What do you think are the Sooners biggest weaknesses this year ???

[Soonerus]

linebackers and defensive ends ??? I don't know....

[goingoneight]

SOS

[MextheBulldog]

All the print media and college mags seemed to suggest our front seven is vulnerable. There is some smoke there as Rufus is a huge loss and the new LB's just lack experience. Now remember the secondary is hyped as being bad ***. Defense will be okay, maybe suspect in the first few games. There is plenty of talent in the front seven.

Offense - just need a QB who can gel with a scary group of WR's and the sky is the limit. Ground game will be relied upon greatly. O-line should be a stellar group.

[oumartin]

Coaches

we know

[The Maestro]

I am really liking what I see out of Sam Bradford so far. The poise, the size, the athleticism. Yes, he is in a blue jersey right now so we don't know, but with our running backs and strength up front, it will really take the pressure off of him. He could have a Colt McCoy type season if he is as talented as we all hope he is. If so, good luck finding a weakness on offense.

Defensively, it all depends on the new faces. The Gerald McCoy, Auston English, Jeremy Beal and Ryan Reynolds would be the names that come to mind that, depending on how they all stack up, so goes our front seven. Throw Mike Reed into the mix as well. If they impress and play as expected, this could be a special year with our schedule ideal for us. If we leave Dallas, Texas, unbeaten...watch out.

[yermom]

i'm gonna have to go with the fans ;)

[Jacie]

How many members of the pom-pom squad graduated last year?

[soonerboy_odanorth]

The Pride?... :P

(I'm very sorry, that was gratuitous piling-on...)

[TMcGee86]

The horsepigs.

by far.

[yermom]

can i change my answer?

[BoomerJack]

The horsepigs.

by far.

Gotta agree with this one. When do they graduate anyway??

[ultimatesooner1]

nothing

[CatfishSooner]

can i change my answer?


No, all answers are final. ;)

[virginiasooner]

The various ESPN yakkers who predict gloom and doom around every corner (I'm talking to you Mark May and Lee Corso) and NEVER take it back.

[colleyvillesooner]

noobs

[MiccoMacey]

DLine, and it's not even close.

Who are our heralded players this year at DT? One of them is a redshirt freshman who hasn't played a down. He may not be starting this year, but they are counting on him heavily in a four-man rotation.

And don't even get me started on the DEs. We lost all of our main contributors from a year ago.

I like our LBs. I honestly think they'll be an asset by Texas.

Our DLine scares me.

Sincerely,

Nick Zepplin

[CU Sooner]

The referees, we are going to lubsuck.

[OSUAggie]

Going back to #s on jerseys

When did they take the #'s off the jersyes?

[goingoneight]

Folks seemed to think the names were easier to see than the numbers, so Stoops said "away with the numbers!!!"

[Zing]

Folks seemed to think the names were easier to see than the numbers, so Stoops said "away with the numbers!!!"

In fact, they're changing the home/away jerseys to a shirts/skin system. They took the numbers off because it was cheaper just to get name tattoos rather than larger numbers as well.

[birddog]

LOADHOLT ARTICLE. from d.o.



Duke Robinson remembers how his life changed after he met fellow Oklahoma offensive lineman Phil Loadholt.



"I don't even sit in the front seat no more when we ride around with somebody,” said the 6-foot-5, 330-pound Robinson, who is three inches and 20 pounds smaller than Loadholt. "I've got to sit in the back.”

The two will be side-by-side, making up the left portion of the Sooners' offensive line as Loadholt steps into the vacant tackle spot this fall.

As big as he is, Loadholt was sidelined last spring by an injured toe after joining the team in January from Garden City Community College. He took part in five practices and spent the other 10 watching. And learning.

During what could have been a major setback for any junior-college transfer, Loadholt focused his energy on the mental side of the game to make up for what he was losing on the physical side.

"It set me back just from missing actual reps,” Loadholt said. "I got some good mental reps in, got a lot stronger. It didn't set me back as far as I thought it would. They do a good job here of making you feel like you're still out there doing something.”

Now that he's healthy, Loadholt's primary shortcoming is his technique, like footwork and keeping his body low — things he never had to worry about before.

"I got by on raw strength,” said the Fountain, Colo., native. "The speed at (the NCAA Division I level) is so much better than the speed at the junior-college level. The linebackers are fast; everybody's fast.

"Now I've got to have that technique. If you don't have technique, you'll get beat every play.”

Offensive line coach James Patton has been stressing that point to Loadholt since the day he joined the team.

