Spring preview: Linebackers, cheetah

"Continuity" is the best word to describe Oklahoma's linebacker room heading into the spring.

The Sooners return every linebacker who logged snaps on the field in 2023, including their defensive leader Danny Stutsman. In addition, the Sooners added a highly-touted four-star prospect in James Nesta, who's a midyear enrollee.

But outside of Nesta, it'll be all familiar faces in the Sooners' linebacker room. However, the end of last season brought some questions that will continue through the spring and into the fall.

Here's a look at where things stand at linebacker and cheetah as the Sooners kickoff spring practices on Monday:

1. Who gets the starting spot next to Stutsman?

Stutsman opting to return for his senior season is seismic. Not only does his return fortify the Sooners' defensive core of Stutsman, Woodi Washington, Billy Bowman and Ethan Downs — which gives the team a returning senior starter at all four position groups — but he's the undisputed leader of the defense. Plus, he improved across the board from 2022 to 2023. Per Pro Football Focus, his grades in every area were significantly improved, including coverage, rushing defense, pass rush and tackling. His counting stats declined slightly — he played nearly 300 fewer snaps in 2023 — but he still led the Sooners in tackles by more than 40.

There's no doubt Stutsman will occupy his spot at weakside linebacker. Now the question is, who starts alongside him?

For most of last season it was Jaren Kanak, who averaged nearly 60 snaps per game over the first eight weeks. But after the Texas lost, his snaps dropped significantly — he averaged just 24 snaps per game over the final five games as his performance declined, including a season-low eight snaps against BYU, and he didn't start the last four games. He also finished with a PFF season grade of 50.1, the lowest of any defender that saw the field outside of Phil Paea, who recorded three snaps all year.

That would seem to indicate that the job belongs to Kip Lewis, who started the final four games in Kanak's place. Lewis was productive and had some good moments, and he ended up finishing second on the team in tackles (66, four more than Kanak) despite playing nearly 240 fewer snaps than Kanak. But it was notable that Kanak played six more snaps than Lewis in the Alamo Bowl while earning a higher PFF grade, and Kanak did finish second on the team in tackles for loss (six).

Kobie McKinzie looked like he'd be in the mix late in the season, particularly when he played 56 snaps and 44 snaps against Oklahoma State and TCU, respectively. But he played just two snaps in the regular-season finale against TCU and didn't play at all in the Alamo Bowl. This projects to be a two-man race between Kanak and Lewis, making spring practices an important backdrop for what'll likely be an ongoing competition. However, that isn't a given, and those won't be the only guys in the mix for playing time.

2. What happens at the cheetah position?

The news of Justin Harrington receiving a seventh year of eligibility makes this discussion even more interesting.

The cheetah position — a hybrid of linebacker and defensive back — was largely a competition between Harrington and Dasan McCullough throughout fall camp.

Harrington earned the starting job outright to start last year and appeared to be on his way to a breakout season. He played 91 snaps in the first two games, including 63 in the narrow win over SMU, before suffering an injury that kept him out the rest of the season. It certainly didn't help that McCollough suffered an injury early in the season opener, which limited him to 10 games. McCollough was productive in last year in his seven starts, finishing with 30 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a PFF season grade of 79.5, the fifth highest on the team.

Both of them bring different skill sets to the position. McCullough was utilized a lot more as a traditional linebacker, while Harrington was utilized more as a defender in coverage. Regardless of who starts, both are likely to see the field quite a bit depending on the package.

But they aren't the only options. Kendel Dolby and Peyton Bowen both saw snaps there as last season progressed. Other guys like, Samuel Omosigho or even Phil Piccoti, could see reps. How could things change with Zac Alley running the defense? The list of options at cheetah could greatly expand as the Sooners tinker with the defense.

3. How about the underclassmen?

It's easy to forget about just how many young guys the Sooners have in the linebacker room.

Lewis Carter, Omosigho and Piccoti are all former four-star prospects entering their second season. There were just too many obstacles for them to see playing time — Piccoti missed the entire season with an injury, and Omosigho and Lewis were freshmen that were behind the older guys ahead of them.

There's real excitement about Omosigho's versatility as a potential option at cheetah. Piccoti stood out during the spring and summer last year. Carter only played 30 snaps last year, but he's a name that continued to be mentioned during winter workouts. Plus, it could be argued that the third-year trio of Kanak, Lewis and McKinzie didn't do enough to unquestionably earn all of the snaps next season. None of them earned a PFF grade higher than 57, and consistency was an issue.

The track record of freshmen seeing significant minutes under Venables isn't great, but Nesta isn't a typical newcomer. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, Nesta offers length and size that the rest of the linebackers simply don't have.

The door is open just enough for any of the underclassmen to make noise in the spring.