Backup quarterback is a position few fans or coaches ever want to think about. However, it’s an important role to have decided before going into any season.
The Oklahoma Sooners have zero doubt who their starting quarterback will be in Year 3 of the Brent Venables era. Jackson Arnold was tabbed long ago as the player who would be the face of the Sooners as they left the Big 12 for the SEC .
The quarterback room as a whole has seen a major reshuffle around the former five-star prospect. Former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby is the head coach at Mississippi State. Former offensive analyst Matt Wells , who worked with the QBs, is the co-offensive coordinator at Kansas State. Former assistant quarterbacks coach Matt Holocek followed Lebby to Starkville.
Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley were promoted to co-offensive coordinators to replace Lebby, with Littrell coaching quarterbacks and likely serving as the primary play-caller. Finley will continue to coach tight ends. Kevin Johns , who was the OC and QBs coach at Duke for the last two seasons, was hired by Venables as an offensive analyst this offseason to replace Wells. Johns has worked under Littrell before and received his coaching start working for former Oklahoma OC and current Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson . Jack Lowary and Ty Hatcher were hired in December as offensive support staff, and both have worked with QBs.
Dillon Gabriel , Davis Beville , General Booty and Jacob Switzer left the program via the transfer portal this offseason, leaving Arnold as the only player in the QB room who was here a season ago.
Behind Arnold, Oklahoma has four other quarterbacks on the roster heading into the 2024 season. Veteran transfer Casey Thompson , true freshmen Michael Hawkins Jr. and Brendan Zurbrugg , and late transfer enrollee Steele Wasel make up the rest of the quarterback unit.
Which of these players has the best chance to be called upon if something happens to Arnold? After all, we saw the situation play out last season when Arnold’s redshirt year was burned because he had to replace Gabriel in the second half of a must-win game against BYU.
Casey Thompson has the experience you look for in a college football backup quarterback. The seventh-year “senior” has made stops at Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic over the past few years. He’s Oklahoma royalty, having seen his father Charles Thompson and his older brother Kendal Thompson play for the Sooners before him. He joined the program as a walk-on transfer this offseason, and has been recovering from injury, meaning he was unable to participate in spring football.
Michael Hawkins Jr., another Oklahoma legacy, provides the young and uber-talented backup option. The true freshman hails from Frisco Emerson High School in Texas, and he could be the future of the position if he develops over the next two seasons behind Arnold. He’s a dual-threat quarterback, flashing his talent in the 2024 Spring Game .
Brendan Zurbrugg was the second quarterback the Sooners took in the 2024 Recruiting Class , and his road to playing time is longer than his fellow true freshman’s. Zurbrugg is from Alliance, Ohio, and will be a depth player this season. He was taken by Oklahoma this year for a reason. He’ll have a chance to show what he has in practice.
Steele Wasel is the newest member of the group, transferring in from Akron in early June . He’ll be the fifth quarterback on the roster this season, and the in-state product will provide depth and a practice arm as a walk-on, getting the opportunity to practice against Power Four players in Norman.
Thompson and Hawkins Jr. are the front-runners to serve as Arnold’s backup, but they’re on opposite ends of the experience spectrum. It may depend on the nature or severity of an Arnold injury to see which of them plays. Zurbrugg and Wasel are farther back in the competition, but college football has a way of making the unexpected the reality sometimes.
For instance, if Arnold is injured for part of a game and Littrell needs someone to finish the job, he might go with the steady hand of Thompson to help the Sooners win a close game, especially if it comes in a tough environment. If Arnold’s absence stretches multiple games, the talent and upside of Hawkins Jr. might be the way to go, considering the microscopic margin of error in the SEC. If either of those backups go down, Zurbrugg or Wasel could see an expanded role.
The competition will likely extend throughout fall camp, but Venables, Littrell and Finley need to have an answer at backup QB.
They’ll need to prepare either the experienced Thompson or the young Hawkins Jr. to hold the weight of Sooner Nation on their shoulders if the worst-case scenario happens. While they’re at it, it doesn’t hurt to get Zurbrugg or even Wasel ready to go just in case chaos reigns in 2024.
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