How Oklahoma DB Kendel Dolby Carved Out a Role in Brent Venables' Defense
Early in the season, Oklahoma dealt with multiple injuries to Brent Venables' beloved "Cheetah" position.
After making his first appearance in the Crimson and Cream against Arkansas State, Indiana transfer Dasan McCullough missed multiple games with an ankle injury. Redshirt senior defensive back Justin Harrington was the team's starting Cheetah until an injury against Tulsa ended the 6-foot-3 veteran's season.
While McCullough has been back in the lineup for multiple weeks, the Sooners have seen another first-year player step up in Harrington's absence: junior defensive back Kendel Dolby.
"He's doing great," redshirt senior cornerback Woodi Washington said. "I feel like he found himself at (the Cheetah) position, and he’s doing a real good job of just locking into the details he needs to lock into and just keep making plays."
Dolby arrived in Norman this offseason after spending two years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Originally from Springfield, OH, the 5-foot-11, 181-pound DB has already played his way onto the field in his first year with the program.
Not only has he gotten onto the field, in the Sooners' past two games, Dolby has made huge plays that have had a massive impact on the contest's outcome.
Against Texas, the junior college transfer grabbed his second interception of the season when the Longhorns were deep in OU territory to prevent Quinn Ewers and company from putting any points on the scoreboard.
Last weekend, Dolby dragged down UCF wide receiver Xavier Townsend behind the line of scrimmage on a two-point conversion play that would have tied the game late in the fourth quarter.
"To Dolby’s credit, he’s been involved in several big plays," defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. "A guy that moved positions and has done a good job working at the Cheetah spot and continuing to develop and get better. He’s going to continue to do that, because he’s another guy that, again, prideful and humble at the same time.”
Dolby has found more time on the field as he has begun to learn the Cheetah position. Filling in for Harrington, the junior from Ohio has seen his role continue to grow as the season progresses.
Now, it seems like Dolby is prepared to become a regular contributor on the Sooners' defense.
“Yeah he’s been improving every single week," sophomore cornerback Gentry Williams said. "I think he’s done an excellent job of doing what he needs to do on the field. That cheetah position, I think he’s in a great role, he loves it. He’s playing really fast. He’s playing smart as well, I’m happy for him.”
Dolby and McCullough seem to compliment each other well, just like Harrington and McCullough did. While McCullough is the better run defender, Harrington, and now Dolby, is the better option when defending against passing schemes due to their background as defensive backs.
While Harrington is around four inches taller than Dolby, the former NEO standout is still able to hold his own at the Cheetah position.
"I think it has been like the perfect combination what we have going on right now," McCullough said after practice on Monday. "From a man-on-man perspective, he’s really good at coverage. And then with run down situation, anytime it might be 12 (personnel), putting me in there. It’s just a great combination, for sure."
The Sooners will need both McCullough and Dolby to play well this weekend, as Oklahoma travels to Lawrence to take on another explosive and tricky offense in the Kansas Jayhawks.
So far this season, Lance Leipold's team is 5-2 with losses to Texas and Oklahoma State. Kansas is averaging 35.4 points and over 443 yards of offense per game in 2023, one of the highest outputs in the Big 12.
Against Oklahoma State, who is in the midst of a three-game win streak, backup quarterback Jason Bean threw for a whopping 410 yards and five touchdowns. On Thursday, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Bean will get the start against Oklahoma this weekend.
Bean has racked up 913 passing yards and nine touchdowns to just two interceptions in four starts this season, completing over 65% of his passes.
After the Sooners allowed 29 points and 397 total yards to UCF last weekend, OU's defense will have another tough test on Saturday.
"Adversity is going to happen," Dolby said after the victory over Central Florida. "Coach V preaches that all the time. Next play – that’s our mindset."
If Oklahoma is able to avoid some of the mental mistakes that cost them against the Golden Knights, they should be able to corral the Jayhawks offense enough to escape Lawrence with a comfortable win.
For Dolby, the junior defender will continue to get meaningful snaps at the Cheetah position and, as a result, will be one of the key pieces in Venables' defense moving forward.
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