Oklahoma football has bigger problems than transfer portal prize Jaydn Ott can fix

Oklahoma has been extremely active in the transfer portal this offseason. The biggest acquisition came in December, a week before Christmas, when quarterback John Mateer transferred to Oklahoma from Washington State, reuniting with his former offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. 

While Mateer remains the headliner of an Oklahoma transfer class that ranks 12th nationally in 247Sports’ transfer class rankings, another big name from a former Pac-12 school joined the class earlier this week.

Jaydn Ott’s long, strange trip through the transfer portal (it lasted a little over 24 hours) ended with a commitment to Oklahoma on Tuesday. The addition of the former 2023 All-American and Pac-12 first-team running back is another boost for the Sooner’s offense, and believe me, it’s an offense in serious need of a boost. It could perhaps find use for two or even three more boosts.

Lest you think I’m being a hater, here’s a handy table that shows you how the Sooners offense fared in 2024.

I told you it was ugly! As was Ott’s 2024 season, as he battled injuries all year, and saw his stats and overall usage take a nose dive. Now the hope is this new marriage will help turn the Oklahoma offense around.

Will it? Well, I hate to be That Guy, but I’m going to be. Jaydn Ott is a good player, and he’s one Oklahoma fans should rightfully be excited about adding to the roster. The pairing of Ott and Mateer in the backfield together has the makings of a fun and exciting duo, but those two alone likely aren’t enough to take the Oklahoma offense from “this is extremely offensive to all my senses, not just my vision” to a unit capable of leading Oklahoma to an SEC Championship appearance, or a possible College Football Playoff berth.

You see, if you watched the Oklahoma offense last season, the skill talent wasn’t the biggest problem. The fact Oklahoma’s wide receivers spent more time in the training room dealing with injuries than on the football field was certainly a problem, but even if they’d been healthy, I’m not sure how often they’d have seen the ball.

Jackson Arnold is a name that causes fights among Sooner fans, but while he failed to live up to the hype as former Sooner QB Dillon Gabriel helped lead Oregon to a Big Ten title, Oklahoma’s offensive failures weren’t on Arnold alone. This was proven when the Sooners benched Arnold for Michael Hawkins in late September, and the offense didn’t magically improve.

The run game wasn’t much to speak of, either, despite having talented backs to choose from. Ott’s arrival only makes a deep room deeper, but like last year, none of it will matter if Oklahoma doesn’t improve the true problem of its 2024 team.

The offensive line was bad. Really bad. If watching it get mauled by SEC defenses with your eyes wasn’t enough to convince you, let’s consult PFF grade. Oklahoma’s pass-blocking grade of 62.9 ranked 92nd nationally. Its run-blocking grade of 55.6 fared even worse, ranking 109th. Even taking into account that PFF grades aren’t a perfect measurement, particularly when it comes to offensive line play, the margin of error isn’t large enough to spin 92nd and 109th!

This is why Jadyn Ott wasn’t the only portal move the Sooners made Tuesday. They also brought in former Stanford offensive lineman Jake Maikkula, who is the second Stanford offensive lineman to join the Sooners this offseason, joining Luke Baklenko. Derek Simmons, a four-star offensive tackle transfer from Western Carolina, joined in December too. There were also four offensive line commits in Oklahoma’s 2025 recruiting class, including the top two players in five-star tackle Michael Fasusi and four-star Ryan Fodje. While they aren’t likely to be immediate contributors, it’s clear Oklahoma emphasized rebuilding its offensive line in the offseason.

How that unit fares in 2025 will ultimately determine how many games the Sooners win. Realistically, it’s hard to imagine there will be enough improvement to vault the Sooners to the top of the league. Not only did they go 6-7 last year and 2-6 in SEC play, but they were non-competitive in too many games. The Sooners lost to Texas by 31, South Carolina by 26 and LSU by 20.

Having Mateer, Ott and receivers capable of actually playing should certainly make this team more competitive, but the schedule remains difficult (Michigan in nonconference, road trips to South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, plus the annual date with Texas). As presently constructed, this is a team that probably wins eight or maybe nine games if everything goes well and there aren’t major injuries. If they don’t, it could be another season that sees the Sooners scratching and clawing for bowl eligibility.