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Oklahoma Lands Another Offensive Lineman from the Transfer Portal

The Sooners have added versatile Derek Simmons, a three-year starter at Western Carolina and Abilene Christian.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma offensive lineman Derek Simmons
Oklahoma offensive lineman Derek Simmons / Derek Simmons via Twitter/X
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Oklahoma has added to its 2025 transfer class with another important piece.

Versatile offensive lineman Derek Simmons is the newest Sooner — and will be a part of new quarterback John Mateer’s protection detail next season.

Simmons, a graduate student who turns 23 next month, was a starter at FCS Western Carolina the last two seasons after starting for one season at FCS Abilene Christian. He began his college football career at Division II Tusculum following a decorated prep career at Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, FL, near Jacksonville. 

Simmons announced on Nov. 26 that he was entering the portal, and told Rivals on Dec. 1 that “Fifteen schools offered me on that first day (in the transfer portal,” including Pittsburgh, Houston, North Carolina State, Michigan State and Duke. Then came offers from Toledo, Western Kentucky and South Florida, as well as Fresno State, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Florida State, Kentucky. He received his offer from Oklahoma on Dec. 9.

“Those big schools are kind of what put me in the race to where I am now,” he said.

Rivals ranks Simmons as the No. 29 overall player in the transfer portal class of 2025 and rates him as a 4-star prospect. He ranks No. 125 overall among portal prospects, per 247 Sports, and On3 ranks him as the No. 109 overall player, a 3-star prospect.

The 6-foot-6, 325-pound Simmons will have one year of eligibility left to play in 2025.

Simmons played left tackle, right tackle and even right guard during his time with the Catamounts, but also missed stretches of games due to injury.

He played in nine games this season, registering 665 total snaps (612 on offense), according to Pro Football Focus. 

In 417 pass blocking plays, Simmons allowed zero quarterback sacks, two hits, nine hurries and 11 pressures, per PFF.  

In 2023, Simmons started just six games before missing the back half of the season. He finished with 400 total snaps (366 on offense).

Simmons sat out the 2022 season after transferring  from Abilene Christian, where he played 600 snaps in 2021 (all on offense) across 12 games.

In his three seasons in Division I FCS, Simmons has logged 1,579 career snaps and posted PFF grades of 82.3 as a pass blocker and 74.4 as a run blocker. He’s given up just one sack in 947 pass blocking assignments, two hits, 18 hurries and 21 pressures.

The Oklahoma offensive line has been in disarray since replacing all five starters from the 2023 squad.

Bill Bedenbaugh tried eight different combinations during the first nine games this season before settling on a starting five, but that’s subject to change moving forward. 

Six offensive linemen (three walk-ons) have entered the transfer portal from this year’s team, including former starters Joshua Bates (center) and Geirean Hatchett (guard), as well as promising 4-star freshmen Eugene Brooks.

Simmons is the second offensive lineman to choose OU out of the portal, joining tackle Luke Baklenko (Stanford). Following Mateer’s addition on Wednesday night, Simmons joins an incoming portal class that now numbers six: Mateer, Baklenko, punter Jacob Ulrich (Kennesaw State) and wide receivers Javonnie Gibson (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and Keontez Lewis (Southern Illinois).

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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