The five Sooners with the most to prove in fall camp

For the first time since 2019, the Sooners’ season will be off and running before the end of August. Oklahoma opens their inaugural SEC campaign with an Aug. 30 home tilt against Temple, which falls on a Friday night and signifies the dawn of Brent Venables’ third season at the helm.

And when the season starts earlier than usual, fall camp starts earlier than usual. The Sooners will hold their first fall practice on July 29. With this in mind, it’s time for OUInsider’s annual glimpse at the five players with the most to prove in fall camp.

If there are questions that surround one particular position group heading into 2024, it’s certainly the Oklahoma offensive line, which has to replace all five starters from its 2023 squad. As fall camp draws near, OUInsider is rolling out a position preview series to address each group one by one. But on an individual level, there are numerous members of the team that face a particularly crucial practice period in fall camp — a period that could go a long way toward dictating their respective shares of playing time in 2024 and beyond.

Here’s a glimpse at what OUInsider considers to be the five players with the most to prove this August.

Rowe’s skill set and sheer athletic traits have never been in question; he’s a former state-champion sprinter who’s listed at 6-foot-2, 223 pounds. But he’s succumbed to the injury bug in each of his first two seasons on campus, and there’s still a bit of uncertainty as to where he might fit best in the Sooners’ scheme. Is he a cornerback, which is the position he’s played since high school? Or could the Sooners shift him to cheetah to maximize his unique blend of speed and bulk? Heck, it’s been nearly three years since Rowe told OUInsider that the Sooners’ old defensive staff had even teased the idea of turning him into “the fastest edge rusher of all time.”

Regardless of where Rowe factors into the equation, he’s got some work to do to rise up the depth chart, as he’s been on the shelf with injuries for the vast majority of his time in Norman. That’s not within his power to control, so it’s no fault of his. But the point remains: Rowe is behind the eight-ball a little bit, and needs to come on strong this August. As Brent Venables himself has stated, the best ability is availability, and that's what has allowed other members of the secondary to move above Rowe in the pecking order.

Whether Farooq will play is not up for debate. You’ll see him on the field in a regular capacity for Oklahoma this fall. But if Andrel Anthony is healthy for Week 1, is Farooq in the Sooners’ starting lineup? It’s an entirely valid question, albeit not one that most would have imagined themselves asking eight months ago at this time. But heading into the offseason, Farooq left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans with a pair of fumbles in the Alamo Bowl, and the Sooners procured the services of electric Purdue transfer Deion Burks via the transfer portal. Meanwhile, Anthony was Oklahoma’s most impactful offensive skill-position player for the first half of the 2023 season before suffering a season-ending injury against Texas, and Nic Anderson emerged as the Sooners’ most complete weapon in the passing game.

It’s not entirely clear whether Anthony’s rehab — which has progressed slower than expected — will permit him to be 100 percent by Aug. 30. But if he is, no one would likely be all too surprised to see the trio of Anderson, Burks and Anthony take the field with the starting eleven. Farooq has one year left in Norman, and fall camp could have a substantial hand in determining whether that year is spent in the starting lineup or the Sooners’ second rotation at wideout.

There’s perhaps no more genuine wild-card on the Oklahoma offense than Helms, who recorded one reception as a true freshman in 2022 and then missed the entire 2023 season with a knee injury. His skill set is rare, as he’s physically reminiscent of Brayden Willis with his 6-foot-5, 239-pound frame. He played more wide receiver than tight end in high school, and has the potential to be the most dangerous downfield weapon in Oklahoma’s TE room — assuming he’s recouped the same speed and burst that he had before the injury.

It’s hard to draw any sort of conclusion on that front until the pads come on. But by all accounts, Helms has approached his rehab — lengthy as it has been — like a consummate pro, and used it as an opportunity to improve his strength and mental readiness. If he continues to ward off any setbacks, the native Nebraskan has the potential to morph into a major problem for opposing defenses. He hasn't burned any eligibility; for all intents and purposes, he's starting from scratch. Helms still has an entire collegiate career ahead of him, and it begins next Monday.

The 2023 season was an odd one for Kanak, who started off strong and peaked with a phenomenal performance in Oklahoma’s upset win over Texas in the Red River Rivalry. The Hays (Kan.) product led the Sooners with 13 tackles that day, and very much appeared destined for the stardom that many imagined he would achieve when he signed with Oklahoma out of high school. But instead, he seemed to regress in the second half of the season, ceding snaps — and ultimately a starting spot — to Kip Lewis.

Kanak is almost inarguably the best pure athlete in Oklahoma’s linebacker room, but his main limitation has always been his ability to grasp the finer points of the position’s mental side. That’s understandable, as he hadn’t played linebacker before enrolling at OU. But given that it’s now Year 3 for Kanak, the Sooners’ staff and fanbase will have greater expectations. 2024 was supposed to be the year that the duo of Kanak and Danny Stutsman had fully come into their own as the respective reincarnations of Teddy Lehman and Rocky Calmus. That’s still achievable. But it’ll have to start with a solid fall camp for Kanak, especially the crop of talented youngsters nipping at the heels of the LB group’s veterans.

What an enigma the 2023 campaign was for Barnes, who infamously found himself at the center of a bizarre controversy that left many fans bewildered. Limited by injury, Barnes would suit up for games, but often wouldn’t touch the field. That naturally led to great confusion as to whether Barnes was healthy enough to play, or whether he would be better served to stay on the shelf. And when he did find the field, he conspicuously lacked a fifth gear. Barnes logged 37 carries for 140 yards and a single touchdown on the year, and just didn’t look like the same guy that had ascended to RB2 status by the midway point of his true freshman campaign in 2022. Barnes admitted earlier this year that he hadn’t been 100 percent in 2023, but also maintained that he was feeling as good as ever throughout spring ball. That lends optimism that he can recapture the form that made him Eric Gray’s primary handcuff in 2022.

It’s worth remembering that the last time Barnes was fully healthy, he rushed 27 times for 108 yards and a TD against a strong Florida State defense in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl. He’s already proven that he’s capable of making a major impact at this level, but nonetheless, he’ll have to prove it all over again in 2024. The Oklahoma backfield is as crowded (and as talented) as it has ever been under DeMarco Murray’s watch. Gavin Sawchuk leads the charge after five straight 100-yard games to close the 2023 season. Rising sophomore Kalib Hicks came on strong this spring, and freshman phenom Taylor Tatum doesn’t intend to take a backseat to anybody. Factor in the presence of junior transfer Sam Franklin, who rushed for over 1,300 yards last year at Tennessee-Martin, and Barnes isn’t going to have anything handed to him — no pun intended. It’s up to him to get on the practice field in August and show that when he’s healthy, he’s still a cut above the rest.

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