Oklahoma Starting 11: Running Back Eric Gray

SI Sooners Examines OU's Best and Brightest Players on the 2022 Roster Heading Into Spring Practice. Today: No. 7, Eric Gray.

John E. Hoover | Mar 16, 2022

When Eric Gray arrived in Norman last season, external expectations on him may have a little unrealistic.

Gray isn’t built like a feature running back, so to think he’d get 250 rushes or go for 1,200 yards probably were lofty, at best. But Gray showed last season he can contribute in a multitude of ways, and he elevated Lincoln Riley’s offense with his intelligence, his versatility and his explosiveness.

Now, with a year under his belt but having to learn a brand new playbook, what are the expectations for Gray in 2022?

Oklahoma Starting 11

Well, the learning part should be no problem.

“Even last year, coming to this new system, he picked it up within a week or two,” said running backs coach DeMarco Murray. “This offense, now we're all learning it together. He may know it better than I do right now.”

With Kennedy Brooks off to the NFL Draft, Gray is new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s most experienced running back. The 5-foot-9, 206-pound Gray carried 78 times for 412 yards and two touchdowns last season for the Sooners, and also contributed 23 receptions for 229 yards and two more TDs.

He saved the best for last, with a season-high 82 yards rushing to go with 25 yards receiving and a touchdown against Oregon in the Alamo Bowl.

And 2021 was a relatively light load. Gray’s two seasons at Tennessee, he got 258 carries for 1,311 yards and eight TDs and also caught 43 passes for 369 yards and three scores.

Eric Gray - WVU — BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-Imagn Content Services, LLC

Eric Gray

Compared with senior Marcus Major (60 carries, 298 yards, three TDs in his career), freshmen Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuck, or walk-ons Jaden Knowles or Todd Hudson, Gray has been a virtual workhorse — and could become one for real this fall.

“He's a pro,” Murray said. “He's extremely sharp in what he does on and off the field, and he's handling it the right way.”

As a consensus 4-star prospect out of Lausanne High School in Memphis, Gray was the No. 2 all-purpose running back prospect in the nation, according to 247 Sports, as well as the No. 2 player in the state of Tennessee. He was a 2019 All-American Bowl performer, was the first three-time winner of the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football Award in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and was the two-time Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year.

Eric Gray - Texas flip — BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

Eric Gray

Gray set the state record for career touchdowns (138), rushed for 2,499 yards as a senior, 3,151 yards as a junior and 2,251 s a sophomore as he led his team to two state championships.

Spring practice will be important for Gray to pick things up — and then teach what he can. Lebby’s offense will utilize tempo to wrack up a lot of plays, so he’ll need strength and endurance. Explosive as he may be, he’ll need to improve his pass blocking this year as left-hander Dillon Gabriel, takes over the offense coming off an injury and with unproven depth behind him.

Offensive coaches expressed how their learning curve for Lebby’s offense has been ramped up. So experienced and mature players like Gray are taking on an even greater role.

“Obviously the new offense, those guys have picked it up very well,” Murray said. “They're kind of holding their own meetings and are being led by Eric Gray.

“He's done a terrific job.”

Published Mar 16, 2022

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.