Take Two: Could Hurts complete Sooners' QB Heisman three-peat?
Take Two returns with another offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.
MORE TAKE TWO: Is Ohio State's recruiting slide in 2019 alarming? | With Tate Martell, is Miami an ACC contender? | Can Scott Frost keep up fast recruiting start? | Is the hype surrounding Texas real?
THE STORYLINE
Oklahoma quarterbacks have been the last two Heisman Trophy winners and both have been transfers as Baker Mayfield (Texas Tech) and Kyler Murray (Texas A&M) have led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff.
Coach Lincoln Riley’s club now welcomes Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts, who did a phenomenal job with the Crimson Tide but lost his job to someone even better in Tua Tagovailoa. Auburn, Tennessee, UCLA, Ohio State and others were also chasing Hurts after he decided to leave Tuscaloosa.
In three seasons at Alabama, Hurts completed nearly 63 percent of his passes for 5,481 yards with 46 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, most of those stats coming in his first two seasons.
It seems as if Hurts will be the leader in the clubhouse for the starting job in Norman. But five-star quarterback Spencer Rattler is coming to town as well. Rattler is a special player who fits what Oklahoma has done in recent years at the quarterback position.
Could it be possible Hurts makes it a three-peat for the Heisman Trophy with the Sooners or is it not even guaranteed he will win the starting job with Rattler coming in ready as well?
FIRST TAKE: CAREY MURDOCK, SOONERSCOOP.COM
“If Spencer Rattler was coming in as a mid-semester transfer, Hurts might have a battle on his hands. But I almost have to think Lincoln Riley will have to tailor his offense to Hurts' skillset which is not what the Sooners have had under Mayfield or Murray, at least from a passing perspective. The biggest question is how accurate can Hurts be in the passing game? He'll have a ton of weapons down the field with so many five-star receivers coming to Norman and with Cee Dee Lamb and Grant Calcaterra already major pieces of the puzzle.
"I don't think Hurts can win the Heisman, not because of his talent, but because he won't have comparable passing numbers to Mayfield or Murray, or efficiency numbers in the pass game. He could still end up in New York, but I think Oklahoma fatigue has got to set in at some point if Hurts doesn't have similar numbers as the past two seasons.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“I think Rattler is more of the fit in the offense. He’s more of the Mayfield/Murray type. Hurts can run and the Sooners can work the offense around his skills but I worry about the passing accuracy. Mayfield and Murray were very accurate passers from the pocket and Hurts has not been that guy consistently. I don’t see a Heisman in his future. He can win the job because he has the experience and he’ll be successful there but I don’t see him putting up numbers like Mayfield and Murray did.”