"He's got such long arms, and he's such a long-bodied guy that guys will try to get inside of him,” Patton said. "Being a good technician, being fundamentally sound, he'll know where he's vulnerable in some cases. He'll know how he needs to keep his pads down, body position, things like that. That's critical for him.

"He's seen those examples on tape. These first practices, he's done a good job of seeing it.”

[birddog]

HOLMES ARTICLE. from d.o.


NORMAN — Last season, Lendy Holmes was the final piece of the puzzle. The man that made the Oklahoma secondary whole.


This year, he's fighting to find a place to play.

Midway through his sophomore season in 2006, Holmes, a converted wide receiver, stepped into a starting role at cornerback, freeing up Reggie Smith to play safety as the OU coaches finally found a way to get their five best defensive backs on the field.

Holmes' performance stood out, especially with plays like the fourth-down pass deflection that put the Sooners in control of their 26-10 win at Missouri.

Once again, defensive coordinator Brent Venables and secondary coach Bobby Jack Wright are taking on the task of finding their five best DBs. "Certainly Lendy has established himself as one of those guys," Wright said.

But their decision to return Smith to cornerback pushed Holmes down the depth chart.

With senior free safety Darien Williams out for at least another week with a stress fracture in his foot, the coaches decided to experiment with Holmes at that position.

"It looked really natural," Venables said of Holmes' first experience at free safety. "(In the first practice) Lendy had a couple of picks without really knowing what he's doing yet.

"He played too well for us, made too many plays, to keep him off the field."

But that's not necessarily a guarantee of what's to come for Holmes.

Nic Harris is the current free safety starter, with Holmes sliding into that spot and Harris playing closer to the line in five-defensive back situations. But when Williams returns, Holmes gets bumped again.

Holmes maintains a relaxed attitude about the position change and what could be a significant drop in playing time.

"I'm just playing wherever they tell me to play," he said. "I'm learning everything. I feel comfortable with myself. But I still have a long way to go."

That mostly entails learning the added duties of the safety position.

"A lot more responsibility," Holmes said. "Learning when I'm in the run fit, when I'm not. Learning when to blitz. It's a lot, but it's slowly coming to me.

"Coach Wright ain't yelling at me that much yet."

Holmes still knows the cornerback position well enough to step in if needed, but he's focusing all of his attention at free safety in training camp. And he seems to enjoy the opportunity to be more physical at his new home.

"I'm just waiting for somebody to come across the middle now," he said.


Your ThoughtsMore Stories By By Scott Wright

[IndianJack]

DLine, and it's not even close.

Who are our heralded players this year at DT? One of them is a redshirt freshman who hasn't played a down. He may not be starting this year, but they are counting on him heavily in a four-man rotation.

And don't even get me started on the DEs. We lost all of our main contributors from a year ago.

I like our LBs. I honestly think they'll be an asset by Texas.

Our DLine scares me.

Sincerely,

Nick Zepplin

Nothing to fear. Our DTs will be as good as any rotation in the Big 12, maybe the nation. Not since Harris and Dvoracek manned the middle have I been looking forward to a group of DTs. Granger really came on at the end of the year and the coaches praise his spring/summer strides. Not that being heralded or not matters but he was the no.1 DT coming out of high school. Coleman and Bennett are proven stoppers. Upperclassmen who although not spectacular, will get the job done. We will all get to know and talk/post about McCoy soon enough. Don't really care about the USA today defensive player of the year thing, but this dude is gonna get nasty this year. He should at least be a freshman All-American. Throw Taylor into the mix, and this is a group that will be bringing alot of talent and fresh legs at opposing offenses all year.

As for DE's, I'm kinda glad to see Birdine go. All bark-no bite. Ah You came on at the end of the year, but I watched to many replays where I was left wondering: What the foock is Ah You doin' on that one. Granted the departed DEs had played alot of downs for us over the years, but, in my opinion, underachieved too often.

You can chalk it up to our blitz packages, but since when did a team graduate its top three DEs and still return 75% of its qb sacks? I think the infusion of some new, hungry talent, i.e. English and Beal, could give us better play than what we saw the last two years. Williams should also be healthy now, and Dotson may have been our best guy coming off the edge last year when Ah You wasn't.

[IndianJack]

I'm guessing that the Loadholdt article is on this thread because a new LT is always a question mark if not quite a weakness.

We'll find out about him in game two against cane's preseason All-American Campbell. Probably the only DE he will see who will match his size, Loadholdt must hold his own against Callais (isn't that the name of a crappy buick or cutlass?) for Bradford or whomever to be successful.

