All Sooners

Oklahoma Camp Questions: Offensive Line

Oklahoma must replace starters to improve on last year's season while simultaneously preparing for its future in the SEC along the offensive line.

Ryan Chapman

John E. Hoover / AllSooners
In this story:

AllSooners breaks down the most important questions for each position going into 2023 training camp. Today: offensive line.

Q: Who is going to start along the interior of the offensive line?

A: Coming out of the Cheez-It Bowl, this felt pretty cut and dry.

Andrew Raym was going to return at center coming off an injury, McKade Mettauer bounced back over to right guard where he played at California, and youngster Savion Byrd was going to step in at left guard.

Raym and Mettauer feel like safe bets — at least for Oklahoma’s season opener against Arkansas State — but a late transfer portal addition could change the pecking order.

The Sooners dipped into the portal to land redshirt sophomore Troy Everett from Appalachian State after spring practice concluded.

Everett was named a second-team Freshman All-American by the Athletic after playing 10 games for the Mountaineers last year.

He has the ability to play a few spots along the interior, including center, which could allow Bedenbaugh to mix and match to get his best five lineman on the field if Everett can win a job in fall camp.

Raym, Mettauer and Byrd have a huge leg up, getting to work all throughout the spring, but the interior of the offensive line was far from perfect a year ago.

Still, Bedenbaugh was pleased with the work Raym and Mettauer put in this spring.

“They did a really good job this offseason,” Bedenbaugh said last April. “We can’t be around (the team) during the offseason and they kind of led the meetings. They did a really good job and it’s showing up on the field.”

Byrd has another straightforward question he’ll have to answer in fall camp to lock down a starting spot as well.

“He’s got to get his weight up,” Bedenbaugh said. “That’s the biggest thing with Savion. He’s learning. He’s doing better. Obviously he hasn’t played a lot, but physical guy, athletic guy. But he has to continue to get his weight up.”

Read More OU Camp Questions:

Q: Can the new pair of offensive tackles pick up right where Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris left off?

A: There should be enough experience so that the tackles will again be the strength of the offensive line.

Tyler Guyton got a good bit of experience last year after transferring to Oklahoma from TCU, starting the first three games of the season and in the Cheez-It Bowl.

The 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive tackle played the entirety of the first two contests and battled Florida State for four quarters, showing off NFL-caliber athleticism that has to excite Bedenbaugh.

After a year of refining his technique, Guyton will have a chance to put it all together to protect quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s blind side throughout the 2023 campaign.

Across from him, the Sooners added a wealth of experience in Stanford transfer Walter Rouse.

Walter Rouse
Walter Rouse / Stanford University Athletics

A four-year starter for the Cardinal, Rouse won’t have to get adjusted to life in the Power 5 or anything of the sort.

Instead, he’ll just have to unlearn the bad habits he said he picked up while playing hurt as he recovered this spring from a torn labrum.

Rouse wasn’t cleared for contact until the end of spring, however, so he’ll have to translate all the mental work he put in to pick up Jeff Lebby’s offense this spring into action on the field throughout fall camp.

Q: Can Oklahoma develop its young depth to be SEC-ready up front in 2024?

A: If Brent Venables’ defense can make the necessary improvements on the field — yes.

There is plenty of talent waiting in the wings with the likes of Jake Taylor, Jacob Sexton, Joshua Bates, Cayden Green, Logan Howland and others, but the Sooners could again be in a spot to replace three members of the offensive line next season.

Cayden Green
Cayden Green :: John E. Hoover / AllSooners

Mettauer and Rouse will graduate, and a strong season from Guyton could see him test the NFL waters. Raym also can enter the draft at the conclusion of the 2023 season, but he would have to stay healthy all season and make massive gains to garner the kind of attention from the league to leave Norman this offseason.

That puts a lot of pressure on Bedenbaugh to not only see his young understudies make strides behind the scenes, but find a way to insert them into games in 2023.

If the defense can take steps forward to help OU breeze through the non-conference, there should be plenty of chances for the youth movement to come alive in fourth quarters this September.

But if Oklahoma’s defensive struggles from last year’s conference slate reappear, it will be difficult for OU to pull away in enough Big 12 games to hand the backups significant snaps in 2023 to prepare them for the SEC grind ahead. 

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

Home/Football