The Sooners have plenty of young quarterback talent, but Brent Venables has been thrilled with Thompson’s performance in practice thus far.
More good news for Oklahoma on the quarterback front:
Casey Thompson is back.
Thompson, a sixth-year senior who moved to OU from Florida Atlantic after a knee injury interrupted his 2023 season, missed the whole spring practice while mending the knee.
Thompson may never play at Oklahoma — Jackson Arnold is the starter, and freshman Michael Hawkins appears to be the leader as his backup — or he may take advantage of his status as the Sooners’ most experienced quarterback (by far) and step in for Arnold, performing well enough to hold the job all season. That cannot be determined beyond a preseason prognosis or forecast.
But if he’s called on, Thompson has the experience to handle almost any situation – he’s seen it all at Texas and Nebraska — and it appears he’ll be prepared.
“Yeah, he did well,” head coach Brent Venables stated on Saturday. “He had a solid couple of series, including some third downs yesterday. Some of our first-down plays, second-down circumstances, and starting the drive correctly.”
That’s certainly excellent news for the Sooners and offensive coordinator Seth Littrell’s quarterback room. Arnold is a former 5-star prospect, but he only played 181 offensive snaps as a true freshman last season. Arnold’s future appears bright as the “face of the program,” yet he is still young and inexperienced. Hawkins has Oklahoma ancestry, but he has yet to play collegiate football.
Thompson, a 6-foot, 192-pound senior from Moore, could become an x-factor for Venables’ third OU team as the program transitions into the Southeastern Conference.
Stranger things have occurred.
Another reason Thompson might be more crucial than a typical third-string quarterback is because he has been emotionally and mentally prepared for this moment for years.
Thompson also carries OU DNA. His father is wishbone expert Charles Thompson, and growing up in Norman and being exposed to the program as a child was in Casey’s DNA.
In March, he openly stated so.
“I grew up here, so no one has to sell me on the OU brand,” Thompson told reporters. “No one has to sell me on the importance of Oklahoma football or what it means to this community and this fanbase.”
After two months at his ideal school, even though he was only recovering his knee, attending meetings, and witnessing workouts, he refused to dim his respect for the institution.
“This is one of the best cultures and the best teams I’ve been on my whole life,” he told me.
There’s still a lot of work to be done, whether he continues on the third team or starts moving up the depth chart. For example, top wideout Nic Anderson stated that he had “gotten a couple of balls from him just outside the facility” but has yet to work with him in practice.
And new center Branson Hickman, who has seen plenty of starter reps since the Sooners resumed practice last Wednesday, said “all the centers work with everyone” in the QB room, and “it’s pretty standard, but all the quarterbacks do a great job of communicating.” There is no lapse between the males. Everyone is very much on the same page.
His appearances with the 1s may have been limited in the first week, but Venables appears impressed so far – especially given Thompson hasn’t genuinely played the position in 11 months.
“Showed some of his experience, making decisions quickly,” Venables told me. “He’s been doing good.”
