Miller coming on strong for the Sooners

Center Jonathan Alvarez

wasn’t the only experienced Oklahoma player to sit out last season as a redshirt.

Wide receiver A.D. Miller

played in 18 games — starting six — in his first two seasons with the Sooners before redshirting a year ago.

OU coach Lincoln Riley

brought Miller’s name up first when asked about receivers outside of stars CeeDee Lamb and Marquise Brown who have turned in big performances in camp.

“A.D.’s had a tremendous fall,” Riley said. “Playing the best ball of his life. I’ve really been pleased with him. It really looks that the redshirt year, at least up to this point, that the redshirt year did what we hoped it would do. He’s stronger. He’s more mentally tough. He’s just grown up. He doesn’t feel like a puppy anymore.”

Running back depth chart still up in the air

Heading into the last few days of preparation for the season opener, the top of Oklahoma’s running back depth chart is clear.

Rodney Anderson sits atop, followed by Trey Sermon. Marcelias Sutton is No. 3. “I think he’s asserted himself as that No. 3 guy,” Riley said. “I feel pretty comfortable saying that right now.”

Beyond that — and the Sooners often use four running backs during the course of games — there are some questions.

Kennedy Brooks, who redshirted last season after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury after arriving in Norman, and true freshman T.J. Pledger are battling for the fourth spot.

“They’re two young guys that are really getting after it and getting better fast,” Riley said. “They got a lot of reps throughout camp. We’ve got some quality depth, there’s no doubt. That may be a back-andforth trying to decide that fourth guy going in. But we feel like we can go in with five guys right now and win. The experience at the top and overall depth is better than what we’ve had.”

Radley-Hiles back

Freshman defensive back Brendan “Bookie” Radley-Hiles missed some practice time last week, including Saturday’s second scrimmage, but returned Monday.

“I think Bookie, not having him, we noticed that over the last couple of days,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said Tuesday. “When we went against our offense and not having him on the field makes a big difference for us. He’s an explosive player. The only thing he really lacks is experience. He picks things up very well.”

Radley-Hiles is expected to start the season at nickelback, although he also spends time at safety.

“He does things very violently and very aggressively,” Stoops said. “That’s what you like seeing out of all your players.”

Quotable

Stoops, on Jon-Michael Terry’s move to outside linebacker:

“He’s done well. He’ll be a guy that will have some opportunities. We’ll see how it pans out. He’s learning. Jon’s always been a really solid player and can do a lot of different things.”