OU 2024 Roster Breakdown: Cheetah (Kendel Dolby, Dasan McCullough & Justin Harrington)

Ted how you feeling about the cheetah spot with with all of the great reviews that Kendall dobley got at the end of last season and that he's getting you know stuff that we're hearing about him throughout this off season the way he started spring practice I I'm starting to wonder is it is he too good to where you just have to keep him on the field all the time and live with some of the bad situations you're going to be put in because he's not a big guy at 511 182 or is it still is this cheetah spot still hey you're going to probably have a true nickel guy in Dolby and then have more of a Sam backer type guy in Maka or let's not forget Harrington even though coming off the knee injury he's kind of the blend of both so I I'm so interested to see what happens at the cheetah spot yeah I am too um I think it's going to be I Kindle Dolby has really really been talked about a lot and the matchup with him and Burks is like iron sharp and iron through the spring it sounds like so that's going to be fun to see how those two guys progress but yeah Kendall Doby has been really praised from the staff about like where he went from the beginning of last year whenever he's kind of thrown into the mix remember they thought Harrington was going to be the guy and he goes down down pretty quickly in the season and all of a sudden they're to a to a degree scrambling and kindall Dolby starts playing there and ends up having a really nice season well he's not going to be starting from square one I where he is today compared to where he was during the season isn't even close um and he's got great athleticism um you're right the true nickel kind of a a corner playing that spot covering those slot receivers which really is what you want that type of athleticism there and he's a really good tackler he's physical um so I kind of expect him I expect him to be the guy until they get into bigger formations and that's whenever D Maka is going to factor in now he's not going to be in in the spring I don't think so at least like he may be doing some like non- contct stuff for I I don't know exactly what his role is going to look like and maybe they will bring him as a full participant I'm not sure but you know he's got tremendous upside like we've seen when Dan is out there and they do anything where he's moving forward he is a tremendous threat in the Run game in any of the bubble and tunnel stuff on the outside you just he basically eliminates that spot completely whenever he's coming forward uh really needs to work on his pass coverage and stuff understanding the space behind him U he's got great Link at 65 in that spot you know if he could if he made some pretty big gains in the passing game on the stuff going backwards behind him I think he could be incredibly dangerous um Harrington it's all about how healthy can he stay he understands it um he he's he's incredibly physical comes downhill well he plays with you know it was my favorite thing about him as a player is the speed and effort he plays with at all times he is a high energy guy that he plays that way the entire time I hope he stays healthy I think he's a he's just an a tremendous athlete a asset for the football team he can be depth at safety he can obviously be dep or even the starter at the cheetah spot I mean in a pinch he could probably play inside backer for you if you needed him too you know they'll have that six-pack where they've got three down and they have an extra defensive back out there when they're in their dime he could be a part of that you know when they do the three safety Iowa State stuff he could play in that I mean there's a lot of things that that he adds as a football player just to go along with the excellent person now it the excellent leadership that you get from him I mean I think we're in a really good spot at cheetah and add Omigo in there who played some cheetah last year it wouldn't shock me if leis Carter got a little bit of run there at the cheetah spot because of his athleticism so I mean it's just it's another position that is deep and as you look at it now you wouldn't you don't feel great about daon being out there against you know like a a true four wide look but it's it's kind of a position where you look at it you say I wouldn't feel horrible with those any of those three guys as the starting cheetah which you know again light years from where we were a year ago and two years ago it we had uh Deshawn White playing playing cheetah so which nothing against him it just wasn't his natural spot like we've improved at this spot tremendously I think the the biggest question right now is and it's not like a a bunch of SEC offenses are getting into you know consistently getting into two and three tight ends and like that's really how they operate probably more than the Big 12 than the RO of the SEC right but that is I do Wonder because Dolby is not an ideal fit for the cheetah spot if if a team decides hey we're gonna we're gonna major in this against Oklahoma and I'm not sure like is Maka the right guy for that as well like does that does that maximize his strengths as a player because you look at it he's long and frankly he's a little I just think he's a little light He's listed at 222 pounds when you're when you're talking about a