How’s it going, everyone?

EA Sports’ Madden NFL ‘20 is set for nationwide release on Aug. 2, but in the meantime, YouTuber EricRayweather provided fans and gamers a sneak peek at the gameplay and some of the newest players, such as the Oklahoma Sooners’ Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray.

If you’d like to watch the entire video, follow the link provided in the tweet above. As you can see, they pretty much nailed Murray’s look, or at least, his face. His body might be a tad lanky, but overall the resemblance is a job solidly done.

Probably the most glaring quality that could use some updating is his speed. His acceleration looks a bit too slow in the open field, and there’s no question his elite speed makes him one of the most elusive players in the sport. Of course, it’s rare that these games ever give rookies that much respect right away, and it’s also rare for a quarterback to have the ability to move like Murray.

If you watch the full video, you can see how Murray’s Arizona Cardinals battle against fellow rookie QB Dwayne Haskins and his Washington Redskins. K1’s first preseason game kicks off just two weeks from today, so it won’t be much longer before the world can finally see how the No. 1 pick performs in an NFL setting.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks are two of the Big 12’s best when it comes to evading tackles, Marquise Brown is almost ready to practice with the Ravens, OKC GM Sam Presti shares his thoughts on the Thunder’s journey and more!

OU Links

• Lincoln Riley was named to the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list, awarded to the nation’s top head coach. Now entering his third season as the Oklahoma Sooners’ front man, he’s looking to return to the College Football Playoff once again and finally get over the semifinal hump. Former OU QB and assistant Josh Heupel also made the list going into his second year at UCF.

• According to the folks over at Pro Football Focus, Oklahoma’s Trey Sermon and Kennedy Brooks lead all returning Big 12 running backs in forcing missed tackles. It’s great that they both have this ability, because early in the season they might need to make more defenders miss with a young offensive line blocking for them.

• Junior WR CeeDee Lamb reflected on his time with his former teammate Marquise Brown. This will be the first season in Lamb’s OU career that he won’t be playing alongside ‘Hollywood’, but their bond is as strong as ever. OU Insider’s Collin Kennedy has more.
• Speaking of ‘Hollywood’ Brown, he’s still making his way back from the Lisfranc foot injury he sustained in the Big 12 Championship, but on Wednesday he crossed another hurdle by passing the Baltimore Ravens’ conditioning test. Once he’s fully cleared, he’ll finally be able to practice with the team.

• Gerald McCoy checks in at No. 75 in the 2019 NFL Top 100 players rankings. Now with the Carolina Panthers, he’s finally in a place where he could make a real run at the playoffs.

• The Norman Transcript’s Joe Buettner reports that former Sooners basketball player Isaiah Cousins has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem. Fun fact: I had a Spanish class with Cousins at OU.
• After three years in the NFL, former OU linebacker Mike Balogun has taken his talents inside the ring and is currently 13-0 (10 KOs) as a heavyweight prospect. Next Thursday he’s set to fight Ed Fountain as part of DiBella Entertainment’s Broadway Boxing Summer Series in Monroeville, PA.
• Sooner golfers Brad Dalke and Blaine Hale wrapped up their senior seasons a couple months ago, and on Wednesday both were named 2019 Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars. Congrats, fellas! Boomer!

Around the Sports World

• Chris Paul recently bid farewell to the city of Houston and shared his excitement to play in Oklahoma City for the second time in his career.

• Speaking of OKC, in the midst of a major transition period, Thunder GM Sam Presti wrote an op-ed in which he reflected on the franchise he’s been at the forefront of building since 2007 (then the Seattle Supersonics), while also looking ahead towards the intended future of the organization. It’s been a long and winding journey, Oklahoma City. Hang in there.
• Katie Ledecky and the U.S. relay swim team finished with the silver medal at the world championships, just behind Australia and their world-record setting time.
• This funny feline decided to risk one of its nine lives when it almost got trampled during the soccer match between Real Salt Lake and Tigres UANL. Maybe I just haven’t seen cats run very often, but why does it look kind of weird at the end? Almost like it’s galloping. Aliens?

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