Pair of Oklahoma Sooners included on The Athletic's 'Freaks List'

USA Today

7 hours ago

The Oklahoma Sooners have a roster ready to climb the SEC mountain in 2025. Less than four weeks out from the start of the 2025 season, Oklahoma has a lot to prove, but they have a group of talented players ready to rewrite the narratives surrounding Oklahoma football.
A couple of those players will be leaders for the Sooners in running back Jaydn Ott and safety Robert Spears-Jennings. The pair were featured on Bruce Feldman's annual "Freak List" (subscription required), where he highlights players from across the country who were off the charts in physical testing this offseason.
Starting off, Ott came in at No. 55 on Feldman's list.
Ott tested incredibly well in the squat (485 pounds), bench (370 pounds), and power clean (315 pounds), and the Oklahoma strength and conditioning staff measured his max velocity at 21.6 mph and max acceleration at 12.1 mph. All important numbers for a running back. Running backs have to be able to get going in a hurry and his lifting numbers display a player with the leg strength to be difficult to bring down in the open field.
Ott was a big spring portal addition for the Oklahoma Sooners. Though they had a talented running back group, Jim Nagy and Brent Venables didn't hesitate to add the former Cal star. His explosiveness jumps off the screen. He's a big-play threat every time he touches the football and will add a dynamic element to the Sooners' offense.
Arbuckle plans to put Ott in a number of situations to succeed this season, including lining him up in the slot and out wide to take advantage of his explosiveness. Ott's going to be a nightmare for opposing defenses.
The other player that landed on the list is former four-star safety out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Robert Spears-Jennings. He was ranked No. 82 on Feldman's Freak List.
Spears-Jennings matched Ott in max velocity at 21.6 mph but bested the star running back in max acceleration at 12.8 mph. The Oklahoma product showed big gains in the strength department as well, squatting 510 pounds and benching 330 pounds. He's a force in every facet of the game, but showed a prowess to blitz off the edge in Oklahoma's defense, recording 2.5 sacks last season. It takes a special type of accelration and speed to explode off the line of scrimmage and get to the quarterback before an offensive lineman even knows you're coming.
Robert Spears-Jennings has been with the Oklahoma Sooners since arriving in the 2022 recruiting class. In his time with the Sooners, he's flashed speed and explosiveness from his safety spot. Even when he was seeing just rotational snaps, he'd flash his potential with his big-time athleticism.
Now he's one of the leaders of a defense expected to take another big step in 2025. That explosiveness and athleticism will lead the way for a disruptive Sooners defense.
Oklahoma has several other players who are big-time athletes who could be featured on this list down the road. Taylor Wein, Peyton Bowen, Elijah Thomas, Jayden Jackson, David Stone, Eddy Pierre-Louis, and more. Especially with the way Jim Nagy is evolving the scouting approach at Oklahoma, the Sooners will continue to build a roster with elite athletes.
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