This Saturday's Red/White game was the first chance for Sooner fans to lay their eyes on the 2012 squad.
This version of the team isn't quite complete, seeing as a few big names did not participate.
Senior quarterback Landry Jones only played one series; RB Dominique Whaley, C Ben Habern and DB Aaron Colvin have yet to fully recover from their respective surgeries; and three seniors were missing from the defensive line.
Most of the recruiting class won't be on campus until this summer, either. There are a couple of players in that group that are expected to compete for playing time as soon as they get in town, namely WR Courtney Gardner and OT Will Latu.
With that being said, it is still the first real opportunity to get an idea of next season's depth chart. There have been a few heated battles at positions like cornerback, offensive tackle and defensive tackle, so it was nice to actually see if anyone had started distancing themselves from their competitors.
Let's take a look at the projected two-deep depth chart for the upcoming season.
Quarterback
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Starter: Landry Jones
Backup: Drew Allen or Blake Bell
Blake Bell out-performed Drew Allen in Saturday's spring game, but this doesn't mean he has passed Allen on the depth chart. Offensive coordinator Josh Heupel put Bell's 14-for-19, 172-yard day in perspective, saying, "It's a body of work. It's not just one afternoon."
Bell will still see plenty of time on the field, however, if Heupel employs the Bell-Dozer package again next fall.
Running Back
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Starter: Dominique Whaley
Backup: Brennan Clay, Roy Finch
Brennan Clay, donning No. 24 this season, continued his impressive spring Saturday with a ten-carry, 65-yard performance, including two very nice runs that showed off his power and elusiveness.
The defense kept Roy Finch bottled up, a feat in itself, but he still managed 40 yards on nine carries as well as two catches for 11 yards.
Both backs figure to get worked into the offense fairly heavily along with Whaley, who is still recovering from a broken ankle.
Freshman Danzel Williams had several impressive plays both on the ground and in the air. He caught four passes for 39 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.
Receiver
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Wide Receiver 1
Starter: Kenny Stills
Backup: Trey Metoyer
Wide Receiver 2
Starter: Jaz Reynolds
Backup: Kameel Jackson
Slot Receiver
Starter: Trey Franks
Backup: Derrick Bradley
Tight End
Starter: Brannon Green
Backup: Taylor Macnamara
Freshman Trey Metoyer lived up to the hype, showing off his hands with a great day. It is going to be hard to keep him off the field this fall.
Trey Franks played very well in the slot. For now, his backup is senior Derrick Bradley, but watch for one of the incoming crop of recruitsâ€"most likely Courtney Gardnerâ€"to work into the mix.
Offensive Line
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Left Tackle
Starter: Lane Johnson
Backup: Tyrus Thompson
Left Guard
Starter: Gabe Ikard
Backup: Bronson Irwin
Center
Starter: Ben Habern
Backup: Gabe Ikard
Right Guard
Starter: Tyler Evans
Backup: Adam SheadÂ
Right Tackle
Starter: Daryl Williams
Backup: Justin Farniok
The depth chart here seems pretty set in stone. It is a very deep group that lost only one starter from last year's top squad.
JUCO transfer Will Latu will compete for right tackle when he arrives this summer. If he doesn't win the job, he will at least take Farniok's spot as the backup.
Defensive Line
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Defensive End
Starters: R.J. Washington, David King
Backups: Chaz Nelson, Chucka Ndulue
Defensive Tackle
Starters: Jamarkus McFarland, Casey Walker
Backups: Stacey McGee, Jordan Phillips
Washington, Walker and McGee all sat out Saturday, giving Sooner fans a chance to see several new faces.
Phillips, one of the most talked-about players this spring, was very disruptive. He spent most of the day going up against the first-string offensive line and was giving them a lot of problems.
Linebacker
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Middle Linebacker
Starter: Tom Wort
Backup: Jaydan Bird
Strong Side Linebacker
Starter: Joseph Ibiloye
Backup: Corey Nelson
As I wrote yesterday, the Sooners were in a two-linebacker, three-cornerback set almost the entire day instead of the nickelback set they have used for several years.
Wort and Ibiloye started, but in a three-linebacker formation Corey Nelson would be the extra 'backer on the field.
Rashod Favors and Aaron Franklin also saw a lot of time Saturday and played well. Depth is going to be an issue this year, seeing that only four players have in-game experience, so it was encouraging to see them make plays.
Cornerback
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Starters: Demontre Hurst, Aaron Colvin, Lamar Harris
Backup: Gabe Lynn, Joe Powell, Kass Everette
The lack of depth at the position is expected to force last year's strong safety, Aaron Colvin, to corner this fall. This has been the most heated competition this spring, which will hopefully help develop the younger guys.
Safety
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Free Safety
Starter: Tony Jefferson
Backup: Quentin Hayes
Strong Safety
Starter: Javon Harris
Backup: Jesse Paulson
Harris' name still makes many Sooner fans cringe a bit after his dreadful finish to the season, but his move to strong safety from free safety has been a positive one. He did, however, get turned around while trying to cover Jaz Reynolds on the 60-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bell.Â
Special Teams
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Place Kicker: Michael Hunnicutt
Punter: Tress Way
Punt Returner: Kenny Stills
Kickoff Returners: Trey Franks, Roy Finch
Tress Way averaged 48.5 yards on eight punts and got the crowed ooo-ing and aww-ing with a couple bombs, including a 69-yard long.
Michael Hunnicutt did well to go 3-for-4 on the blustery day. His long of 40 yards was directly into the wind.
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