Adrian Peterson isn’t sugarcoating Oklahoma’s backfield heading into 2026.
The Sooners legend made it clear in comments to Roto Grinders’ Kyle Odegard that he sees the run game as a problem that has to be fixed, and he didn’t stop at the offensive line or the play-calling. Peterson pointed directly at the running backs as part of what has kept Oklahoma from hitting its ceiling.
“Me and DeMarco, we texted back and forth during the season. He asked a couple questions about what I thought of a couple things, and I shared what I thought,” Peterson said. “I do feel like that position was kind of something that hindered us from being that explosive offense that we can be when everything is working on all cylinders.
“I feel like there will be a little more emphasis on the run game, but you put emphasis on the run game when you’ve got guys back there that are being productive. I feel like if we can do that, it will put us over the hump.”
That’s a pointed message for a unit that has already spent plenty of time absorbing criticism from elsewhere. The offensive line has taken heat.
Play-calling has taken heat. Former running backs coach DeMarco Murray, now with the Kansas City Chiefs, has taken heat.
But the backs themselves haven’t been under the same level of scrutiny, even though the production has been thin.
Oklahoma averaged just 118.5 rushing yards per game last season, a number that landed among the bottom 50 in college football. The Sooners haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Eric Gray in 2022, which says plenty about the state of the ground game over the last few seasons.
There are reasons to think the numbers can improve. Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock are back, John Mateer brings mobility at quarterback, and Oklahoma returns about 90% of its rushing production from last season.
Brent Venables even joked during the spring that wasn’t much. The Sooners also bring back four of five starting offensive linemen after starting three freshmen up front in 2025, and the tight end room has been revamped under new assistant Jason Witten.
That leaves Deland McCullough with the task of getting the backs to do their part.
Still, the offseason chatter hasn’t centered on Robinson or Blaylock. Both missed spring camp with injuries, and while they were out, Colorado State transfer Lloyd Avant and freshman Jonathan Hatton Jr. started turning heads.
McCullough said this week before fall camp that if Oklahoma played that night, Avant would be the starter. That could look different by Sept. 4, when the Sooners host UTEP, but it’s a notable early development all the same.
If you want to read that optimistically, maybe Oklahoma really did find something in a Group of 6 transfer. If you want to read it another way, Peterson may be onto something: the Sooners’ backfield still has to prove it can carry its share of the load.
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