination it might look like for Oklahoma but yeah those guys need to elevate you know and I think that goes for that goes for Andrew Ram as much as it goes for McCabe matager it's easy I think sometimes at a place like Oklahoma John for us to want it right here right now because it's Oklahoma and because the standard is excellence and I'm not saying change the standard the standard is the standard and you need to live up to the standard but guys get better right guys can't improve as they go along so this idea that uh McCabe matar the again every chapter of the book is written well if Bill beatenbos saying that then until proven negatively otherwise I'm gonna I'm gonna take a little optimism it is a developmental game players at 22 are better than what they were at 18. and players at 26 are better than what they were at 22. it takes time it takes physical maturity it takes mental maturity just takes experience to get better at the game and if McCain retire is continuing that upward trajectory it's going to help Oklahoma's offense and their offensive line be potentially better than it was last year I mean it was good last year but it definitely needed to be better in key situations Red Zone goal line short yardage stuff had to be better and if he can be better that's going to help all of that improve as well in addition to the physical aspect that Savion Birds going to bring in the experience of Andrew Raymond Walter Rouse and then just the the sheer potential of Tyler Guyton is off the charts last thing we're going to talk about on today's episode of lockdown Sooners is on threes true freshman All-American list and you guessed it our man Peyton Bowen was named a true freshman All-American and this is what their director of scouting and rankings Charles Powers had to say about one Peyton Owen he says an electric playmaker at safety and was a huge get for Brent venables in his first full class in Norman Peyton Bowen just every time I watched him throughout his high school career he made just really really high level plays he's an exceptional athlete with outstanding speed but pairs that speed with instincts and ball skills also doubled as one of the best return men in the 2023 class as well well I mean I think he's got a chance to impact things for Oklahoma straight away and freshman All-American honestly even based on limited action in the spring game wouldn't really surprise me I don't think all that much now again there's there's other names already there Reggie Pearson you you got to come over from Texas Tech and you know there's a ton of experience there Bowman ton of experience there so trying to take reps away from those guys could be challenging at cheetah you look at Harrington again we heard that maybe that's going his Direction and probably going to be tough to get refs right there right over either a Harrington over or a mccola maybe dare we say corner is that a possibility for Boeing I wouldn't put it outside the stretch of imagination I mean he's fast he's instinctual he's he's an athletic player I mean a lot of times you want to put your best athletes out at corner because you're requiring them to play with such twitchiness you know playing press man off the line of scrimmage being able to mirror and Shadow receivers for a variety of Route combinations I mean some of those instincts they they could translate really really well at cornerback I don't know if they're going to give him reps at outside but playing him in the slot would be I think would be a huge opportunity for him and for the Oklahoma Sooners to get him on the field yeah you don't really have like a designated slot Corner position because you use the cheetah a lot of times as that slot guy but if you wanted to go with six defensive backs it would not surprise me to see Peyton Bowen be one of those six defensive backs on the field I think they are going to try and use a rotation of guys utilize that depth to their advantage and depending on matchups you might see a Peyton Bowen getting a more significant number of snaps than say a key Lawrence or a Reggie Pearson because maybe it's a team that's going to air it out a little bit more or you want more athleticism more speed on the field against the Jalen Daniels something like that so it wouldn't surprise me to see him get a significant number of snaps in year one exactly where that's going to be I think it's going to be anybody's guess but I don't don't necessarily think that's a bad thing I think that just shows you've got a lot of depth and you've got to figure out different ways to get these guys on the field together three safety looks are becoming more and more commonplace especially at the NFL level because you're seeing teams want to have somebody who can tackle like a linebacker but also offers a little bit better coverage skills like the Dallas Cowboys they want to run you know Donovan Wilson and Malik hooker and you know j-ron curse out there all the time together because they offer three unique skill sets that allows them to kind of play match-ups a little bit differently and not necessarily rely on having a slot cornerback out there that might not be able to hold up against the tight end or something like that so it's a very intriguing problem for Oklahoma to have to have all this depth and this talent and to figure out a way to get Peyton lowen on the field and I know that they're going to because Brent venables has spoken incredibly highly of this kid ever since the spring like early in the spring he had a lot of really really positive things to say about Peyton Bowen and it doesn't sound like that that train is slowed down at all even through fall Camp I mean he's going to be a star in year one for the Sooners yeah and he's definitely gonna play I mean he's too talented I think not to you know does that mean that he overtakes a Pearson for a starting role okay I mean we'll see on that front or uh you know beats out of Keith Lawrence who's got a ton of experience for that next rotational role we'll see but he's gonna get his chances and because he's just a natural gifted athlete John I think probably he's going to take the most advantage of those chances and probably forces coaching staff's hand to say yeah we got to get him out on the field and I think we will see him a lot as a returner this year you know as they try to maybe not utilize Jalil farook as the kick returner or a guy like you know Gavin Freeman as the punt returner I mean you can just slot him in as your return guy and say okay while we're working you in in as a rotational player at safety you are our primary return dude he's got the speed he's got the athleticism to make big plays happen on that front and that's going to do it for today's episode of lockdown Sooners thanks so much for tuning in and being a part of the show subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcast we're free and available on all podcast platforms and on YouTube hit that notification Bell over there to let you know when new episodes drop follow Josh on Twitter at Josh on ref follow myself on Twitter at John 9 Williams the show is at locked on Sooners and also subscribe to our Discord Channel as well have a lot of really good conversation in there with sooner fans uh throughout the day um random stuff pops up and we like to talk it out with them and you all over there so join us on that I'll throw the link in the uh show description that's what that's called uh but until next time again he's Josh Helmer I'm John Williams Boomers 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