The Oklahoma Sooners won a Big 12 championship and gave their conference its first trip to the College Football Playoff in 2015. There are a lot of reasons to like their chances to do it all again in 2016. Baker Mayfield leads a talented cast of players for the Sooners heading into this season but just like the other top contenders in their conference they have at least one area of concern that needs to be addressed if they are going to finish on top. Here is a look at the biggest concerns for the top teams from the Big 12 heading in to this season.
Oklahoma Sooners
Mayfield threw for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns a year ago but he lost his top target in No. 1 wide receiver Sterling Shepard and his No. 3 wide receiver in Durron Neal. That leaves the Sooners a little bit thin at the wide receiver position and they will need some young players to step up. Senior Dede Westbrook is the top remaining option after he had 46 catches for 743 yards and four scores but Oklahoma will also need graduate transfer Geno Lewis to step up as well as Mark Andrews. The Sooners’ passing game has the potential to be very good again in 2016 but Mayfield will need a young cast of receivers to step up.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma State ranked ninth in the conference in rushing yards per game a year ago and will need to be more efficient on the ground in order to be a legitimate contender in the Big 12 this season. Chris Carson needs to be better after averaging 3.9 yards per game while rushing for 517 yards last season. He will be pushed hard by Stanford graduate transfer Barry Sanders Jr., who arrives from Stanford looking to be the No. 1 running back. Sanders was stuck behind Christian McCaffrey with the Cardinal but he has the skill set to solve the Cowboys’ problems at running back and be their leading rusher this coming season. We’ll see if he can follow his father’s legacy and show really well for the Pokes. Because of his family name, he’ll be a sought-after commodity at the 2017 NFL Draft.
TCU Horned Frogs
TCU’s Air Raid offense has been excellent for Gary Patterson but 2016 will represent a transition year for the Horned Frogs. They have just one returning starter on that side of the football. The biggest concern will be at quarterback where Texas A&M transfer Kenny Hill is expected to get the first shot at the No. 1 job. Remember that Hill – aka Kenny Trill – took Texas A&M by storm when he started so well after Johnny Manziel graduated. However, He stumbled badly after that, then lost his job and then decided to transfer. He’s very talented but he’ll have to make the most of this opportunity if he plans to have a future career in the NFL.
TCU has some intriguing young talent at the wide receiver position but in order for that to matter, Hill will need to step up and perform at a high level to effectively replace prolific dual-threat passer Trevone Boykin at the quarterback position.
Baylor Bears
No Big 12 team had a more tumultuous offseason than Baylor and yet after all of the scandals, corruption and allegations of sexual assault and dating violence. Even so, it seems as though they still have a legitimate shot at contending for a conference championship. Seth Russell has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 12 and he has a very capable replacement in backup Jarrett Stidham. The Bears’ offense is stacked with weapons at the skill positions as well and their defense is expected to be good enough to make them a contender. However, Baylor will need to overcome the off-field distractions that have torn in to the program this offseason. Remember that they lost their head coach, who is the man who rebuilt their program. He was a key leader and they’ll have to overcome that. It remains to be seen whether or not they can do that this season.
