How Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold is Creating Value for Himself in Fall Camp
NORMAN — Oklahoma’s coaching staff hasn’t bothered hiding their excitement for true freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold.
Before fall camp even got rolling, OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby tipped Arnold as the future face of the program, high praise for the former 5-star recruit after only participating in spring football and summer workouts.
Fans don’t have to dive too deep into Arnold’s high school film to see why Lebby has raved time and time again about the freshman, but Arnold won’t have to feel tons of pressure to contribute in Year 1.
Dillon Gabriel returns for his second year at Oklahoma and third year playing under Lebby. He’s completed 61.3 percent of his career passes, throwing for 11,205 yards, 95 touchdowns and only 20 interceptions in 38 combined games for the Sooners and UCF Knights.
Knowing Gabriel is the starter, Arnold has been able to take a step back and observe how he carries himself while getting acclimated to college football.
“Just learning from him and watching his game has helped me out a ton,” Arnold said last week. “Just little things that he does, whether it's footwork or whether it's reads. I can ask him — 'What'd you see there? Why'd you do this? Why'd you do that?' And it's helped me out a lot so far.”
Oklahoma quarterbacks Jackson Arnold (10) and Dillon Gabriel (8) as the Sooners opened fall camp.
Ryan Chapman / AllSooners.com
Gabriel’s leadership has helped Arnold in a variety of ways, from learning the playbook to surviving his first set of summer workouts with strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt.
Since arriving in January, Arnold said he’s put on 13 pounds.
“I mean, you all hear the stories (about Schmidt), extremely intense,” Arnold said. “But every day you have to have a mindset where you’re just attacking the day. You know the running’s going to suck, that’s part of it. So you got to go out and just have a mindset and just get through it. Not get through it, but attack it and finish the run.”
The work ethic and mental toughness instilled by Schmidt has helped Arnold in other areas, too.
He’s continued to study opposing defenses throughout the summer, and the mental leaps Arnold has taken have helped him continue to settle in and improve throughout his first fall camp.
“Not only ID'ing coverages and fronts on the defense but learning our own playbook,” Arnold said. “It was hard for me in the spring, just because I'd learn the plays the night before … We'd get our install in the next morning or the next evening we'd go out and practice the plays and I'd never ran them before.
“So just getting the whole playbook down, the mental aspect of it down, and getting the experience has been really helpful for me so far.”
The ability to dive deeper into the playbook while also continuing to adjust to the speed of OU’s defense in practice has been an ongoing process, but Arnold already feels improvement since his introduction to college football in spring ball.
“Knowing the playbook is huge, but it’s also the experience too,” Arnold said. “Just going through spring, playing against our defense, seeing what our defense runs, fronts, coverages, all that. Getting used to that, has helped me out tremendously this fall camp.”
The Sooners will hope Arnold doesn’t have to be called into playing major snaps this year.
But he’s hard at work laying the groundwork for the future, and he’s ready for his number to be called — regardless of the timeline.
“Jackson is anxious and eager,” OU head coach Brent Venables said before fall camp kicked off. “He’s willing to be led as well, willing to learn and grow. He didn’t come in as a guy that has all the answers. I love that. Humility, but ambition too.
“He’s very ambitious. He’s trying to create an opportunity for himself and a role for himself and be the guy. I love that.”
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