With the understanding that the success of Oklahoma's offense relies heavily on the success of the line there's plenty of talent among the skill position players to go around to a few different teams. Oklahoma's backfield and receivers really are a quarterback's dream and are a major factor in Landry Jones being a Heisman candidate Not that Jones isn't talented on his own accord.
We've watched the 6-4/229 junior grow up before our eyes which has caused some frustration and even some lack of trust among the Sooner faithful. Since taking over for Sam Bradford in 2009 Jones has completed 62.5% of his passes for 7,916 yards and 64 touchdowns with only 26 interceptions. While the biggest knock against Jones has often been the fact that he's not Bradford he's done his best to step into Sam's shoes.
During his 2009 freshman season he broke a school record for touchdowns thrown in a game with six against Tulsa and set a Sooner bowl record with 418 passing yards against Stanford. Avoiding a "sophomore slump" Jones won the Sammy Baugh award in 2010 after leading the Sooners to the Big 12 championship and the team's first BCS bowl win since 2002. He also led the Big 12 in total offense and now owns seven Oklahoma passing records.
What coaches are hoping for now is that his improvement into this season is just as significant, if not more so, as his progress from freshman to sophomore. To do so he needs to improve his footwork a little more, learn patience and go through his progressions. All of these (and trusting his offensive line) will help with his decision making. Improvement in these areas, along with staying healthy makes him a solid Heisman contender.
Jones is hands down the starter and the subject won't even be up for debate. Sophomore Drew Allen and redshirt freshman Blake Bell are competing for the backup spot with Allen having a slight edge. At 6-5/239, Allen saw his first action last season as a Sooner while playing mop up duty. He didn't throw any touchdowns but he also didn't throw any picks on his way to completing 64.3% of his passes.
Many would consider Bell to be the future of the program. Once a 5-star recruit by Scout and 4-star by Rivals, The 6-6/245 redshirt freshman used last season to learn the system and is currently entrenched in a battle with Allen for the backup spot.