OU Roster Breakdown: Running Back (Sawchuck, Hicks, Barnes, Franklin, Robinson & Tatum)

think about the current running back situation for the Sooners not enough that did not get enough from that position a year ago we've talked a lot about it but I I think that when you talk to the staff about this group of backs that are on campus right now remember Taylor Tatum's not there yet so so we're not going to include him in this conversation that the conversation starts with Gavin saek and saw Sawchuk a couple weeks back and he does he does look a little thicker physically which I thought was really encouraging they've got him listed at 511 195 but to me looked like he had added some muscle I guess the question is can he make the jump or maybe the most important question is can he stay healthy for an entire off season and make the physical gains that he needs to make because we know we know the speed's there when things are clean the speed is there but can he become a guy that is a true Difference Maker that can make something out of nothing multiple times a game because that's that's really what separates backs in my mind is the guys they are guys that just they get what's blocked they get what's there and can Gavin Sawchuk be a guy that gets more than what's there and I I really hope he makes the jump because sounds like this guy does everything right on and off the field and you know keep staying healthy throughout the spring and throughout summer is going to be huge for him but he needs to improve he absolutely does yeah no I agree you know it's interesting with saluk I think the physical traits he's he's got everything that you need uh you know he's powerful when he needs to be he's elusive in the open field we know he's got the Home Run gear uh for top speed he can flat out fly you know it feels like and this is not really even a just a sawchuck thing it's kind of the running back group together when I think about what javante Barnes and Sawchuk looked like in the Florida State game going back two years ago in the bowl game I saw a couple of guys that were like running the football offensively aggressively attacking running over guys and it like when you look back it's like okay we're an underdog in this football game we don't have a lot of our guys just there's really not a whole lot of expectations just go out and cut it loose and that's what we saw since that point I feel like as a running back group we've been feeling our way around a little bit not very assertive not very aggressive like trying to make the right play instead of just go do your thing and I think to me that's the biggest thing with Sawchuk to cut all of that great athleticism loose he just needs to go and I don't know if it was if it was a health thing maybe holding them back if it was worried about making a mistake or I don't know but I think it's fair to say for a big chunk last year it just didn't look like it had the same pop and then it got better and better towards the end of the season but I mean to me that's the biggest thing cut it Loose get aggressive like don't run the ball defensively which is weird to say I understand but that's kind of what I how I feel like we were running the football last season I I I I think that he's clearly got all the tools but the health thing is a huge Factor like you you can't be you can't be a soft tissue guy that's always got muscle pulls and you're missing two weeks here and missing a week there and you're out of training camp I mean running back is a rhythm especially in college it's like a rhythm position like you need your carries week in week out you need to like you you need to get calloused for the position to be a really like a a true topend running back in in the SEC and I think we've got several guys that have that ability it's just whether or not we get that type of play out of them I I completely agree and kind of the last thing on Sauk and what we saw from him last season I kind of felt like until the last couple games of the year he looked like a a golf cart with the governor on it yeah yeah where it just it couldn't quite get to where he wanted it to go or maybe he was hesitant to take it to open it completely up and my hope you're nagged by injury like that right and there there's that hesitation there like hey if I if I punch the gas am I gonna pull my hamy again so I get that but he needs to get to a place physically where he can play the position as fast as possible he won't get to where he wants to be at three quarter speed no you know just you just won't get there yeah and his three quarter speed is fast pretty good it's pretty good but we need him at a 100 and if he can get there if he can stay healthy man I am interested to see what it looks like now there's there's clearly a big piece of this discussion that is tied in to the offensive line and to what the Run is going to look like as a whole under Seth Latrell and Joe John Finley there's also a tight ends piece to it you know what are their personnel groupings going to look like usually if you can get in Personnel groupings you can run a couple different concepts when it comes to the Run game than you can without those type of bodies on the field so that's all that all goes into this conversation but we don't want to make this last four hours because I will go down an absolute rabbit hole but Seth LR and jojn Finley part of their job is to figure out what run Concepts not only fit these backs the best but what run run Concepts fit whatever they end up Landing with on the o line so that that is that's not an easy thing but that that's a piece of all this but I think one of the more interesting questions on the roster right now Ted is the the running back situation starts with Sauk I think right now if you look at it he has he has earned the rb1 label