Stock Up, Stock Down: How are the Sooners trending as they prepare for the Kansas Jayhawks?

A flashy and explosive offensive performance has dominated the news cycle in the wake of Oklahoma’s 52-31 win over the TCU Horned Frogs. We are now. a few days removed from the game and the Sooners have turned the page and are prepping for a road matchup with Kansas.

Offensively and defensively, the Sooners had some great performances and some showings that are quite worrisome going forward. We’ll unpack whose stock is up and whose stock is trending downward as the Sooners turn the page on TCU.

STOCK UP: Andrew Raym, Center

Andrew Raym, like the rest of the offensive line, is figuring it out. Raym was one of the most sought-after Oklahoma offensive line prospects in recent memory.

He contracted COVID before the season and Robert Congel started in his place. Raym would eventually replace Congel in the second half of the Nebraska game and since then has not given the job up.

He’s played well anchoring the middle. He’s had to navigate a quarterback change and handled that seamlessly. He’s doing a good job in the passing game and opening holes on the ground for these running backs.

Raym posted the third-highest grade on Oklahoma’s offense for his performance Saturday according to PFF.

STOCK DOWN: Billy Bowman, Defensive Back

This particular name is more a function of having a couple bad games in a row. Billy Bowman was solid early on but has struggled the last few games.

He’s ultra-talented and his coaches and teammates believe in him. Unfortunately, he was saddled with a tough matchup against the much bigger Quentin Johnston against TCU.

Bowman a talented player who will continue to improve. Hopefully, his struggles over the last couple of weeks are things he can work through and aren’t compounded any further.

Playing as an outside corner for the first time on Saturday was a tough ask if the true freshman.

The Sooners are so depleted at cornerback asking Bowman to move outside was necessary. Another week of working at outside in practice could do him well, but hopefully they can keep him at his more natural slot corner spot. He’ll have the benefit of a less than stellar Kansas opponent looking across at him.

Up Next: More Stock up, Stock Down

STOCK UP: Latrell McCutchin, Cornerback

McCutchin came into Oklahoma with a lot of hype. The hype and anticipation were centered around the fact that he was a completely different type of corner than Oklahoma had recruited recently.

He was long, fast, twitchy, and he worked well in man-to-man coverage. He had been committed to Alabama for a while before landing with the Oklahoma Sooner. Plenty of folks believed it would be a matter of time before he started at Oklahoma.

Over the last few weeks, his snap counts have gone up considerably. Part of that uptick in snaps is due to attrition, as guys have been hurt that are higher on the depth chart. However, when he’s had these opportunities he’s not messing around. He posted the highest defensive grade against TCU at 90.4 while posting a coverage grade of 90.1.

Folks, the kid might be really good. He’s playing so well you have to keep letting him play and seeing what the results are.

Stock Down: Austin Stogner, Tight End

It’s been such an odd occurrence to not see Stogner making plays like he had his first couple of years. Not sure, if it’s a health or strategic thing but he’s just not making plays. He and Rattler had a miscommunication that led to an interception against Texas. In addition to that and a drop that would have been a touchdown against TCU, he’s also not been on the field nearly as much this year.

One thing that might be contributing to a lack of touches is the bevy of wide receivers who can make big plays on the passing game. With Jadon Haselwood, Marvin Mims, Michael Woods, Mario Williams, and Jeremiah Hall playing well, Stogner isn’t as high a priority in the passing game.

Riley could very well be saving him to unleash him in November and December when teams think they have Oklahoma’s offense figured out but until we know for sure we’ll have to fade and sell on the Stogner stock as of right now.

The Sooners will hope guys like Bowman and Stogner can see a jump up in production and performance as they are both talented individuals that could make a major impact for this team going forward.