Most underutilized player at OU

[Collier11]

Yep, another list...keep in mind that by underutilized I mean someone who should have been a star if handled right or under diff circumstances...aka bad coaching(not being a thug and getting kicked off). My time frame is only from late-80's to present so some of you may have players that aren't as recent and that is fine!

Brandon daniels-if he had played for Stoops all 4 years he would have been an all-american IMO

Ontei Jones-yea he was good but I think under Stoops for all 4 years he could have been great

Justin Fuente-can you imagine if Leach had gotten a hold of him

JD Runnels-Great Great blocker but I seriously think Stoops and the gang could have gotten alot more out of him offensively

Chris Chester-I dont know if underutilized is the right word, but if we could have given him 4 years at OL he would have been great

Clint Ingram-I know he followed many good LB's but how did that guy only start one year?

Brandon Jones-maybe playing with Clayton hurt a little but he was the ultimate deep threat his Junior year...then barely anything


bring them on fellas...I know some of you alls memories are better than mine

[Jello Biafra]

fuente, as good as he was/could have been, probably would not have been able to unseat number 14 in 99.


agree with you about runnels.....could have been soooo much more.


chester arrived on campus as a 225-235 lb tight end if i remember correctly. certainly wouldn't want to have a kid playing line that gained 70lbs or so in less than a year........that would mean one of two things, banned substances or large amounts of fat.....


jones suffered from lazy pass patterns if i remember correctly. he only ran a good, hard route when he knew the ball was coming towards him......

[Rhino]

Ontei Jones-yea he was good but I think under Stoops for all 4 years he could have been great

Chris Chester-I dont know if underutilized is the right word, but if we could have given him 4 years at OL he would have been great

Clint Ingram-I know he followed many good LB's but how did that guy only start one year? These are the three I'll nitpick.

Ontei was a manimal under Rex Ryan's 46 defense (I think he had 120+ tackles), where he basically filled the role of a small linebacker. He was moved to DB under Stoops and had a few anger issues. If he could have played his whole career the way he played in the MNC game, he would have gone down as one of the best DBs to ever play at OU.

As Jello said, Chester was a 230lb+ TE when he arrived on campus. He wasn't even being considered for OL until late 2003 when he played in the second half of the 77-0 A&M blowout. He was a backup to Vince Carter in 2004 and finally got to start in the 2005 year. Honestly, I still can't believe how high the Ravens are on him, but maybe he's a late bloomer like Priest Holmes was for the Chiefs.

Ingram hit like a mack truck in spring ball, but his biggest problem at OU was not being able to gain weight. He was too far back in the depth chart as a WLB, so they tried to make him a MLB. But, he just stayed at 215-220. He was finally moved to SLB his senior year and was very solid.

[boomersooner28]

One other that sticks out to me is Russell Dennison. Great special teams guy but didn't see much action at LB. When he did get his brief moments at the end of regulation in blowouts, he put the hurtin on people. I will never forget the end of the 65-13 texass blowout, Russell blew up the TB on back to back plays at the end of the game.

[IronHorseSooner]

Joe Jon Finley is a current one who comes to mind. He has the physical gifts to be all-Big XII, but KW either can't or won't get him involved into the offense.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

star under different circumstances-Tashard Choice is a star now under different circumstances...Maybe D. Hickson.....Maybe 25 or 30 different receivers during the Switzer days..

[King Crimson]

i still don't understand why we don't line up Hickson in the AD position and pitch the ball to him in the RRS in 05. at least we are still running an offense instead of that crap we try. Bomar is throwing the ball in the dirt on swing passes. of course D doesn't help us since everyone on planet earth knows UT will take a shot at the endzone before halftime....and somehow our db's are ten yards behind Sweed or whoever it was after biting the fake.

sure, Hickson has fumble issues, but he's also the only guy on the team who could break one.

[King Crimson]

sort of agree about Joe Jon. Merv is on record in an interview at the scout board wondering why we don't use the TE position more.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

If you listen to Merv on the radio he carries on about not using the TE

[mikeelikee]

The tight end named (insert any current or former player's name here).

[Soonerus]

Eric Mitchel...

[LittleWingSooner]

Under Stoops it's probably JD Runnels. Joe Jon Finley is another good pick right now. We just don't use tight ends anymore.