up to this point but the second running back that feels very up in the air to me no I I totally agree who do we who do we talk about next is it Caleb Hicks is it the transfer Sam Franklin Javonte Barnes did not look let's be real he did not look good at all last season yeah well you know and it goes back to the health thing did we ever get an like figure out exactly what the surgery he was that he missed springing with the foot it was as far as I know it was a pretty standard foot surgery my guess was always fifth metatarsal and that was something that I had that surgery in high school and a lot of people have it and some people have complications with it I I don't know if that was what it was yeah but you know me we kind of steer away from the hey man what's his injury conversations well but he just he did he looked like a shell of himself yeah he did from from the true freshman year where you know he was explosive and I again it's kind of back to the I'm a true freshman I don't know what I'm doing I'm just G to go as hard as I possibly can and you saw that whenever he runs the football and that's like okay hey once he gets a little bit of Polish to his game some ball security you know UPS his game in the in the pass protection aspect the passing game like this is going to be a great back and he was ever able to hit that that full speed again like we saw his freshman year you know that's kind of sa is like as a position group last year we were not nearly as explosive as we needed to be guys were feeling way and I I don't know what there could be some very good reasoning for that but that really doesn't matter to me we just have to get better at the position become more explosive and hopefully Barnes is healthy has put some good time between the injury the surgery and now and he's back to that explosive guy that we saw two years ago yeah that guy could run the football anywhere completely agree what happened to him as a player last year it was just odd and and I don't know if it was you know more than the injury I don't know if there was something mentally going on I I don't know but he went from running with a lot of violence to not yeah well and his cuts his Cuts were I mean just it didn't look like he could cut so so can he get back to looking more like he did as a freshman which is kind of weird to say out loud but well that's what I was going to say is as you know as a freshman I it's almost like kicker to a degree when kickers haven't missed a kick the most confident guys you'll ever see all of a sudden when they miss that first kick and there's a little bit of doubt that has crept in it's never really the same from that point on and as a freshman you haven't made any mistakes you don't you're not carrying any emotional baggage behind you whenever you're you're asked to to go out and compete and do something you start making a couple you have a big fumble in a game you have a big mistake to get your quarterback sacked and bar ball yard loose like whenever you make some mistakes it's it can have an effect on how you play and you can lose some of that aggressiveness and second guess what you do I don't know if that's the case with the guys but you know there's been something that held them back a little bit last year and maybe it's just the injury thing but I don't know we got to we got to recapture what we had there we'll see we'll see what he looks like throughout spring and because you start looking at this running back room there's a lot of guys now there's there's a lot of guys that are going to be battling for snaps and there is just there's no doubt when you line the running backs up and you just look at them your eyes are drawn to zero there's just I mean Caleb Hicks he looks like he should be the best running back on the team 5'11 216 pounds is what listed out on the spring roster perfect it's he looks fantastic I had one member of the staff to say he may be too swole which is a good thing so you look at his physical build you look at his quickness explosiveness the he's got the top end speed that you need you it feels like a no-brainer that'll be a major contributor but then you start thinking about the types of things that keep young backs off of the field now you you've got a lot of stuff going on for other for college football players right but just the football piece that would keep them off the field it it's mental mistakes it's pass protection especially like Demarco is extremely demanding when it comes to knowing your pass protection rules but if Caleb Hicks can excel in that area know what he's doing in pass protection with the way that he looks physically and with how awesome it looks with the running back and number zero I just I don't see any way that he's not a big-time contributor for this football team but I I guess we'll see man I I I thought we'd see him more last year we didn't but he looks he looks fantastic well yeah I I remember going out to training camp last year whenever he was a true freshman and watch an inside drill and that's exact I was like who is that guy and I totally expected him to you know to have some type of impact last season and I think you know in HD and side it could be a good thing that he didn't you know uh for a bunch of reasons but just the look The explosiveness that he has the the physicality the size 5'11 216 pounds is exactly what you want he is that is like the perfect running back size and it's it's going to be a more physical conference we know that and he's got the perfect like size and he looks like it an extremely durable type of guy I'm excited to see more from him you know I I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on a on a red shirt freshman year I you've heard me a million times I don't expect a whole lot from freshman whenever they first show up but