Position Preview: Linebackers

NORMAN – Versatile and athletic are appropriate terms to describe Oklahoma's 2015 linebacking corps. The group has accumulated 79 career starts and has plenty of star power. But there's another word that might have Sooners fans the most excited.

Deep.

“(Depth) creates competition, which is great for me, great for the group and great for the team,” inside linebackers coach Tim Kish said. “We have guys who have to prove themselves and the ones that do will be out there for the first game.”

Leading the way in the center of the Oklahoma defense in 2015 is senior Eric Striker. A third-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 selection last season, Striker's 15.5 career sacks are already the most of any linebacker in OU history. He will look to improve on that total in 2015, and if he does he will surely gain plenty more national attention. In the preseason, the Seffner, Fla., native was named to watch lists for the Bednarik, Butkus, Rotary Lombardi and Nagurski awards.

Striker fall camp

Eric Striker has recorded 15.5 career sacks, the most by any linebacker in Oklahoma history.

Striker led the 2014 Sooners in sacks (9.0 for 48 yards), tackles for loss (17.0 for 79 yards) and QB hurries (five). He also finished fourth on the team with 68 tackles. In the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl against Clemson, Striker logged three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and 10 total stops.

While Striker's speed and lightning quick first step make him one of the nation's best pass rushers, it's his leadership that makes him an invaluable asset to the team.

“He is the fire and the gasoline,” OU head coach Bob Stoops said of Striker. “He does it all, and does it with a smile on his face. He is always ready to go.”

“He always brings energy and you have to have that,” redshirt junior quarterback Trevor Knight said. “There are days when you don't want to be doing what you are doing. You get up super early and then you hear Eric and he is chirping and hollering. It gets you going and lights a fire. It is necessary. He makes you mad at practice. He fires you up. He is a guy who makes everyone around him better.”

TOBY'S TAKE

rowland

Is Frank Shannon the same linebacker he was two years ago? That's the biggest question for me at this position. If he is, the Sooners could have not only the best group of LBs in the Big 12, but one of the best in the nation. Shannon had 92 tackles in 2013, and registered a 16-tackle game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl. He was an All-Big 12 caliber linebacker with the ability to rush the passer and drop into coverage effectively. Just how the year away from the team has affected Shannon, however, remains to be seen.

You have to feel good about the rest of the Sooners on the second level. Eric Striker is one of the hardest players in America to game plan against. The key will be continuing to find creative ways to put his explosiveness in positions to get after quarterbacks. The first thing every QB does before every play is find Striker. Dominique Alexander and Jordan Evans have both proven to be solid linebackers who seem to be ready to become stars. Coaches continue to rave about Devante Bond. Look for him to be an X-factor. Redshirt freshman Tay Evans looked impressive in the spring. And don't forget about the versatile Obo Okoronkwo. Like Striker, they'll look to use Obo in a multitude of ways to make QBs squirm. Linebacker is definitely a position of strength and depth for OU in 2015.

Listen to OU play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland weekday mornings from 6-9 a.m. on the "T-Row in the Morning Show" on KREF 98.5 FM and 1400 AM.

Associate head coach and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops will coach the outside linebackers in 2015 and he has more than just Striker to send after opposing signal callers. Senior Devante Bond and redshirt sophomore Ogbonnia Okoronkwo have both shown flashes of explosive skill off the edge and appear ready for larger roles in 2015.

Bond totaled 29 tackles in 2014, including four for loss, and started each of the final three games.

“Devante is a guy that no one really talked about a year ago that will be a surprise part of this group,” Stoops said.

Okoronkwo notched three tackles for loss and recorded two sacks of his own.

“We keep trying to find ways to get (Okoronkwo) on the field because he is such a dynamic player,” Kish said. “He has picked things up and has had a good camp so far. He has been very effective out there. He will continue to get more playing time as he becomes more entrenched in what we are trying to do on that side of the ball.”

Oklahoma will be just as loaded, if not more so, at inside linebacker. The Sooners return both their starters from 2014 in juniors Dominique Alexander and Jordan Evans. Alexander, an All-Big 12 Second Team selection, led all Sooners with 107 tackles last season while Evans finished just behind him with 93. Joining that pair is redshirt senior Frank Shannon. The Dallas native was not enrolled at OU in 2014 but played in 12 games in 2012 and led the Sooners in tackles in 2013 with 92.

“He has always had the want-to and the desire,” Kish said of Shannon. “He's picking some things up after missing all of last year and he is improving every day. It is a great competition there. We move them around so everyone has an opportunity.”

anderson

Dominique Alexander led OKlahoma in tackles in 2014 with 107.

Adding depth at the position are a pair redshirt freshmen in Tay Evans and Curtis Bolton. After a year of watching from the sidelines and working to improve their games, the young duo is ready to push for playing time.

“They have really come a long way,” Kish said of the duo. “They have a ways to go still, but they are both working hard and picking things up quickly. They have great athletic ability out there, and again, it adds to the competition because they are more experienced and understand what we are trying to do on the defensive side of the ball. That gives us a great opportunity to build depth.”

OU's current crop of freshmen also boasts a pair of highly-rated linebackers. New Orleans native Arthur McGinnis arrives in Norman rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 18 outside linebacker by one recruiting service. He posted 110 tackles, 14 sacks, 32 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and four pass break-ups as a junior at Warren Easton High School.

Mechanicsville, Va., native Ricky DeBerry was rated as a five-star recruit and the No. 25 overall player in the nation by another service. The 6-foot-2, 242-pounder notched 51 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in just six games during his senior season. DeBerry was also a finalist for the high school version of the 2014 Butkus Award, given annually to the best linebacker, and was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Players Mentioned

Dominique Alexander

Dominique Alexander

Dominique Alexander

Curtis Bolton

Devante Bond

Devante Bond

Ricky DeBerry

Jordan Evans

Jordan Evans

Tay Evans

Tay Evans

Trevor Knight

Arthur McGinnis

Arthur McGinnis

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

Frank Shannon

Frank Shannon

Eric Striker

Eric Striker

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics