During Big 12 media days before he announced he was giving up football, center Ben Habern raved about true freshman center Ty Darlington. Add fellow center Gabe Ikard to the Darlington fan club.
"Ty's ready to play in my opinion. He's strong enough. He has great strength in the weight room and obviously he had really good coaching in high school when his dad was his coach,” Ikard said. "He already knows the whole playbook. He studied and watched film with us and studied everything during the summer. He's ahead of the curve by a lot. He's ahead of the curve strength wise. There's no hesitation throwing him in there in my opinion. He's smart, he's tough and he can play.”
It’s unclear at this point if Darlington will avoid redshirting. A sports hernia slowed him some over the last year. The Sooners have other options on the interior of the line in Bronson Irwin and Nila Kasitati, who has returned from a heart condition. But if you ask the players, Darlington could help immediately.
"He's one of those guys that I fully expect him to give us some depth, whether it's at center or guard,” Ikard said. “Wherever you stick him, I know he's going to do right and learn his job well – nothing but praise for Ty.”
