NFL Reports, if the Sooners pass on this guy. We need to get him!
With what is returning and coming in next season through the 2024 recruiting class and the transfer portal, the Oklahoma football offense appears to have its traditional fire power.
It will be sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold’s team next season, and he should have plenty of offensive weapons on the ground and through the air to choose from. That complement of talent will be even further enhanced if wide-receiver Jalil Farooq decides to come back.
Farooq acknowledged this week that he plans to play in the Sooners’ bowl game against Arizona, but beyond that he’s not sure about his future plans.
“”I haven’t decided, ” the OU junior receiver told reporters this week. He tempered that, however, by saying, “I feel like I’m going to stay most likely.””
Farooq’s return would be a giant addition to the Sooner offense as it begins play next season in the ultra-competitive SEC. Farooq’s contributions go beyond catching passes. He returns kickoffs and also is utilized in running plays.
This season, Farooq was second on the team with 41 receptions and third in receiving yards with 637 and a couple of touchdowns. He also carried the ball 17 times in running plays, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
If Farooq ultimately decides to follow his leanings and come back for another season, the Sooners will return seven of their top-10 receivers plus the additions from the transfer portal and the incoming recruiting class, which features three four-star wide-receiver prospects (Zion Kearney, Ivan Carreon and Zion Ragins) and one three-star (KJ Daniels).
Earlier this week, Oklahoma added Purdue transfer Deion Burks, an All-Big Ten second-team selection this season. He has two years
Oklahoma football: Be careful of over/underrating 2024 Sooners based on Alamo Bowl
Oklahoma football: Be careful of over/underrating 2024 Sooners based on Alamo Bowl
When the Oklahoma football team takes the field at the Alamodome in San Antionio, Texas, on Dec. 28 against No. 14 Arizona, it will have been over a month since both teams last played.
That length of time off always makes for some uncertainty not knowing what impact the long layoff might have on the play of either team. You can’t simulate game speed and action in practice, and with that much time off since the last game, you would logically expect the timing and execution not to be quite as sharp as it was at the end of the regular season.
Compounding that situation is the modern-day problem of not having your full roster available for the bowl game — not just due to injury but because of opting out to avoid an injury that could affect NFL Draft status or, even more so in this day and age, because of the decision to transfer.
With the plethora of bowl games that exist today (43 including the national championship game), the vast majority are relatively meaningless from a national point of view. They do have value, of course, to the schools that have been rewarded with an extra game over the holidays, but it is difficult to predict how a team might perform next season based on the outcome of the of a bowl game, especially one outside of the teams still in the hunt for a national title.
Oklahoma is the second-ranked team in the Big 12 as well as in the final Big 12 standings. But the Sooners have been relegated to the Alamo Bowl, which is a bowl at least a level below a New Year’s Six bowl assignment. OU will not have a full complement of players, including starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who entered the transfer portal and has committed to the Oregon Ducks for a sixth season.
The Sooners will be without several other players who have opted for the transfer portal, while 14th-ranked Arizona is expected to be at virtually full strength for the Alamo Bowl matchup with OU. As a result, the Sooners are a 3.5 underdog to Arizona, which finished the regular season with six straight wins.
Freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold, the OU quarterback of the future, will be getting the start against Arizona, his first career start. If the Sooners don’t win the game, there will be widespread speculation their immediate future is not as bright as some experts would lead you to believe.
Oklahoma can be expected to play hard and play to win in its Alamo Bowl matchup. The problem is the Sooners will be going up against one of the hottest teams in the country at the end of the regular season. If Arizona were to win, however, as the Big 12-bound Wildcats are favored to do so, some will immediately jump to the conclusion that the Sooners are not as good as their 10-2 record indicates and are in for a big shock next season in their inaugural year in the talent-loaded SEC.
One or both of those deductions might be true, but the reality is the outcome of the Alamo Bowl game — and any postseason bowl game, for that matter — has absolutely no bearing on past success or what is to come in the season ahead in 2024, though some will surely want to make it so.
Although on the rise and measurably better than a year ago, the Sooners are nowhere near where they want or need to be to seriously compete with the best teams in the SEC. On the backbone of two consecutive highly ranked recruiting classes, head coach Brent Venables and his staff appear to have OU back on track and headed for future success.
The Alamo Bowl and an opponent like Arizona is a reward for the Sooners 2023 success but is not a valid predictor of what can Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators’ opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