You can pick a player under Blake. I'll say one that ended up getting a lot of great numbers. De'Mond Parker. Imagine him under a better system? He may have gotten 2000 yards in 3 seasons instead of just over 1k. But just about anyone is good to pick from this era. As much as I have criticized the last few years of Stoops(and much of it is well deserved IMO) Blake was much worse.

Schnelly wasn't around enough to have anyone.

Gibbs it's gotta be Cale Gundy. He was a good QB but I don't think he was ever fully realized at OU.

I think Switzer you have to go with some backups that didn't get to play because we were so good. But that's not really the fault of players or coaching. Eric Mitchel just wasn't near as good as Jamelle. But there's also some other backup running backs that ended up transferring. Marcus Dupree is one that just quit before his potential was realized.

[47straight]

Brandon Daniels.

I'm just glad he had a season under Stoops as a reward of a sane season for all he went through.

[insuranceman_22]

Anybody remember what Daniels did against Notre Dame.....two returns for TD's I think, he kept us in the game. Dude had some talent.

[47straight]

Anybody remember what Daniels did against Notre Dame.....two returns for TD's I think, he kept us in the game. Dude had some talent.

A buddy of mine was a walk-on at Notre Dame, first walk-on since Rudy to get playing time (mostly on special teams). He talked about whiffing big-time on one of Daniels' returns, getting nothing but air.

[goingoneight]

J.D. Runnels in recent memory... I never saw that guy drop a pass and he was pretty good at running for a hefty guy. I guess you have to gameplan and utilize his unreal blocking skills in order to get the most out of the backs we've had, though.

Keith Jackson among the WRs Switzer had. Outstanding receiving TE. Once again, it was the style of offense... and nothing wrong with winning, what... 33 games at OU for KJ?

Although he transferred out, I felt we should have used Aikman for what he was good for, he was a meh wishbone QB. But one of the most accurate QBs to ever play the game at the next level.

[snp]

I think we misused Clayton. I love the way Florida uses Percy Harvin and they have a really similar skill set. Line up in the backfield a few plays and get a few runs.


Joe Jon Finley is a current one who comes to mind. He has the physical gifts to be all-Big XII, but KW either can't or won't get him involved into the offense.

I don't know if it's really fair to throw Wilson under the bus just yet for not getting the ball to the TE more. He's been pretty limited by his QBs and looks like that might be the case for another year.

I hope that in 4 years when we have this thread again Gresham isn't even being considered.

[rhombic21]

I'll limit my comments to the Stoops era, since that's all I can speak about from firsthand observation.

JeJuan Rankins. He made a TON of plays in 2003, and then we don't even play him in the Sugar Bowl vs LSU? Then he basically disappeared in 2004 after threatening to transfer in fall camp. In 2005 he was poised to be a starter along with Travis Wilson, but spent almost the whole year injured. I remember watching him in 2003 and thinking he was going to be a mini-Mark Clayton by the time he graduated, and it just never happened.

I echo the Chris Chester comment. Not so much about starting him at OL his entire career, but he definitely should have been the starter at Center coming into the 2005 season. I'm still trying to figure out what the coach's facination with Chris Bush at center was. Chester was clearly a better player at Center, and we didn't recognize it until a few games into the season, and then he got hurt. If he starts the year out at Center, the TCU game could have turned out totally differently, because Bush got dominated virtually every play that game.

Davin Joseph -- Played him out of position his entire senior year. Somehow we decided that we were better off with him being mediocre at Tackle instead of dominating at Guard (where he now plays in the NFL). They had that Bret Rayl kid who came in and played very well against Kansas when Joseph got injured, and they had Duke Robinson working at tackle that year, so they definitely had options to go with.

The whole management of the 2005 OL was terrible.

Jerad Estes. I'm not saying that he should have unseated Quentin as a starter in 2001, but he should have gotten more PT. Q was hurt for a lot of that year, and we were hurting for a runner that could make solid yards between the tackles. Estes was a classic I-Formation slashing type tailback with pretty good speed -- I remember him having a great spring game that year. At the very least they should have worked him in the game as a situational player.

Renaldo Works. Same story as Estes. Had some great games against lesser teams as a freshman and sophomore (and made the two plays that saved the 'Bama game in '02), but we almost never played him once we got to the meat of the schedule until '03, when he finally got his chance to play more. He had a solid year that year, but as I remember, suffered an ankle injury early in the year and wasn't ever at full strength. Again, I'm not saying that he should have started of Q or anything, but they should have used him more to spell Q, and as a situational back for when we needed to run between the tackles or down near the goal-line.

