Oklahoma Senior TE Brayden Willis Ready to Reintroduce Himself After Injury-Riddled Season

After only playing in five games in 2020, the senior tight end/h-back is looking to remind everyone what he brings to the table in 2021.

One of Oklahoma’s most solid position groups year-in and year-out has been the tight end/h-back room where the Sooners continue to churn out multiple quality options at that spot each and every season.

Heading into 2021, Oklahoma once again provides a fantastic trio of playmakers under new tight ends and h-backs coach Joe Jon Finley.

Jeremiah Hall is the veteran who every Sooner fan knows well at this point. Hall just flat helps the team win both off the field and on it with a leadership presence that is easy to feel when hearing him talk about the team. Head coach Lincoln Riley bringing him to July’s Big 12 Media Days speaks to that.

Jeremiah Hall :: John Hoover / SI Sooners

Then there is the junior Austin Stogner who, when healthy, is elite at his position and continues to develop great chemistry with quarterback Spencer Rattler. If Stogner can stay on the field, most everyone expects big things out of the Plano, TX product in 2021.

And then there is the somewhat forgotten man in senior Brayden Willis.

Willis was only able to play in five games a year ago after battling injuries, which can be hard on any player mentally who is trying to carve out a role for themselves. But the desire to live up to his position-mates' standards drove him forward.

“It was really my teammates,” Willis said when asked this week about what helped him get through the time missing action last year. “I have a fear of letting my teammates down. I don’t want to let my teammates down, my coaching staff down.

“Throughout that whole time in getting ready back to play after the weeks I missed, I just wanted to be in the best shape possible after that injury. To be able to contribute to the team and help us win the Big 12, win a bowl game and everything like that. The answer is the fear of letting my teammates down.”

Willis enters the new season with a determination to reintroduce himself to the college football world after a somewhat lost year. The player who battled injuries and missed time is gone, with a fresh, new Willis now ready to attack a brand new season.

Brayden Willis :: Joshua R. Gateley / OU Athletics

With that, the senior decided a change was needed. So, he switched up his uniform number from his previous No. 81 to the No. 9 jersey he will be donning on Sept. 4's season opener.

“After the injury last year, I just needed a new slate,” Willis said about the number change. “I wanted to turn a new page and reinvent myself a little bit. I was a single-digit in high school. I just wanna, for my last year, have a really good year and have a new page and reinvent myself a little bit.”

While Hall and Stogner are the more well-known faces of the group, Willis is here to remind everyone what he is capable of when he is given the opportunity to do so.

In 2019, he caught 11 passes for three touchdowns. Last year, in just five games, he made another nine grabs with another score. He has only scratched the surface on the impact he can have.

But, there can only be so many snaps for him with two other guys at the same position the caliber of Hall and Stogner. But the competitiveness for playing time and to match each other just brings out the best in all three.

“All of us are competitive, as you probably can see throughout some of the games and everything like that,” Willis said. “All of us are competitive but it doesn't take a toll on our friendship at all. All of us are competitive and it really makes us elevate our game, which is honestly the best type of competition right there.

“If a guy makes a play in practice, then you've gotta make a play in practice, too. If a guy makes a great block in practice, you've gotta make a great block too. So it really is an iron sharpens iron situation. It just makes all of us better honestly.”

While there are some understandable depth concerns with just three realistic options at the position, two of which have battled injuries just as recently as last year, it is inarguable that the three players, when healthy, are all legitimate No. 1 options for a contending team.

“As far as our depth goes, I think we’re going to be fine,” Willis said. “I think we’re good with three guys. I think we’re fine with three guys. We just need to stay healthy, and we’re going to be fine. Three guys are more than enough for us to compete and produce and stuff like that.”

Brayden Willis :: Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman

Time will tell for how the season will unfold and what kind of impact Willis will be able to have on the field in 2021. But what seems certain is that he, along with Hall and Stogner, seem more than ready to make the tight end/h-back room a significant strength for the Sooners once again.

“Our offense as a whole is already potent and lethal as it is,” Willis said. “But I think if all of us stay healthy, I think it’s just going to add to it. We all bring such different elements as players, and I think that can really make us to the standard of college football.

“If we all stay healthy, which so far is looking good, haven’t had any problems. It’s going to be a really good thing for this team.”

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