When Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables talks about his linebackers, his opinion seems to change practice to practice. Some days he’s up, some days he’s down.
Breaking in new players can make a coach manic depressive. For every great practice there seems to be another where confusion reigns. Entering a season knowing there will be at least two first-year starters at the linebacker positions causes the mood swings.
“We understand what the standard is here and we have been really consistent at linebacker, and because of obvious reasons we have to uphold that standard with somebody who is still trying to learn it,” Venables said.
The 2008 season will be a transition year for the Sooners at linebacker. The departures of Curtis Lofton and Lewis Baker left big holes. Lofton was a consensus All-American last season and Baker was an experienced veteran who knew the ins and outs of OU’s defense better than anyone.
You can recruit playmaking ability, but experience only comes on Saturdays.
OU has at least one player with both attributes — middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds. The junior is making the move to the middle after two injury-plagued seasons at the weakside spot.
Venables believes Reynolds will be in a more natural position this season. Reynolds agrees, but the junior said the biggest difference for him this season is his health.
“This is the first camp that I have felt 100 percent since my freshman year,” Reynolds said. “I am just trying to take advantage of it and do all the extra things that I can do so that I can be the best player that I can be.”
Junior Lamont Robinson is the No. 2, but Reynolds’ health is the biggest key to the group. His experience is invaluable because there are unknown commodities on both sides of him.
At the strongside spot is what’s rounding into a classic feel-good-story. Two years ago Keenan Clayton was OU’s starting strong safety, but lost his starting job after just two games.
He moved over to linebacker last season and emerged as potential star in the spring. He’s continued to impress since preseason practice began.
“Keenan’s been really good,” Venables said.
Clayton is the kind of linebacker OU’s been missing since Clint Ingram patrolled the spot in 2005. He has a defensive back’s speed, but is still big enough to take on linemen in the run game. He’s also emerged at the No. 1 spot at nickelback and could be an every-down player.
Junior college transfer J.R. Bryant has emerged as the backup.
The Sooners need an every-down player to emerge at the weakside spot. It likely will happen at some point, but this position has been Venables’ biggest source of frustration.
Redshirt freshman Austin Box was penciled in as the starter heading into the preseason, but a knee injury will keep him off the field until at least the second week of the season. Redshirt freshman Travis Lewis is also vying for the spot.
Junior Brandon Crow has played there as well.
But junior college transfer Mike Balogun has moved into the top spot, but it’s tough for a player to learn a position in about a month. That’s the dilemma the Sooners have faced.
“He’s done a lot of good things,” Venables said. “Mike’s job, and our job, is to play to a standard. And the standard is consistency all the time.”
That could take time to be chiseled into that form. It will take until the conference slate begins in October until the Sooners truly know what they have in the middle of their defense.
Patience is going to be required.
“Only one of the guys has played, and that is Ryan. Nobody else has ever played in a game,” Venables said. “Obviously there is a great deal of urgency on our part, but we still feel, and I have felt this all along, that we definitely have the players. It is gaining the experience and gaining the consistency and that takes time.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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New faces at linebacker
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