Oklahoma’s offensive line had its struggles last season. The unit fought injuries throughout the season and suffered from inconsistent play as a result.
To fix that unit next season, Oklahoma has been hard at work in the transfer portal, offering and hosting several players on visits last week and over the next several days.
A few days after securing the commitment of Stanford tackle Luke Baklenko , the Sooners added another offensive tackle, this time nabbing Derek Simmons out of Western Carolina.
Simmons played both left and right tackle for the Catamounts in his career, but has mostly played right. He took plenty of snaps at left tackle this season, but Western Carolina would bounce him in between both tackle spots, even midgame.
Which makes his production that much more impressive. Simmons didn’t allow a single sack this season and allowed just 11 pressures.
On film, he’s a physical player with good movement skills. Obviously, this is going to be quite a leap in competition, but he handled himself well against NC State and Arkansas over the last two seasons.
The Sooners mostly have their offensive line settled for next season. I feel confident they are still likely looking for a veteran starter to compete at left tackle with Logan Howland, but beyond that, most of the spots feel settled for next year, barring more portal departures.
The left guard spot is almost assuredly going to be Heath Ozaeta after he closed the season strong. Same at center, as Troy Everett locked that job down with his play down the stretch. Right guard is up in the air, as Febechi Nwaiwu might return, but if not, it’s almost a guarantee rising sophomore Eddy Pierre-Louis has that spot locked down.
Right tackle, where Simmons is likely suiting up at, is still Jake Taylor’s spot until proven otherwise, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Simmons can push him to compete for the starting spot.
It’s a smart strategy that the Sooners added multiple tackles who have experience playing both left and right tackle out of the portal. They got snake-bitten by injuries at the tackle spot this season, so loading up on proven, versatile depth is a prudent adjustment.