A big cat like Campbell needs to have a couple of open hands shots to the chest every time he stretches that frame to block passes. Loadholdt must make him want to sooner bat down a pass with his jock/junk before he leaps, arms extended, into the air.

[goingoneight]

READ... SIG...

[birddog]

I'm guessing that the Loadholdt article is on this thread because a new LT is always a question mark if not quite a weakness.

We'll find out about him in game two against cane's preseason All-American Campbell. Probably the only DE he will see who will match his size, Loadholdt must hold his own against Callais (isn't that the name of a crappy buick or cutlass?) for Bradford or whomever to be successful.

A big cat like Campbell needs to have a couple of open hands shots to the chest every time he stretches that frame to block passes. Loadholdt must make him want to sooner bat down a pass with his jock/junk before he leaps, arms extended, into the air.

perhaps. i just hate starting new threads for one article and this seemed to be the right place to put it.

[IndianJack]

perhaps. i just hate starting new threads for one article and this seemed to be the right place to put it.


Not knockin' ya birddogbbq, I was not tryin' to say that the article was in the wrong thread. I was curious though as to whether Loadholt (nice spelling by me on my post by the way) is perceived as a potential weakness or not.

[yermom]

Nothing to fear. Our DTs will be as good as any rotation in the Big 12, maybe the nation. Not since Harris and Dvoracek manned the middle have I been looking forward to a group of DTs. Granger really came on at the end of the year and the coaches praise his spring/summer strides. Not that being heralded or not matters but he was the no.1 DT coming out of high school. Coleman and Bennett are proven stoppers. Upperclassmen who although not spectacular, will get the job done. We will all get to know and talk/post about McCoy soon enough. Don't really care about the USA today defensive player of the year thing, but this dude is gonna get nasty this year. He should at least be a freshman All-American. Throw Taylor into the mix, and this is a group that will be bringing alot of talent and fresh legs at opposing offenses all year.

As for DE's, I'm kinda glad to see Birdine go. All bark-no bite. Ah You came on at the end of the year, but I watched to many replays where I was left wondering: What the foock is Ah You doin' on that one. Granted the departed DEs had played alot of downs for us over the years, but, in my opinion, underachieved too often.

You can chalk it up to our blitz packages, but since when did a team graduate its top three DEs and still return 75% of its qb sacks? I think the infusion of some new, hungry talent, i.e. English and Beal, could give us better play than what we saw the last two years. Williams should also be healthy now, and Dotson may have been our best guy coming off the edge last year when Ah You wasn't.

i think Birdine and Ah You were really good, but our DT's weren't playing well enough in the middle to get the DEs the chance to kill people like previous years

[IndianJack]

I was kinda surprised to see only one passing mention of our QBs. Are we not willing to face the fact that the most difficult position to play in any sport is in transition with mostly young, green guys who have never seen the field. Halzle's 1 for 2 outing is not significant enough to count. Not that I'm sweatin' it or anything, but perception wise it has the potential to be a weakness when considered in relation to the surrounding talent.

Can we expect someone to match Bomar's season? His was not anything to write home about.

[bri]

What do you think are the Sooners biggest weaknesses this year ???

Punctuation.

[ouwasp]

Bob Barry. The second biggest weakness is a looong way back there.

[birddog]

I was curious though as to whether Loadholt (nice spelling by me on my post by the way) is perceived as a potential weakness or not.

word around here is our o-line is one of the best in the nation. i think the only perceived weakness there is our center. so we should be able to free up our insane receiving corp when defenses get sucked in. i think we'll see ALOT of play action and rollouts again this year when we pass.

[stonecoldsoonerfan]

i think that qb is our weakest position. nate hybl will singlehandly lose us at least 2 games this year. ;)

[PLaw]

Let's see:

1) 1st year in a while w/o a major assistant coach going elsewhere +++

2) Best depth on the o-line in the Stoops ere, kids sticking around because they don't have to deal w/ Wilson on a daily basis ++

3) DB's should be a strength - still hope they can show up and play w/ some discipline (I think we're far enough past the R. Williams highlight wannabes) ++

4) Inexperience at LB and DE --

5) Inexperience at QB ----

6) TE and WR a huge ++++ if the QB (who should have all day) can get them the ball.

7) RB's solid and deep. Will Jacob find the field? Doubt it. +++

8) Special Teams - what's the punter situation ?? Hartley should be an AA. ++

Add it up and it points to the QB, DE's and LB's - pretty much what the media and everyone else has been saying.

BOOMER
PLaw

[stoopified]

Kryptonite