Paul Thompson. He had a solid year at QB as a Senior, and pulled our *** out of the fire when Bomar went down, but he could have been a very solid WR in the Big 12 had we moved him there in the Spring before the '05 season, rather than waiting until after the season started. He very well could have gotten drafted as a WR if he had stayed there. People now forget, but he had actually worked his way into the starting lineup at WR before the whole Bomar deal. Plus, if PT moves to WR in the spring, then the QB race is down to 2 (Bomar and Grady), and perhaps Grady doesn't give up and transfer, thinking that he would have been third string.

DJ Wolfe. He was a top tier runningback coming out of HS. Somehow we let him waste his redshirt year in '04 playing behind AD and KeJuan, so that he could never touch the ball and play some on special teams. Then in '05 we decide to move him to corner, and he has to learn a whole new position. Has a solid year in '05 at corner, and earns a starting job for '06. Doesn't start out the year so well in '06, and rightfully loses his job to Marcus Walker and Lendy Holmes, both of whom are playing extremely well. Now has moved to safety, and has to learn yet another position. Fact of the matter is that if he'd have stayed at HB in '05, he would have gotten a lot of touches, and could have potentially blossomed into one of the better RBs in the conference. Of course now it's too late to move him back, as we've since recruited a number of talented players at the position, and have a logjam trying to get those guys carries.

Willie Roberts - Of all the TEs that we've had, this guy is the most under-utlized. Somebody explain to me how you have a guy that's 6'8, can run and jump like that guy could, and you don't find a way to work him in the game. Especially when your other options at TE are Lance Donley and Bubba Moses.

DeMario Pleasant. What does it take for this guy to see the field? Virtually everytime he's in the game, he seems to play well and make big plays. He replaced Ingram in '05 at UCLA and played well enough that there was hardly a dropoff. But he was virtually non-existant last year, with the exception of his fumble recovery against OSU in the season finale.

[EstablishedSooner1967]

You could not have asked more from JD.. he went above and beyond what it took to be a Sooner.... JMO

[Soonerfan88]

Garrick McGee - SmellsofBourbon used the spinal meningitis as a convenient excuse & never gave him a real chance over Eric Moore.

[MiccoMacey]

JeJuan Rankins. He made a TON of plays in 2003, and then we don't even play him in the Sugar Bowl vs LSU? Then he basically disappeared in 2004 after threatening to transfer in fall camp. In 2005 he was poised to be a starter along with Travis Wilson, but spent almost the whole year injured. I remember watching him in 2003 and thinking he was going to be a mini-Mark Clayton by the time he graduated, and it just never happened.

Not to dog a former player, but I always had the exact opposite opinion of him. Maybe some of it is tempered because I remember the whole "play me or I walk" episode. But I never felt we got his full effort. I wish him luck, and I appreciate what he did for us. But I'm not 100% sure that wasn't all him.



Davin Joseph -- Played him out of position his entire senior year. Somehow we decided that we were better off with him being mediocre at Tackle instead of dominating at Guard (where he now plays in the NFL). They had that Bret Rayl kid who came in and played very well against Kansas when Joseph got injured, and they had Duke Robinson working at tackle that year, so they definitely had options to go with.

The whole management of the 2005 OL was terrible.

Agree 100%.


DeMario Pleasant. What does it take for this guy to see the field? Virtually everytime he's in the game, he seems to play well and make big plays. He replaced Ingram in '05 at UCLA and played well enough that there was hardly a dropoff. But he was virtually non-existant last year, with the exception of his fumble recovery against OSU in the season finale.

I agree with most of what you say. He's a playmaker, and I've been waiting for his "breakout" for awhile (I'm also a huge Lew baker fan...something of a quandry for me as this is their last year to shine). However, in the UCLA game, he got beat bad on a play or two, including a TD to their TE Mercedes Somethingorother. He bit bad on play-action and the TE was wide open.

[rhombic21]

Ah yes, I remember that TD. For some reason though, I thought somebody else was guarding the TE on that play. If it wasn't for the bogus holding penalty, his INT in that game would have gotten us right back into it.

[MiccoMacey]

I could be wrong, but I've always had it in my head that it was Pleasant.

Either or, I still love the way he plays. He goes hard.

