Oklahoma Sooners Football: Jalen Hurts named starting QB for Oklahoma

A little less conversation, a little more action, please.

After arriving on campus in January, Alabama grad transfer Jalen Hurts was officially named the starting QB for the Oklahoma Sooners on Monday.

Hurts went 26-2 as a starter at Alabama from 2016-17 before handing over the reins to Tua Tagovailoa in 2018. He not only brings a wealth of experience to Oklahoma’s QB room, he’s also been lauded for his maturity off the field and his poise under pressure.

Some around the country were curious as to why he wasn’t named the starter earlier, but there are advantages to naming a starter later in the process. This is also par for the course for Riley.

Now it’s still unclear if either redshirt freshman Tanner Mordecai or true freshman Spencer Rattler will back up Hurts when the time comes, but expect to see both signal callers early. If there isn’t an opportunity to play one of them in Week 1, surely the Week 2 bout against South Dakota should provide a window for both QBs.

Lincoln Riley has acquired a reputation around football circles at every level of being an elite QB whisperer. He’s been able to maximize the abilities of his pupils everywhere he’s been, namely with his last two primary starters — Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Both of them won Heisman Trophies and went first overall in the NFL Draft. Could such accolades be in store for Hurts? Time will tell, but step one was crossed today.

Now it’s time to sort out the rest of the position battles before the first game week of the season.

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