Greg McElroy questions himself for possibly ranking Oklahoma too low
The 2024 college football season is almost here, and preseason rankings are taking shape. ESPN’s Greg McElroy also joined in on the fun, releasing his top 25 rankings six weeks out from the first games of the season.
McElroy ranked the incoming SEC newcomer Oklahoma Sooners No. 17 in his preseason rankings. After doing some thinking, he began doubting himself once he began breaking down the Sooners’ personnel and coaching staff. After all, OU was ranked inside the top 10 multiple times last season with 10 wins to show for it.
“I’m starting to feel like this just a little bit too low” McElroy admitted. “I know that I look at the schedule. It’s hard for me to get past the schedule, I get that. And if you look at what Oklahoma has, just watch their personnel, it’s hard to not feel really good about Oklahoma this year.
“I think every Oklahoma fan has questions about the offensive line. I think every coach might have questions about the offensive line but man, it’s just hard for me to think that they won’t field a decent group up front. They always seem to field a decent group up front but a lot of the reason for optimism has to do with the defense.”
The Sooners are led by defensive-minded head coach Brent Venables. He returns two first team All-Big 12 defenders in LB Danny Stutsman and S Billy Bowman. Stutsman had over 100 tackles last season while Bowman led the secondary with six interceptions.
“Those guys are all going to be even more comfortable in Brent Venables system defensively as they head into year number two in some cases and in some cases into year number three,” McElroy continued.
Offensively, former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold is sliding over to take the reigns as OU’s starting quarterback. He’ll be paired with new offensive coordinator Seth Littrell who spent last season on Venables’ staff as an offensive analyst. Before that, he was the head coach of the North Texas Mean Green from 2016-2022.
For Arnold, he logged one start last season, throwing 45 passes for 361 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in a losing effort against a ranked Arizona squad in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
“I think Seth Littrell is an incredible offensive mind,” McElroy said. “He’s going to step right in and they won’t skip a beat on that side of the ball as far as play calling is concerned.”
The duo of Arnold and Littrell will get to showcase an entire offseason’s worth of work toghether when the Sooners kick off their 2024 season against Temple on Aug. 30. More importantly, they begin SEC play on Sept. 21 when they host the Tennessee Volunteers.