[rhombic21]

It very well could have been him, I don't remember much about that play except whoever was supposed to be covering the TE was nowhere in sight.

[OSUAggie]

Mercedes Somethingorother

Marcedes Lewis.

[Tear Down This Wall]

This is an easy question...Steve Collins, the QB Gary Gibbs screwed over in favor of interception-prone Cale Gundy. Also, FB Terry Collier. Great athlete. Again, another player on the offensive side of the ball Gary Gibbs had no idea what to do with.

[zeke]

currently, I'd go with whoever is lined up at the Tight End position.
JMHO is we have big time talent there and need to throw the ball to them more often.

[OUmillenium]

I'll vote for 2 Weatherford boys...
1) Russel Dennison as previously mentioned

2) Lance Donley - hardly had a chance to catch a ball in 4 years. Would have been nice to see the ball his way the year after Trent Smith.

[OUmillenium]

I'll add one more...

The backup quarterback every year of the Stoops era.

[Rhino]

Anybody remember what Daniels did against Notre Dame.....two returns for TD's I think, he kept us in the game. Dude had some talent. He had one kickoff return for a TD (OU's first kickoff return for a TD in a decade) and one reception for a TD.

But he did set a school record for most return yards in one game (229 yards), breaking the Stanley Wilson's record of 133 return yards in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl.

Willie Roberts - Of all the TEs that we've had, this guy is the most under-utlized. Somebody explain to me how you have a guy that's 6'8, can run and jump like that guy could, and you don't find a way to work him in the game. Especially when your other options at TE are Lance Donley and Bubba Moses. Willie's big problem his first year was not knowing the offense - he even said so himself. The rest of his career was a mixture of still not knowing the offense and using stones for hands.

[BoomerJack]

Anybody and everybody who has played the FB/Blocking Back position over the last 5 - 6 years. It just seems to me that a quick hitting handoff between the guards just isn't done enough.

[MI Sooner]

While Clayton piled up such good numbers it's hard to imagine he was underutilized, I still think we could have gotten him the ball more. I watched Barry Sanders play for the Lions for ~10 years, and Clayton is the only guy I've seen who comes close to him in the open field. Reggie Bush is awesome too, but stylistically different.

That run he had against KSU in the 2003 Big XII CCG is still one of the best I've ever seen. I think Perkins was overrated (numbers were better than skills) as a punt returner and Clayton should have been returning kicks, and getting more screens, reverses, and touches any way possible.

I'd also like to nominate Reggie Smith. We somehow took a lockdown NFL corner and got above average safety play out of him.

OTOH, best utilized:

TRRW
Q
Woolfolk

[Collier11]

I'd also like to nominate Reggie Smith. We somehow took a lockdown NFL corner and got above average safety play out of him.





If reggie hadnt played safety the last few years we might have given up even more deep bombs

[soonercoop]

Not to take anything away from 14 but Fuente was one heck of an athlete who did not get his shot. If Leach put his hands on him with Griffin in the back ground and Seth as a tight end. Man what could have happened in 99? Just my thoughts..


And Jo John Finley is underutilized big time!!!

[OUSanders]

Joe Jon Finley is a current one who comes to mind. He has the physical gifts to be all-Big XII, but KW either can't or won't get him involved into the offense.

i'm sure there are reasons for that. He wasn't ready for all that attention last year. Dropping passes and missing blocks. Maybe this is his year.

[insuranceman_22]

He had one kickoff return for a TD (OU's first kickoff return for a TD in a decade) and one reception for a TD.

But he did set a school record for most return yards in one game (229 yards), breaking the Stanley Wilson's record of 133 return yards in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl.
Willie's big problem his first year was not knowing the offense - he even said so himself. The rest of his career was a mixture of still not knowing the offense and using stones for hands.

Impressive Rhino - I was actually at that game, I won it from Ford Motor Company! I couldn't remember exactly what he did, but when it was over I knew Daniels had kept us in it.

[King Crimson]

i was a Steve Collins guy.

i didn't think that was right about two return TD's against ND.

[BudsBoy]

Any fullback at OU in the past and future, unless they change the game plan. Brown up front and a tailback behind would be a good combo, if they let the short back take some quick handoffs.

[King Crimson]

we used Kenny King and Stanley Wilson pretty effectively. Runnels makes some great plays against Baylor in 05 when AD and KeJuan are out.

[101sooner]

Patrick Fletcher could have been a very solid option QB.

