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OKLAHOMA SOONERS

2012 record: 10-3

2012 conference record: 8-1 (tied for first, Big 12)

Returning starters: Offense: 7; defense: 4; kicker/punter: 1

Top returners

RB Damien Williams, FB Trey Millard, WR Jalen Saunders, WR Sterling Shepard, C Gabe Ikard, DE/DT Chuka Ndulue, LB Corey Nelson, CB Aaron Colvin

Key losses

QB Landry Jones, WR Justin Brown, WR Kenny Stills, OT Lane Johnson, DE David King, CB Demontre Hurst, FS Tony Jefferson, SS Javon Harris

2012 statistical leaders (*returners)

Rushing: Damien Williams* (946 yards)
Passing: Landry Jones (4,267yards)
Receiving: Kenny Stills (959 yards)
Tackles: Tony Jefferson (119)
Sacks: Chuka Ndulue* (5)
Interceptions: Javon Harris (6)

Spring answers

1. Playmakers abound: The Sooners might have lost leading receivers Kenny Stills and Justin Brown, but there’s plenty of firepower back to support whoever wins the starting quarterback job. Jalen Saunders was actually Oklahoma’s most efficient receiver the second half of last season and seems primed to take over as the go-to target. The Sooners also have several talented up-and-coming receivers who had good springs, led by slot extraordinaire Sterling Shepard. The backfield is even deeper, with leading rushers Damien Williams and Brennan Clay back, to go along with Trey Millard, one of the top all-around fullbacks in the country.

2. Cortez will flank Colvin: The secondary was decimated by graduation and Tony Jefferson’s early entry into the NFL draft. One of those voids was cornerback, where Demontre Hurst had started the previous years. That void at least, however, appears to have been filled. Arizona transfer Cortez Johnson seized the job from the first day of spring drills, and has given the Sooners every indication to believe they’ll have a big, physical corner to pair with All-American candidate Aaron Colvin in the fall.

3. The linebackers will play: In a desperate move to slow down the high-powered passing attacks of the Big 12, defensive coordinator Mike Stoops pulled his linebackers off the field. The plan backfired, as opposing offenses ran at will over the linebacker-less Sooners. This spring, Stoops has renewed his commitment to the linebacker, which, ironically, could be the strength of the defense. Corey Nelson, Frank Shannon and Aaron Franklin are all athletic and capable of generating negative plays, something Oklahoma’s defense sorely lacked last season.

Fall questions

1. Who the QB will be in October: Bob Stoops said he would wait until the fall before naming a starter, and so far, he’s made good on his word. Junior Blake Bell took a lead in the competition during the spring, as expected. But sophomore Kendal Thompson and redshirt freshman Trevor Knight, who both got equal reps as Bell, played well at times, too. It’s hard to see Bell not starting the first game. But if he struggles against a tough September schedule, it’s not unthinkable one of the younger QBs would be given a shot.

2. How the new offense will fare: Looking to utilize the skill sets of their mobile quarterbacks, the Sooners will be running a very different offense from the one Sam Bradford and Landry Jones both operated. Offensive coordinator Josh Heupel kept most of these new plays - including loads of read option -- in his hip pocket during the spring game. But it will be interesting to see how the Sooners -- and just as important, opposing defenses -- adjust to this new era of offense in Norman.

3. Defensive line play: The Sooners went into spring ball with just three defensive tackles on the roster, and little experience at defensive end. The unit showed strides during the spring, with Chuka Ndulue making a smooth transition from end to tackle, and tackle Jordan Phillips coming up big in the spring game. But that was the spring. The defensive line will have to continue to grow rapidly in the fall for the Sooners to have any hope of improving from last year defensively.

Colleague Mark Schlabach updated his preseason Top 25 after the spring, and there's still no Big 12 teams in the top 10, but two made his top 15.

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I agree with shutting the Big 12 out of the top 10, though it would be the first time in league history it lacked a team in the preseason top 10. Where we disagree? The order.

Schlabach has Texas as the Big 12's top team at No. 13.

"(Mack) Brown also believes UT's defense, which ranked 73rd nationally in scoring defense (29.2 points per game) last season, will be more equipped to defend hurry-up offenses after seeing one in practice every day," Schlabach writes.

Maybe Texas ends up winning the league, but that defense has to show me something more and the offense has to be more consistent before I really believe the league's best team is the Longhorns. Two spots later, my Big 12 favorite, Oklahoma State, makes its appearance.

"(Defensive coordinator Glenn) Spencer inherits an experienced defense -- 13 of the top 27 players on the defensive depth chart are seniors," Schlabach writes.

Good points there, and one that gets overlooked. It'll pay off for the Pokes, who actually moved up five spots from No. 20 since Schlabach's last update. Texas had moved up one spot, from No. 14.

Oklahoma, though, is at No. 17, down two spots from the last update.

"The Sooners have to settle on a starting quarterback (all signs point to Blake Bell replacing record-setting passer Landry Jones), but their biggest concerns are still on the defensive side of the ball," Schlabach writes. "OU coach Bob Stoops admitted this spring that defensive coordinator Mike Stoops (his brother) might have underestimated the strength of Big 12 offenses in his first season back in the league."