traditional Sam backer coming into the core you're you're thinking a guy that you know High 230s 240 pounds that can be really physical at the point of attack I don't know if if a bunch of SEC offenses go hey let's let's get in a couple multiple tight end sets and just see how Oklahoma reacts I I don't know if pulling Mulla into the box and making him P play a true Sam backers I I don't know if that's his strength C can he develop that can he add a little more weight and size and know be more of a situational guy for those types of situations while Dolby and Harrington are probably the guys playing the bulk of your snaps with the type of personnel groupings you're going to see I don't know but I do wonder if they get some big Personnel do like is Mulla the answer in those situations or is Omigo more of a true Sam backer type of player I I I don't know I do think that's a question though no it's it is a good point um with and I don't see the problem is you don't see a whole lot of it hopefully we see a ton of it with our offense this spring have to get out there and see like to where you could really sharpen your skills the problem is you just don't see a lot of it so it's hard for any of those guys to get really good at it you know so I D at 65 225 because of that length should be hell on a tight end to block but if he doesn't have the great technique there you know he's also a tall skinny Target that if he doesn't have great technique there's a lot of surface area for a blocker so it's like either really good or the possibility of being really bad so I'm with you um I'm curious to see how that goes I one thing to remember about danaca is whenever he was at Indiana in transfer last year he was like an inside guy that played on the edge too and they plucked him out of that and put him out at cheetah in space Fish Out of Water and he made tremendous strides from Spring ball until you know whenever the season got rolling with how much ground he made up think about how far ahead of the game he is right now in Spring compared to where he was last year so it wouldn't shock me if like he makes some massive ground on all of those things whether it's kind of playing that Sam spot against bigger Personnel or being out in space like he could be one of those players that makes a massive jump to where it's like wow who is this guy it he could be one of those no doubt now the knee injury I do think it's really unfortunate because I thought you know from a strength and explosiveness standpoint like he needed to work on his lower body and the knee injury it kind of It kind of limits how much progress you can make throughout winter workouts throughout the spring when you're rehabing when you're rehabbing a KNE but yeah I just I'm really should to see where he fits because man he had some moments last season where he go dang that guy that guy just makes plays but you're G to be playing you know week in and week out you're gonna be playing a higher level of competition a more physical just bigger guys in the SEC and how does he adjust to that how does he handle it so I I I love what we're hearing about Dolby though and that is that's where it gets interesting if Harrington really bounces back well and is flying around and with with all that energy do they move Dolby somewhere else because I'd be shocked if he's not a starter somewhere with the way that they're talking about the guy so that that could create a an interesting Dynamic ultimately you want to get your Playmakers on the field as much as possible so if Harrington really bounces back I don't know what that means for Dolby or what it means for Harrington like do they look at him and more of a traditional safety spot I I I don't know but that would be a good problem for them to run into no doubt well here's the way I view it too I if you're not a [Music] starter on defense you need to be a big contributor on special teams so let's just assume that let's just say it's it's it's stutzman at Mike and Kobe McKenzie or stutzman at will Kobe McKenzie at Mike that's your starters on defense or you could throw anyone in there next to stman if you want but Kip Lewis jiren knck Lewis Carter omo Harrington D like these those are your core special teams guys that's a hell of a core special teams group athletically physic like all of those guys can absolutely run like it should be a massive disappointment if Oklahoma's special teams I'm not talking about the kicking and punting part or the catching and running I'm talking about everything else we should be hell on Wills on special teams and there you can't convince me of any other outcome other than that anything other than that is a massive disappointment and that extends to like the guys whoever's not going to be starting at safety like safety's going to be a hell of a competition at corner I we got Corners that are 63 220 pounds like we should be hell on Wills on special teams No Doubt anything else inside backers cheetah you didn't really you didn't really break down those guys very well so maybe well I hope it comes across that I feel really good about this group and it's one of the reasons I think that we will have the best defense that we've had in at Oklahoma in as long as I can remember that makes me happy to hear you say that so don't don't expect too much out there guys no pressure right yeah no pressure