he physically has all the tools you've been here for a year there's really not a whole lot of excuses anymore physically you can do it which I know he can he should be a major contributor in some way he just looks different than the other guys and when you watch him be standing on the sideline yeah you you you go out there and you go you should be on the field so hope y Caleb Hicks does everything he needs to do because this team needs they need game changers at the skill spots and maybe this is the best way to put it he's got all the common symptoms of a game changer at the running back position when you look at him and when you see him move so hopefully he can put it all together now Sam Franklin the transfer from UT Mar said he is first of all He's listed at 510 200 and they they like what they've seen from him in Winter workouts but he he is one of the guys on the offense really I'm most interested in seeing because I just don't really know he had some impressive plays at UT Martin but I think it's fair to say that he didn't blow us away with what we watched of him so I'm just I'm so curious to see how he fits into this offense yeah I you know there there's some good stuff from him it's just curious because when he hit the portal they snapped him up like that like it was the first portal Edition I think or at least one of them that we made um so there's something there that they see and maybe there's a previous relationship and recruiting or something but yeah I I'm I'm fascinated to see how he fixs fits into the mix sounds like the offseason went really good for him um you know if anything it's it's add some good depth and competition there because you know I think sawchuk's got the first little run at it but outside of that I think everything's up for grabs oh I completely agree when you look at the running back situation outside of Sauk I mean Caleb Hicks is extremely talented hasn't done anything Javonte Barnes is as excited as we were about him as a freshman last year happened like you can't just act like it didn't happen so he's kind of kind of back to square one with me you're GNA have to prove what you got so I I would say The Backs behind him and we'll see what Sam Franklin can do but Franklin's got an opportunity for sure if the other guys don't make the Improvement that they need to make I mean you can put a a veteran guy out there that may not be quite as talented but is more reliable yeah and has has some more miles and like you said reliability is I I I hope we're not in a position where we have to settle on reliability I mean ultimately sometimes you end up there and that's just how things are but we are we are way too talented and too explosive at this position and this I'm not putting this on Franklin I'm just and I totally agree with what you're saying I just hope that we don't set have to settle for reliability if that makes sense like we have guys that are good enough to be explosive at this position and this could this could be should be frankly at Oklahoma I we we haven't ever been any good being average at running back for the most part like Oklahoma's had guys at running back and it's been the tip of the spear for this program as far as you want to go back and and I'm I'm hoping that we get that again this year and I know that we've got a super talented group and everyone offers something a little bit different which we talk about we like in a in a position group so I mean I'm excited about it but you know there is that you know you've got the veteran that's carried uh the ball a bunch of times in Franklin that's the reliable guy I I just I hope we don't have to settle and it doesn't come down to that we're going to the man we need explosive and talented at the running back position yep and maybe maybe Franklin is more talented than more explosive than what we saw on tape yeah yeah may maybe he is I I I don't know can't wait to find out yeah but that's where it goes back to Caleb Hicks into Gavin Sawchuk like you know Sawchuk has Elite Speed you know just looking at Caleb hicks's physical build that that's a guy that needs to be a factor like those guys need to they need to step up and be the guys at the running back spot and we'll we'll see with Barnes I I just don't know with everything going on there but yeah you can't just in this first year in the SEC especially with all the question marks along the offensive line I feel like you can't just roll for lack of a better term a guy out there at running back you need you need a couple dudes I agree I agree uh you know the i i the SEC is really no different in in this aspect than anywhere else like if you want to go compete to win the the conference you got to have a back you got to have maybe a couple of backs and that's what's happened in this conference and it's it's really been no different the Big 10 is the same way um you know quarterback is always going to be right there at the top and you know running back and college football is probably a close second you know and I know receivers are getting more into it and and all that stuff but point is I think everyone understands how important the running back position is to this defense or this uh this football team it's it's important to the defense I know you're only always thinking about the defense the Run game is very important to the defense now Xavier Robinson is in early and listed at 6 foot 228 pounds so when you just see that on paper you go okay that kind of separates him from the group right he would be labeled as the big back and the coaches have been very pleased I mean vinal said it on here he he's done a better job than he thought he would and with the way that he's transformed his body since arriving in January so I feel like the one thing he's got going for him is he's just bigger than the