What Mikey Henderson's Dismissal Means for the Oklahoma Roster Moving Forward

Henderson is the second running back to get dismissed from the team this offseason.

Oklahoma running back Mikey Henderson was dismissed from the team on Tuesday evening shortly after SI Sooners’ report that an arrest warrant request had been submitted for Henderson for his involvement in an April 15 armed robbery that resulted in the dismissal of both Trejan Bridges and Seth McGowan.

All three of Henderson, Bridges and McGowan were offensive players for the Sooners with Henderson and McGowan both being in the same position group at running back. Understandably, this puts Oklahoma in a little bit of a bind with their roster construction - but not nearly as bad as it could be.

Mikey Henderson / Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports

While losing two players at an injury-prone position is far from ideal, the Sooners very wisely made two significant transfer additions this offseason bringing in Eric Gray from Tennessee and Tre Bradford from LSU.

“The first word that comes to mind about Eric Gray is a pro,” running backs coach DeMarco Murray said during spring practices. “He's a true pro on and off the field. He's a guy that shows up early, stays late, extremely smart. The transition for him offensively, scheme-wise has been very, honestly, easy for him.

“And our offense is extremely complicated. I'm still obviously learning every day. You can just kinda tell his professionalism and his approach to the game, and what he wants to accomplish. It's been great. He's a heck of a player. Great person, great young man. We're fortunate to have him here.”

Those additions are large in their own right as both Gray and Bradford are quality players with Gray seemingly poised for a huge year right away in 2021. But, when factoring in the subtractions of Henderson and McGowan, they loom even larger.

To put it in the most simplistic way possible, Oklahoma has essentially gone from a group of Rhamondre Stevenson, Seth McGowan and Mikey Henderson at last season’s end to a group of Kennedy Brooks, Eric Gray and Tre Bradford along with redshirt sophomore Marcus Major.

Eric Gray :: Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports

There is a pretty easy argument to be made that the 2021 group is actually quite a bit stronger on paper. But, the issue moving forward is going to be a question of depth.

As long as the Sooners can remain healthy, they will be fine at the running back position this upcoming season. But the margin for error with injuries is relatively slim at a spot that has seen its fair share of players go down over the years.

It is also worth noting that Henderson was an h-back in 2020 and was making the transition to running back for the upcoming season. The notion he would have jumped right into a new position and been a big time contributor right away isn’t entirely accurate, as he likely would have only gotten a handful of carries throughout the year.

Where Henderson’s departure does potentially hurt, outside of the depth concerns this year already touched on, could be in the seasons ahead.

Oklahoma has exciting young running backs coming in and have some on the roster currently, but in the next year or two the Sooners may wish they still had Henderson, or McGowan, on the roster.

Seth McGowan :: Joshua R. Gateley / OU Athletics

Lincoln Riley moved Henderson to that room for a reason, he felt it would be useful there down the road. Now, that is suddenly no longer in the future plans.

Essentially, the 2021 iteration of the Sooners will be fine without Henderson as he likely wasn’t going to be that large of a contributor right away at a new position. The issue could lie in 2022 or even 2023 depending on how things shake out moving forward.

Time will tell the ripple effects of losing two running backs in one offseason will have, but for now, Oklahoma still looks poised to have a fantastic running game and an overall superb roster this year as they chase the program’s elusive eighth national title.