Spring Football Preview Roundtable

Football is back... sort of.

Spring ball is officially underway with all returning players and early enrollees in Stillwater now. Practices get underway Monday leading to the Spring game on Saturday, April 20th.

One position fans will be watching closely this spring is running back. Chuba Hubbard is your RB1, but behind him battling for playing time will be Jr. Dezmon Jackson, R-Jr. LD Brown, Fr. Dondrick Glass, R-Fr. Jahmyl Jeter, and R-Fr. Mbari Snoddy. What do you think is the post-spring pecking order and why?

Micah Allen: “I’m going to say Brown simply because he’s had playing time in the program and has been at Oklahoma State the longest out of the guys on the list. Now that being said, I think Dezmon Jackson also has a solid shot because of his experience in JUCO. But ultimately Brown wins out in my opinion because he’s had the most time with the playbook.”

Ryan Harris: “As a native Texan I am always biased towards Texas guys. Especially those I have watched or covered before. I would love to see Deondrick Glass and Jahmyl Jeter get some good run in this spring. Since Glass isn’t on campus yet, I don’t think he will find himself high up on the depth chart yet. I would say it will be LD Brown, Jeter, Dezmon Jackson, and Mbari Snoddy, with Glass at the bottom. He will have plenty of opportunities to move up the chart in the summer.”

Zach McCoy: “RB1 - Chuba Hubbard, RB2 - LD Brown. The rest will fight for third spot until eventually Glass emerges as a special talent that challenges all but Chuba for playing time.”

Matt Harris: “Deondrick Glass will absolutely get the most playing time behind Chuba. He is too special to keep off the field. I think we see a lot of LD Brown in red zone and short yardage situations. Chuba will get the lions share obviously and I think Glass and Brown will split the remaining carries fairly evenly. Glass will likely get more than Brown, but not by much. We could see Jackson, Jeter and Snoddy in blowouts, but I don’t think any of them get much run behind a dominate top three.”d

Other than running back, which position group are you most interested in this spring and why?

MA: “O-Line. With a new position coach and losing and experienced returner in Hambright, I’m curious to see how Dickey is able to work with them and translate the things he was able to do at Kansas State to Stillwater.”

RH: “Is it fair to say quarterback? This position won’t be won for a long time, but it will be interesting to see how Spencer Sanders and Dru Brown perform.”

ZM: “QB? This is an easy answer because we still don’t know exactly what Dru Brown’s endgame was when he decided to come here and we’re all eager to see how much of a star Spencer Sanders can be. Throw a bunch of unknowns into into the most important spot on the field and you end up with a lot of intrigue.”

MH: “ It has to be quarterback. It is the most important position on the field and things are up in the air. Dru Brown and Spencer Sanders should each get an equal opportunity at the spot and it will be interesting to see who gets the upper hand in spring ball.”

Oklahoma State has a new OC this year, and with it a lot of new wrinkles. Which position group are you most interested to see in Coach Gleeson’s system?

MA: “I’m gonna say quarterback.He did some interesting things with the QBs at Princeton and I’m curious about what he’s able to draw up with the quarterbacks we currently have at Oklahoma State.”

RH: “I have to go with quarterback again. Can Gleeson effectively play both quarterbacks on the field at the same time? What packages will he come up with for dual threat quarterbacks? I’m interested to see his offensive playbook as a whole, but quarterback interests me most at this stage.”

ZM: “I honestly haven’t done a ton of research, but we’re going to be very talented at TE/CB with Jelani Woods and incoming 4-star freshman Grayson Boomer and I’m very interested to see how they’re utilized.”

MH: “ I’m really interested to see how the quarterbacks do in the system as they fight for the job, but I have to go with the running backs. The wide receivers are elite enough to excel in most any pass-heavy system, but a big frustration with Yurcich’s system was his tendencies with running the ball. It felt like there were times where OSU should’ve been going to the air and Yurcich was completely fine with three straight runs resulting in a three-and-out. I’m most interested to see how Gleeson uses the run game.”

It’s going to be year two under defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Which position group do you expect to take the biggest step forward this spring?

MA: “I’m gonna go with safety. Mostly because I think Jarrick Bernard and Kolby Peel did a great job last year as freshman and I think they make even more strides in the offseason this year and have a chance to be a great unit as sophomores.”

RH: “I think the defensive backs will have the best year. That’s a bold statement in the Big 12, but this group will go from young and inexperienced to older and more experienced. I’m excited to see how big of a step they can take next season.”

ZM: “The safety group made big strides last year as the young players began to come into their own. They’re a big part of the 4-2-5 and I expect them to take a big step forward in general experience and a year under their belt in the system.”

MH: “I’m going to say the corners. AJ Green and Rodarius Williams now have two years of play under their belts and I think that the defensive backs in general will surprise a lot of people with their play this year. Knowles’ defense is predicated on getting pressure on the quarterback, forcing him to make quick decisions. The secondary will be a big part of the success of the defensive unit if it can force turnovers like it has throughout the last several years before a drop off last season.”