other guys he's got a little bit of little bit more girth than the other backs and if you're a freshman and you're trying to get on the field one way to do it is have a different skill set than the other guys in your position group so I I don't know if he's a guy that's going to be ready to be the short yardage and goal line type of guy in the fall as a true freshman that's a it's a big responsibility but that question begins being answered here in Spring ball it's a big responsibility but it's also like really exactly what you want is to be a rooll guy early in your career we don't need you worry about everything just keep it narrow right this is what we need you for that would I think that would go really well for him and he does have some good size and I feel like is at 228 he's leaned out some hasn't he from whatever like what he was listed at was like 240 right yeah yeah so that's that's good you know get the body comp where they want it and I'm sure he'll probably build from that point maybe a little bit more slowly but you know if you've got a 230lb running back that has good explosiveness and good speed and we're talking about short yardage it's 6 or 8 Ines is for a first down and there's a difference in tackling a 230 pounder than there is a 200 pounder there just is I mean it's the mass is harder to stop so if we could have ourselves a a big go-to short yardage and goal line back that'd be good A little Force equals mass times acceleration discussion here on the podcast don't don't say we don't teach you stuff people come on hey as a linebacker uh Scouting Report comes up first thing I go to how heavy are the running backs 195 200 no big deal 205 215 okay 220 230 you've got my attention all right you got my attention every every linebacker is watching that sideline whenever the 230 pound running back checks in we know exactly who that guy is yeah I I imagine all right let's get to call your shot we ask you guys your strongest opinion right now about U's running backs this first one comes from the tunnel Sooners says that we are gonna be more than fine and people are overreacting about the running back position are people overreacting about the running back position well I guess it depends like what are they reacting to if they're reacting to the running back position last season I don't think they're overreacting um but just because in my opinion Others May differ that running back lagged behind last year doesn't mean that it has to moving forward I think you know it's I was going to say I think roster wise were in a better position now than we were a year ago but as I sat here a year ago after watching Sawchuk and Barnes against Florida State and what Barnes looked like through most of the season I think I felt really really good about what we were going to have at running back so you know I don't know we got a five-star coming in sawchucks coming off of a a solid end of the season we got Hicks we got uh Robinson like there's some really good pieces there we just got to see what it looks like you know I a lot of it comes down to like what you said earlier the offensive line and and the tight end position I think the tight end position is going to be a big Improvement overall from what we saw last year and that could help the running game a lot um but you know it's it's going to be up to these guys someone's going to have to to come from the group and I'm fairly confident that'll happen and then let's not forget number one running back recruit in the country will be here in the summer so yeah maybe this maybe this discussion changes I don't know I don't know we'll see I don't know we'll see I don't know I don't know what to make of it I he looks really good on film but I don't know I'm I'm kind of torn how much what have you thought of from what you've seen of Taylor Tatum I think overall he's a really good athlete you you think about what he can do on the baseball field just I feel like the speed is there I just you kind of don't know till they show up when it comes to what I would call the twitch yeah like does he have does he just is he just a good athlete with really good speed and it's high school football even though it's a high level of high school football or does this guy have the real juice that's you don't really know until they get there right I'm hoping he's got the real juice he's he's one of the he looks he looks great but he's not one of those guys that you look at and say that everything is fine he doesn't even need to be here we don't even need him until training camp like he not like a big muscled up like finished product type of running back right now which I think is a good thing like there is there is room for improvement there when it comes to shaping his body and I'm sure Schmitty will will take care of that during the summer but yeah I think that I I don't want to say he's raw that's not the right term but it's he's not maybe the best way to put it is some of these five star show up and you're like damn that guy looks like how how much room for physical growth does he have Taylor Tatum for me with what I've seen that that's not the case like I think there is there is Improvement to be made and it will be made and that's why I say I I don't know what he's going to be as a player because I I don't think he's close to being a finished product physically as a football player that's I think that's what I'm getting at I he's the number one running back of the country but it's Adrien Peterson is not walking through the door type of guy you know what I'm saying like that's not what I've seen at least yeah maybe he is hopefully he is but I don't know I guess maybe I just haven't seen enough up to this point sure be cool if he was the next Adrien Peterson that would that would make that would make things more fun