Stoops: New recruits must step up to replace Westbrook, Perine, Mixon
Oklahoma lost an incredible amount of its core following the 2016 season, and Bob Stoops isn't about to use that as an excuse to regress next season.
Three key contributors to the Sooners most recent Big 12 title are now gone. Heisman finalist Dede Westbrook, along with the running back tandem of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon have all declared for the NFL Draft, and head coach Bob Stoops is looking for immediate replacements in this year's recruiting class.
Oklahoma currently sits with the eighth-ranked class for 2017, well ahead of Texas, the next highest rated Big 12 team, who sits 33rd following signing day festivities.
The Sooners added ESPN 300 wide receiver recruits Ryan Jones, Charleston Rambo, and Cedarian Lamb to go along with junior college transfer Marquise Brown, while also bringing in ESPN 300 running backs Trey Sermon and junior college transfer Marcelias Sutton.
Stoops told Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports in an interview on signing day that not only does he see recruits with the potential to fill those spots in the depth chart, but that he sees recruits that could do so immediately.
All they have to do is step up.
"Well the running backs, we love all of them," Stoops said. "Two guys are already on campus ... Marcelias Sutton and Trey Sermon ... So those guys at running back need to be able to step up."
"To replace Dede Westbrook, we've got one guy in already Marquise Brown, a junior college guy with exceptional speed, speed that's similar to Dede's, and then we have two great freshman coming in," Stoops added.
Replacing all of Westbrook, Perine, and Mixon in one season is an extremely tall order, considering those three players accounted for 2,435 rushing yards, 2,168 receiving yards, and a combined total of 45 touchdowns on the ground and in the air.
The Sooners have only one true running back that ran for over 100 yards returning next year, that being future sophomore Abdul Adams, so both Sutton and Sermon could find themselves very much in play for the starting job come opening weekend.
The depth at wide receiver is not as thin as the backfield for Oklahoma, as returning juniors Mark Andrews and Nick Basquine could alleviate some of the pressure of incoming recruits like Brown, Rambo, and Lamb.
The Sooners will be looking to win their third consecutive Big 12 championship this coming season and to do so, the incoming class is going to have to have a say in matters on the gridiron.