Brent Venables feels ‘good’ about depth in QB room

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is pretty confident in the quarterback depth going into the 2024 season, led by Jackson Arnold this year.

Arnold is the crown jewel of the room, a former five-star and ready to take the leap. But he’ll be backed up by Michael Hawkins and veteran Casey Thompson.

It’s a vast difference between Dillon Gabriel and a true freshman Arnold last fall.

“I feel better than, really with Dillon by himself last year and Jackson, you know, being a true freshman where he was,” Venables said. “We felt great about Dillon and, and there’s a lot of unknown after Jackson and I feel like we have more guys there than what we had a year ago. Mike Hawkins was really good all spring and anybody that saw us play, it was easy to see.”

Venables made sure to point out Hawkins had a good spring and that he’s excited to see Thompson get on the field.

“He’s had a really good spring and again, he’ll have another opportunity to make a big jump here over the course of the summer, but we feel good about it,” Venables said. “Great leadership. Guy’s got the arm talent and the ability to run and the instincts and the leadership, all those things that you want. 

“And, you know with Casey Thompson, he’s also somebody that’ll be cleared to throw with the guys and he’s a guy that started a lot of college football games as well. And so that’s the depth at that position more so than what we had, you know, a year ago, not even close to where we were a year ago.”

As far as what Venables wants to see in Arnold, it’s all about efficiency.

“Being efficient, and working together,” Venables said. “Again, continuing to build, again, our chemistry. Our cohesion. Our relationships. All of those things, that our incredibly important. 30% of those guys in that locker room, that was their first spring game. By the time we get back together in August, just under 40%, I think it’s 38% will be first-time fall participants. 

“So really looking forward to that, and really excited about the additions that we’ve made, both through high school and the portal additions, as well. So I really feel like that’s been a group of guys that have helped us. They’ve created a value for themselves, earned some trust and again, the summertime will be another opportunity for them to continue to enhance that.”