When the NCAA introduced its new "five-for-five" rule this summer on player eligibility, it changed several aspects of player management in college football. The rule eliminated redshirts and eliminated almost all waivers for extra seasons of eligibility. Going forward, each player gets five years to play five seasons. Once your five years are up, your college career has concluded, even if you missed multiple years due to injury.
The rule change certainly affected the Oklahoma Sooners. Head coach Brent Venables and his coaching staff now have a clearer picture of how to manage the roster going forward, as do general manager Jim Nagy and his front office staff. Without redshirts, and with stricter guidelines, teams know exactly how many years
a given player has left to play college football. Of course, players regularly leave early for the NFL draft, forgoing their right to compete at the college level before their eligibility is up, but coaches and the front office typically know that's at least a possibility coming into the season.
However, not all Sooners fans may know how much longer their favorite players can play at OU, especially as the new rules have only recently begun to be implemented nationwide. Of course, in college football's NIL-transfer portal era, no one can guarantee any player will stay at any school for more than one season. However, Oklahoma has shown a pattern of doing what it takes to retain what it believes are its best players, and they don't typically hunt in the transfer portal the way other teams have in recent years.
With more certainties added into the picture when it comes to player eligibility, but all of the uncertainties still swirling around when it comes to what players will actually stay at which schools, let's take a look at each of the 113 players on Oklahoma's roster to track how many seasons of eligibility each player has left.
6th-Year (0 years of eligibility remaining)
- TE Rocky Beers
- LB Owen Heinecke
5th-Year (0 years of eligibility remaining)
- QB John Mateer
- RB Ben McCreary
- WR Trell Harris
- WR Isaiah Sategna III
- TE Hayden Hansen
- TE John Locke Jr.
- OL Gunnar Allen
- OL E’Marion Harris
- OL Jake Maikkula
- DL Braxton Fely
- DL Danny Saili
- DL Bishop Thomas
- LB Kip Lewis
- LB Jaydon Southard
- DB D’Yoni Hill
- K Tate Sandell
- K/P Grayson Miller
- LS Ben Anderson
Senior (1 year of eligibility remaining)
- WR Trey Brown
- WR Jer’Michael Carter
- WR Eli Merck
- TE Kade McIntyre
- OL Caleb Nitta
- OL Heath Ozaeta
- OL Kenneth Wermy
- DL Adepoju Adebawore
- DL Taylor Wein
- LB Taylor Heim
- DB Peyton Bowen
- DB Casen Calmus
- DB Reed DeQuasie
- DB Jacobe Johnson
- P Jacob Ulrich
Junior (2 years of eligibility remaining)
- QB Whitt Newbauer
- RB Lloyd Avant
- RB Andy Bass
- RB Xavier Robinson
- RB Gabe Sawchuk
- WR Mackenzie Alleyne
- WR Ivan Carreon
- WR Jacob Jordan
- WR Parker Livingstone
- OL Daniel Akinkunmi
- OL Fred Hinton
- OL Ace Hodges
- OL Eddy Pierre-Louis
- DL Wyatt Gilmore
- DL Jacob Henry
- DL Jayden Jackson
- DL Bergin Kysar
- DL Danny Okoye
- DL Kenny Ozowalu
- DL Nigel Smith II
- DL David Stone
- LB James Nesta
- LB Cole Sullivan
- DB Michael Boganowski
- DB Eli Bowen
- DB Dakota Fields
- DB Prince Ijioma
- DB Preston Mickens
- DB Jeremiah Newcombe
- DB Reggie Powers III
- K Liam Evans
Sophomore (3 years of eligibility remaining)
- QB Jett Niu
- RB Tory Blaylock
- WR Manny Choice
- WR Elijah Thomas
- TE CJ Nickson
- TE Jack Van Dorselaer
- TE Trynae Washington
- OL Darius Afalava
- OL Michael Fasusi
- OL Ryan Fodje
- OL Owen Hollenbeck
- OL Sean Hutton
- OL Peyton Joseph
- DL Alex Shieldnight
- DL Trent Wilson
- LB Marcus James
- LB Barrett Travis
- LB Elgee Webster
- DB Courtland Guillory
- DB Trystan Haynes
- DB Omarion Robinson
- K Preston Tarpley
- LS Seth Freeman
Freshman (4 years of eligibility remaining)
- QB Bowe Bentley
- RB Jonathan Hatton Jr.
- RB DeZephen Walker
- WR Daniel Odom
- WR Xavier Okwufulueze
- WR Jayden Petit
- TE Ryder Mix
- TE Tyler Ruxer
- OL Noah Best
- OL Deacon Schmitt
- DL James Carrington
- DL Brian Harris
- DL Jake Kreul
- DL Matthew Nelson
- DL Daniel Norman
- LB Dane Bathurst
- LB Jacob Curry
- LB Beau Jandreau
- LB Kristan Moore
- DB Lebron Bauer
- DB Markel Ford
- DB Niko Jandreau
- DB Derrick Johnson II
- K Trace Rudd
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: How many years of eligibility does each OU player have remaining?
