Does Oklahoma Football need another transfer portal QB?

The Oklahoma football team has had a lot of turnover at the quarterback position and it’s worth asking if the Sooners need another transfer portal addition? 

It’s pretty crazy to think about all the changes that Oklahoma football has experienced in the past year. Just since the end of the season.

Lincoln Riley went to USC, Caleb Williams followed him, and Spencer Rattler also transferred to South Carolina. The Sooners hired Brent Venables and also landed former UCF standout Dillon Gabriel in the transfer portal.

Oklahoma football also landed a talented four-star quarterback in Nick Evers, who as of right now, looks like he could be the backup heading into the 2022 season.

Gabriel has looked good so far this spring but he has generally played well when he’s been healthy. Yet, over the past two seasons, he has only played in 13 games. He does have 70-career touchdown passes and if he remains healthy, Oklahoma football should be formidable.

But here’s a really good post about the topic from 247 sports that discussed needs in the transfer portal including one for Oklahoma:

"“Dillon Gabriel has shined so far, so there’s some hopes he can stay healthy in 2022,” OUInsider’s Brandon Drumm said. “But that’s been his Achilles heel with him often being banged up and injured. Because of that, and with freshmen QBs backing him up right now, I expect OU to try and find a QB in the portal this summer.”"

Debating if OU needs another signal-caller

Drumm makes a good point that putting Oklahoma putting all of its eggs in the basket of Gabriel and some freshman seems risky. However, adding a transfer portal quarterback isn’t always that simple either.

For one, you have to find a guy with experience. That’s going to be the goal for the Sooners if they look to the portal. It would be nice for the Sooners to get a younger guy that can play but Evers, who was ranked 170th overall in the 2022 class, isn’t going to want to wait forever.

It also makes it harder to recruit if you clog up your depth chart. Oklahoma will have to be picky about its transfer portal options but if it can land someone with starting experience that would be content with being a backup, that’d be the ideal scenario.

Even with a first-year head coach, Oklahoma has enough talent to win a Big 12 championship this season and it shouldn’t put itself in a position where one injury to Gabriel could jeopardize that, especially if the right option comes along in the portal, which can be a big if.