Sooners now down to just 2 scholarship running backs
With only 2 scholarship RBs, who will OU turn to next?
NORMAN — And then there were two.
With the news Thursday that OU running back Tre Bradford was no longer with the team, the Sooners are left with just two scholarship running backs — Kennedy Brooks and Eric Gray.
A source confirmed Bradford’s departure, which was first reported by SoonerScoop, which indicated Bradford was considering transferring back to LSU.
Since the 2020 regular season ended, the Sooners have lost six running backs.
First, T.J. Pledger, who spent a large part of the season as the Sooners’ top option at the position before the return of Rhamondre Stevenson, announced his decision to transfer, ultimately winding up at Utah.
Then Stevenson declared for the NFL Draft, where he was taken in the fourth round by the New England Patriots.
In late January, Gray transferred to OU from Tennessee after rushing for 772 yards in nine games last season.
In May, Seth McGowan was one of two Sooners players charged in an alleged robbery the month
before, leading to his departure.
In June, Bradford announced his decision to transfer to OU from LSU after rushing for 58 yards on 10 carries in five games last season.
The next month, Mikey Henderson, who had moved to running back after spending last season as a H-back/ tight end, was charged in the same incident that led to McGowan's departure and ultimately dismissed from the team as well.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Marcus Major, who was coming off a career game in the Sooners' Cotton Bowl win over Florida, would miss the season due to academic issues.
Recruiting misses also contributed to OU's loss of depth at the position.
In December, the Sooners missed out on five-star running back Camar Wheaton, who chose Alabama OU focused the bulk of its recruiting focus on the Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial product, who was the Rivals' top-rated running back in the class.
While Brooks — who returns after opting out last season — and Gray are expected to carry the load, OU figures to need others to contribute at the spot over the course of the season, both to be prepared in case of an injury to one or both of the starters and to help keep the top two backs fresh.
Over the past 20 seasons, the Sooners' No. 3 running back has averaged 58.5 carries per season.
In three of the past four seasons, the back with the third-most carries at the position finished close to that number. The lone exception was 2018, when T.J. Pledger had 30 carries for 179 yards.
That season, though, the Sooners had a dynamic runner at quarterback in Kyler Murray, who ran for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns.
While Spencer Rattler came to OU as a dual-threat quarterback, he didn't do a ton of running last season, finishing with 81 carries for 160 yards and six touchdowns. Only once did he finish with more than 40 yards, though—recording 14 carries for 51 yards and a score against Texas.
Taking out sacks, Rattler averaged just under 5.3 carries per game.
Rattler said earlier this week he was much improved as a runner.
“That's something I've tried to strive to get better on in the offseason is my speed and I feel like I've gotten faster,” Rattler said. “I feel like I've gotten stronger with my lower body, so I think we'll see a lot of smart running.
“I'm not going to be trying to run people over, but if I've got to get a first down or get in the end zone, I've gotta do what I've gotta do.”
Here's a look at some others who could be asked to shoulder some of the load carrying the ball this season:
Jaden Knowles, redshirt junior
The first of two 5-foot-7 walk-ons, Knowles was a dynamic runner at Kennedale (Texas) High School, rushing for more than 4,000 yards and 52 touchdowns during his high school career.
He spent two seasons at Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State, rushing for 394 yards and three touchdowns and adding 18 catches for 94 yards combined in 2018-19 before transferring to OU.
Knowles was one of the offensive stars of the spring game, with three carries for 31 yards and a touchdown as well as four catches for 48 yards.
Todd Hudson, redshirt sophomore
The other walk-on, Hudson played in two games last season, with eight carries for 20 yards. All but two of his carries came in the season opener against Missouri State with the others coming in the Cotton Bowl win over Florida.
Outside of Rattler, Hudson had the most carries — and rushing yards — last season among players who return to OU this season.
Like Knowles, Hudson was a high school star in Texas as well, rushing for more than 4,000 yards and 49 touchdowns in his career at Clear Springs High School in League City, Texas.
Jeremiah Hall, redshirt senior
Now it's time to poach from other positions.
Hall is listed as a tight end/H-back, but is more along the lines of the Hback/fullback that's played a big part in making the Sooners' offense as versatile as it's been.
Hall has handled the various roles well, and has seven carries for 28 yards over the last three seasons, though he had just one last year.
“We'll see how it evolves,” Riley said in July of the possibility Hall could see carries this season. “It definitely helps to have versatile players that know your scheme. We had that a few years ago against Iowa State up there when Dimitri (Flowers) had to pop up there and play tailback.”
Riley was referring to a 2016 game at Iowa State, when Samaje Perine was injured and Joe Mixon was out due to suspension, forcing Flowers to carry the load at the spot with some help from true freshman Abdul Adams.
Other options for OU at running back
While Hall seems like the most likely player to shift to running back if such a shift is necessary, there are also reasons to avoid it.
First is Hall's uniqueness and the benefit that brings to the offense. Second, OU is already thin at the position, even before considering the differing skillsets of Hall, Austin Stogner and Brayden Willis.
So who are some other players who could shift over?
Sophomore Brian Darby looks unlikely to get much in the way of regular playing time. Though he played in eight games last season, Darby had only one catch for 14 yards.
Darby was a dual-threat at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas, splitting time between running back and wide receiver, rushing for nearly 700 yards during his career there.
Penn State transfer quarterback Micah Bowens was beaten out for the third-spring spot by walk-on Ralph Rucker, Riley said earlier this week.
Could Bowens be a short-term solution there?
Bowens definitely showed plenty of running ability at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman before spending last season redshirting for the Nittany Lions.
He rushed for more than 1,500 yards and 28 touchdowns over his final two seasons of high school.
At 5-foot-11, 192 pounds, Bowens is lighter than any of the possibilities so far other than Hudson, who weighs 180 pounds.
One other out-of-the-box possibility is freshman receiver Jalil Farooq.
Farooq's chances of contributing at wide receiver this season seem slim, with the depth OU has built there and the fact that did Farooq did not arrive until the summer, but also because his high school didn't play a football season, either last fall or in the spring.
The 6-foot-1, 203-pound Farooq rushed for 668 yards and 11 touchdowns on just 65 carries as a junior in 2019.
Whichever route the Sooners go, they figure to need some creativity at running back to get through the season.
“You have to be ready for anything and everything,” Riley said.