Jim Nagy makes bold statement about the state of the Oklahoma Sooners roster and their future as an NFL pipeline

For most of the 2024 season, watching the Oklahoma Sooners was a rough outing due to a completely inept offense that left the defense hanging out to dry against elite teams frequently. 

The team rarely felt like it had the talent to compete against the top teams last season. 

Oh, how the times are a'changing. Oklahoma's roster feels fairly deep and as talented as Brent Venables has assembled in his brief tenure as the head coach of the Sooners.

In fact, new general manager Jim Nagy went out of his way to praise the Sooners' roster, saying Oklahoma has "an NFL player in every position group".

I’ll say this, the phones rang a bunch over the last month. Because now the NFL guys are getting into their summer tape work. And I’ve had a lot of friends hit me up like, ‘man, you guys got real dudes this year'. There’s going to be a lot of foot traffic through OU. We talked about it on the flight with Spears-Jennings and R Mason and John [Mateer]. ‘Guys, there’s gonna be a lot of guys in the NFL logos at practice this fall and just be ready.’ And I told them that’s a great opportunity for you guys because practice for the NFL is huge. Just like watching your tempo, you’re taking coaching, you’re being leaders, being good teammates. So yeah, you look at both sides of the ball....Literally there is an NFL player in every position group across the field basically.”

The crazy part about the quote is it feels true from where the Sooners sit right now, aside from the tight end room. Look at the roster room-by-room:

• Quarterback: John Mateer
• Running back: Jaydn Ott
• Wide receiver: Deion Burks, Elijah Thomas (trust me), Javonnie Gibson
• Offensive Line: Logan Howland, Michael Fasusi, Troy Everett, Derek Simmons, Febechi Nwaiwu, Heath Ozaeta
• EDGE: R Mason Thomas, PJ Adebawore, Marvin Jones Jr., Danny Okoye
• DT: Gracen Halton, Damonic Williams, Jayden Jackson, David Stone
• LB: Kip Lewis, Samuel Omosigho
• CB: Eli Bowen, Gentry Williams, Kendel Dolby
• SAF: Robert Spears-Jennings, Peyton Bowen, Kendal Daniels

Shortly after the Sooners were run off the field by the Joe Burrow-led LSU Tigers in the 2019 Peach Bowl, coaches remarked they "didn't look anything like those guys" (that LSU team had 30 players drafted and has raked in over half a billion dollars in contract extensions). 

Now, it seems like the Sooners are building a team that can contend with the top dogs in the SEC.