{"id":7042,"date":"2025-01-08T10:40:56","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T10:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=7042"},"modified":"2025-01-08T10:40:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T10:40:56","slug":"just-analyzing-oklahomas-greatest-transfer-portal-needs-post-winter-window","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=7042","title":{"rendered":"JUST IN: Analyzing Oklahoma\u2019s Greatest Transfer Portal Needs Post Winter Window"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

NORMAN \u2014 After the transfer portal\u2019s winter window closed, Oklahoma\u2019s losses outweigh its gains.<\/p>\n

So far, the Sooners have seen 26 players from the 2024 roster enter the portal while picking up 14 newcomers.<\/p>\n

OU has bolstered its class in recent days, picking up a few players from power four conferences. The Sooners snagged wide receiver\u00a0Josiah Martin<\/strong>\u00a0from Cal a few days before gaining commitments from Florida State defensive end\u00a0Marvin Jones Jr.<\/strong>\u00a0and Oklahoma State linebacker\u00a0Kendal Daniels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Jones and Daniels are Oklahoma’s first two defensive additions. Per 247 Sports, Oklahoma currently has the No. 14 portal class nationally and the ninth-best class in the SEC.<\/p>\n

Here are a few areas the Sooners still need help:<\/p>\n

Cornerback<\/h2>\n

With just two defensive commitments from the transfer portal, every defensive position can use reinforcements \u2014 but cornerback is one that stands out.<\/p>\n

The Sooners won\u2019t have 2024 senior cornerback\u00a0Woodi Washington<\/strong>\u00a0or portal departure\u00a0Kani Walker\u00a0<\/strong>next year, leaving one starting spot open. On the other side is rising sophomore\u00a0Eli Bowen<\/strong>, who broke out with 20 solo tackles, two tackles for loss, four pass breakups and an interception in 2024.<\/p>\n

While the Sooners largely improved defensively in 2024, the secondary is an area that struggled.<\/p>\n

Report: Oklahoma Lands Key Defensive Transfer From In-State Rival<\/strong><\/p>\n

OU finished 43rd nationally in passing defense, allowing 203.2 passing yards per contest. The Sooners also averaged just 0.7 passes intercepted per game, which was tied for 91st in the nation.<\/p>\n

OU already has a safety group with significant experience and production under its belt. Safety\u00a0Robert Spears-Jennings<\/strong>\u00a0finished tied for sixth in the nation with four forced fumbles in 2024, and\u00a0Peyton Bowen<\/strong>\u00a0notched 33 total tackles this year.<\/p>\n

Adding a ballhawk cornerback to that group could greatly bolster OU\u2019s pass defense.<\/p>\n

Defensive tackle<\/h2>\n

With\u00a0Damonic Williams<\/strong>,\u00a0Gracen Halton<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Jayden Jackson<\/strong>\u00a0all slotted to return in 2025, the Sooners have plenty of experience on the interior of their defensive line. Williams and Halton both played more than 400 snaps in 2024, while Jackson was just below that at 387.<\/p>\n

Still, adding another pass rusher wouldn\u2019t hurt for the Sooners.<\/p>\n

The Sooners made a splash at the defensive end position on Monday by picking up a commitment from Jones, who logged four forced fumbles and a sack in 2024. Jones will pair with\u00a0R Mason Thomas\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 who recently announced that he\u2019ll play for OU in 2025 and wait on the NFL \u2014 on the other end.<\/p>\n

Williams and Halton have Pro Football Focus defensive grades above 70, while Jackson\u2019s is just below at 69.7. This means that, in addition to significant experience in 2024, that position group has a lot of skill.<\/p>\n

While everyone is waiting for 5-star\u00a0David Stone<\/strong>\u00a0to explode into the lineup, adding another piece to the mix would make OU\u2019s defensive line even saltier.<\/p>\n

Linebacker<\/h2>\n

OU\u2019s addition of Daniels through the transfer portal significantly bolsters the linebacker group. But it wouldn\u2019t hurt to add another to the corps.<\/p>\n

The Sooners will be without All-American\u00a0Danny Stutsman<\/strong>, who was a senior in 2024. They also lost linebackers\u00a0Dasan McCullough<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Lewis Carter<\/strong>\u00a0to the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

2024-25 Oklahoma Transfer Portal Tracker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kobie McKinzie<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Kip Lewis<\/strong>\u00a0have both played key roles on OU\u2019s defense in each of the last two seasons, and they should do the same in 2025. But aside from those two and Daniels, there isn\u2019t a whole lot of experience at the position.<\/p>\n

Adding one more experienced linebacker to the mix would give the Sooners one of the deepest linebacker rooms in the SEC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NORMAN \u2014 After the transfer portal\u2019s winter window closed, Oklahoma\u2019s losses outweigh its gains. So far, the Sooners have seen 26 players from the 2024 roster enter the portal while picking up 14 newcomers. OU has bolstered its class in recent days, picking up a few players from power four conferences. The Sooners snagged wide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-more-sport"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-300x169.webp",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"large":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"jnews-360x180":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-360x180.webp",360,180,true],"jnews-750x375":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-720x375.webp",720,375,true],"jnews-1140x570":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"jnews-120x86":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-120x86.webp",120,86,true],"jnews-350x250":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-350x250.webp",350,250,true],"jnews-750x536":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"jnews-1140x815":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"jnews-360x504":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-360x405.webp",360,405,true],"jnews-75x75":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-75x75.webp",75,75,true],"jnews-350x350":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat-350x350.webp",350,350,true],"jnews-featured-750":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false],"jnews-featured-1140":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp",720,405,false]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Newssoccer","author_link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?author=1"},"category_info":"Blog<\/a> MORE SPORT<\/a>","tag_info":"MORE SPORT","comment_count":"0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/01jgykhrbr27fhan5wat.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7044,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions\/7044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}