OU may need JUCO lineman to hit ground running

As basketball player Juan Pattillo showed over the weekend, relying on junior-college players in any sport is, at best, a 50-50 proposition.

But that’s exactly what the Oklahoma football team may have to do on the interior of its offensive line.

During the spring, the Sooners lost center Jason Hannan and guard Kody Cooke, who both decided to transfer.

Now, word is that reserve guard Alex Williams is in the doghouse due to a lack of work ethic and his status with the team is tenuous (remember Bob Stoops’ calling out of the offensive line before spring drills?)

Essentially, that leaves OU with three returning scholarship players on the interior in good standing: guard Brian Simmons, center Ben Habern and guard Stephen Good, who missed the Red-White Spring Game with a shoulder injury.

Walk-on Brian Lepak proved to be a capable back-up. But after that, who knows.

An injury or two to the interior line could leave OU in an unenviable position.

That’s why OU may be counting on 2-star junior-college transfer Tavaris Jeffries to rise to the occasion and contribute immediately to the line rotation, a spot where OU has had pretty good fortune with JUCOs in the past.