Steve Curtis July 20th, 2026
Oklahoma has seen a significant decline in its traditional run game since Brent Venables was hired as head coach.
The last Sooner to rush for more than 1,000 yards was Eric Gray during Venables’ first season in 2022.
Now, with four years of data to examine, production from Oklahoma’s running back room has declined by an average of 422 rushing yards, roughly 23.5 percent, per season.
Despite considerable preseason excitement surrounding the additions of Jaydn Ott through the transfer portal and true freshman Tory Blaylock, along with returning backs Jovantae Barnes, Xavier Robinson and Taylor Tatum, 2025 produced the worst traditional rushing season of the Venables era.
The Sooners’ running backs combined for just 1,024 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. More telling, 891 of those yards and eight of those touchdowns came from Blaylock (484 yards, four touchdowns) and Robinson (407 yards, four touchdowns).
By the time Oklahoma left the Cotton Bowl following the Red River Shootout, Blaylock and Robinson had essentially become the entire running back room. Even after both battled injuries late in the season, the Sooners had little choice but to continue running them into the ground because there simply wasn’t anyone else that would shoulder the workload.
In the SEC, depth is just as important as top-end production. Running backs absorb constant punishment between the tackles, and without multiple contributors sharing carries, maintaining production over the course of a season becomes nearly impossible.
Oklahoma had no such luxury in 2025.
Barnes elected to redshirt before ultimately transferring to Kentucky. Tatum, the former 5-star and No. 1 running back in the 2024 recruiting class, transferred to Michigan and switched to safety after finishing with negative rushing yards. Ott, for reasons that may never be fully explained, gradually distanced himself from the program during the season, most notably leaving the field for the locker room while his teammates celebrated Oklahoma’s victory over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Since then, he has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent.
Following the Sooners’ loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff, Venables made it clear that rebuilding the run game would be one of his top offseason priorities.
The good news for Oklahoma is that both Blaylock and Robinson will return for 2026, giving this team a proven foundation to build around as they look to revive the run game.
Still, the Sooners needed more than just the return of their top two backs. The staff wasted little time adding both talent and depth during the offseason.
The first additions came in the form of true freshmen Jonathan Hatton Jr. and DeZephen Walker.
Hatton arrived in Norman as a Rivals Top 100 four-star prospect and the No. 6 running back in the 2026 class. By the spring game, he measured 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, the kind of bruising frame built for SEC football.
Walker offers a different style at 5-foot-10, 212 pounds. He is quick and thrives running through traffic. During the spring game, his vision and patience reminded many Sooner fans of Kennedy Brooks.
With their contrasting skill sets, both freshmen should have opportunities to contribute in 2026.
The next addition came through the transfer portal in the form of Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant, who rushed for 415 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore.
Avant checks in at the same 5-foot-10, 212-pound frame as Walker, but wins differently. He may not be the fastest, strongest or most elusive runner in the room, but he consistently finds creases and turns broken plays into positive yardage, an underrated skill Oklahoma lacked a season ago.
The final addition did not come in pads and a jersey, but with a whistle.
After DeMarco Murray departed to join the Kansas City Chiefs, Oklahoma hired one of the nation’s premier running backs coaches in Deland McCullough.
While McCullough won’t carry the football this fall, his impact on the position could be just as significant.
Since beginning his coaching career in 2011, McCullough has mentored running backs who have produced 17 different 1,000-yard seasons from scrimmage between the college and NFL levels.
His first stop at Indiana from 2011-16 helped produce one of the most successful rushing eras in school history, as the Hoosiers set 19 program rushing records under his watch.
He followed that with another outstanding run at Notre Dame. During his first season, the Fighting Irish rushed for 2,457 yards, the program’s sixth-highest total since 1996.
McCullough also recruited Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price as part of Notre Dame’s 2023 recruiting class.
The duo developed into one of the nation’s premier backfields, combining for 4,564 rushing yards and 57 touchdowns over their careers while averaging 6.6 yards per carry for Love and 6.0 for Price before becoming the first two running backs selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
McCullough then spent last season with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he coached rookie Ashton Jeanty to 1,321 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, setting a franchise rookie record.
Few running backs coaches in the country can match that résumé.
McCullough has consistently identified, developed and maximized talent everywhere he has coached, giving Oklahoma every reason to believe its running back room can take a significant step forward in 2026.
How large that step ultimately becomes will depend on the offensive line and tight ends creating more consistent movement at the line of scrimmage, two position groups that also appear poised for improvement this season.
Sooner fans will not have to wait long to find out.
Oklahoma opens the season with trips to Michigan and Georgia before meeting Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 10, providing this rebuilt running game with an immediate opportunity to prove it belongs among the SEC’s best.