If 'Tits had just let him run the option when Daniels got hurt, OU goes bowling in '98 and Blake keeps his job.

[Rogue]

First name I thought of was Brandon Daniels. I thought he shoulda been returning kicks for 2 years when Stoops finally showed up and put him there. That loss at ND was really a great football game.

[SoonerJLB]

sort of agree about Joe Jon. Merv is on record in an interview at the scout board wondering why we don't use the TE position more.

I got ridiculed over on the new OUinsiders.com for thinking and hoping KW would utilize the TE position more this upcoming season (with Jermaine Gresham and the rest of the talented OU TEs). I am not as close the program living out here...but with that the talent the Sooners have in that postion...why wouldn't KW utilize that position more?

[IronHorseSooner]

I got ridiculed over on the new OUinsiders.com for thinking and hoping KW would utilize the TE position more this upcoming season (with Jermaine Gresham and the rest of the talented OU TEs). I am not as close the program living out here...but with that the talent the Sooners have in that postion...why wouldn't KW utilize that position more?

Same here. I live in New York, and am not as close either. It just seems to me that with JJF, Gresham, and Eldridge, these guys should get more involved in the offense. TEs and RBs are always great for developing QBs in the passing game.

[Big Red Ron]

Not to take anything away from 14 but Fuente was one heck of an athlete who did not get his shotHe got more of a shot that Garrick McGee. Fuente wasn't a very good QB. To say he was a heck of an athlete is an exaggeration. He ran the 40 in 5.2 and that was what OU published. Dude looked like he was running in quicksand. Good guy but he couldn't get away from the pass rush.

To be fair, he would have been a very good QB at the DII or Lower level. IMO, he was a marginal D1 player.

[Big Red Ron]

My pick for all time underutilizedplayer at OU is Keith Jackson.

[Tear Down This Wall]

He got more of a shot that Garrick McGee. Fuente wasn't a very good QB. To say he was a heck of an athlete is an exaggeration. He ran the 40 in 5.2 and that was what OU published. Dude looked like he was running in quicksand. Good guy but he couldn't get away from the pass rush.

To be fair, he would have been a very good QB at the DII or Lower level. IMO, he was a marginal D1 player.

Agree completely. I remember watching him getting sacked in the 1996 season finale. He was like a statue. Saw the guy coming and didn't even move. It was like his brain wasn't connected with his feet.

As far as Garrick McGee, he was misused badly in 1994. He came in as a dual threat QB out of JUCO. James Allen and Jerald Moore were sophomores, Terry Collier and Dwyane Chandler were juniors. All of that running talent in the backfield...and we throw 300+ passes on the season. We really ran option in only game - Iowa State.

No season makes me madder than the 1994 season. So much wasted talent.

[mobilesteve]

Imagine Stephen Alexander or Kelly Gregg under Stoops. That would have been good.

[Tear Down This Wall]

No, imagine Stephen Alexander under Jonathan Hayes. Tight ends under Stoops without Jonathan Hayes coaching them have been busts so far.

[Rhino]

Special teams under Stoops without Jonathan Hayes has been average so far. Fixed.

[Tear Down This Wall]

Fixed.

Yeah, special teams, too. I don't understand why we don't figure out how much Cincinnati is paying Hayes and hire him back.

Or, a cheaper route would be to find another TE/Special Teams coach who is as good as Hayes was.

Neither will happen. Get ready for another season of the line of scrimmage stacked against the run and lots of receivers getting double coverage as teams ignore our non-existent tight end passing game.

[Big Red Ron]

I thought Bob coached special teams.

[Tear Down This Wall]

He may now.

[rhombic21]

Neither will happen. Get ready for another season of the line of scrimmage stacked against the run and lots of receivers getting double coverage as teams ignore our non-existent tight end passing game.
You mean like what happened in the Nebraska game?

OU used the TEs plenty last year to keep teams off balance. But when you have WRs that are as talented as ours, and you run the ball like we do, there are only so many passes to go around. But to call the TE passing game non-existent is overstating it, IMO. OU uses the TEs just fine.

[journeyman]

In no particular order...

Eric Mitchel
Jerald Moore
Brandon Daniels
Derrick Shepard
Earl Johnson
Glyn Milburn
Steve Sewell

[Soonerus]

D. Shep, E. Johnson and S. Sewell were used extensively....

[Big Red Ron]

How about pretty much anyone who played for John Blake?