Very interesting revelation from Schlabach there, who made a visit to Norman this spring. I definitely agree about the defense being a bigger issue, but Stoops sounded optimistic last week about the progress of some younger players like Frank Shannon and Cortez Johnson.

The fourth Big 12 team is right at No. 18, down from No. 17. That's my Big 12 No. 2: TCU.

"The Horned Frogs learned plenty while finishing 7-6 in their first season in the Big 12. They know defense is still their strength, after leading the Big 12 in total defense, allowing 323.9 yards per game," he writes.

That's no small accomplishment, especially considering how their fellow Big 12 newcomer, West Virginia, handled the offenses. TCU had to deal with tons of injuries and a whole lot of youth on defense, and still had the league's best defense. Amazing stuff.

Schlabach's much higher on Kansas State than I am, keeping the Wildcats at No. 20 coming off their Big 12 title season.

"Kansas State is renovating Bill Snyder Family Stadium this spring, and the Wildcats' venerable coach is rebuilding his football team, too," he writes.

Certainly seems like we have differing opinions on just how well that rebuilding project will go.

That's quite a logjam, and you can see why the league looks so wide open. That's five Big 12 teams in seven spots from No. 13 to No. 20. There's just not much separation between the league's No. 1 team and No. 7 team. Baylor and Texas Tech won't have to do much to crack the Top 25 this season, but I still see the Big 12 with four major contenders and three teams who could definitely get in the mix.

Turnover at the quarterback position is the story of the Big 12 this spring, but some schools have made decisions, some are close, and some haven't gotten far in replacing their passers. Here's an update on where each race sits.

Note: Because they have clear, incumbent starters, Iowa State and Texas have been omitted from this update.

Baylor: Bryce Petty entered the spring as the likely successor to Nick Florence and cemented his status as the starter with a strong 15 practices. Petty was officially designated as the starting quarterback on Baylor's post-spring depth chart, besting Seth Russell.

Kansas: Jake Heaps transferred from BYU and looks to have easily surpassed Michael Cummings, as expected, with a strong spring, working mostly with the first team. Kansas held its spring game on Saturday and Heaps far outperformed Cummings, tossing four touchdown passes and completing 20 of 28 passes for 257 yards. Not much competition here.

Kansas State: K-State is about halfway through spring, but there's been almost no development (publicly, at least) in the quarterback race. Last year's backup, the speedy Daniel Sams, is helping juco transfer Jake Waters get acquainted, but they're still splitting reps with the first team and I'd be surprised if we see an announcement until fall.

Oklahoma: Bob Stoops doesn't care about establishing a starter heading into summer 7-on-7 drills, but Blake Bell might have taken that out of his hands with a strong performance in the spring game. An endorsement from Landry Jones can't hurt. Bell showed this spring he's more than a BellDozer and made plays with his arm on Saturday, completing 14 of 23 passes for 214 yards and two scores. Stoops hasn't made an official designation, but Bell looks like he's distanced himself from his competition in Trevor Knight and Kendal Thompson.

Oklahoma State: You can find folks anywhere making a case for Clint Chelf, J.W. Walsh or Wes Lunt, but Mike Gundy's opinion is the only one that matters. He says Oklahoma State's starter is Chelf, and Chelf is receiving most of the first-team reps this spring. It's not hard to see that changing, but for now, the job is Chelf's. The rising senior may have to do something to lose it.

TCU: Most assumed Casey Pachall's return to the team meant he'd step back in and reclaim his job. This spring, it hasn't been that easy. He may do exactly that this fall, but Gary Patterson says he's looked rusty after not throwing or lifting from October to January while receiving in-patient treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Meanwhile, sophomore Trevone Boykin has looked much improved. Patterson says it's still an open competition, the duo is splitting first-team reps and there may not be a decision until fall.

Texas Tech: It doesn't seem like Michael Brewer has a ton of competition on the roster, but Kliff Kingsbury turned some heads when he trotted out Davis Webb to start a recent scrimmage. Brewer still has to earn the job and it's hard to see that not being the case, but for now, this job is still up for grabs.

West Virginia: This one's still wide open. Texas natives Paul Millard and Ford Childress are still splitting first-team reps and there doesn't appear to be much separation just yet. Expect this competition to heat up in the fall. The coaching staff has already said they don't expect to name a starter by the end of spring or even by the beginning of fall camp.

Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones paid a visit to Jon Gruden's QB Camp, and you can see more from his visit on April 17 on ESPN, but Gruden also wrote about his time with Jones and his study of the Sooners star's tape.

His thoughts were a bit of a surprise, but he tried to explain some of Jones' issues later in his career.

Gruden says Jones got "bored" after peaking in his sophomore season, and Gruden says he saw complacency. The 2010 season, highlighted by a Big 12 title and BCS bowl victory over UConn, was definitely the peak of Jones' statistical accomplishments, throwing for 4,718 yards and 38 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. He never equaled his quarterback rating of 146.3 that season.

Without Ryan Broyles for the second half of 2011 and without him in 2012, it's hard to compare what he did statistically, and I'm sure you'd hear from Oklahoma coaches that he was better in some areas in 2012 that didn't show up statistically without a playmaker like Broyles.

Gruden says when he broke down tape from the later seasons with Jones and went through some of his mistakes, the answer was far too often that Jones was trying to do too much. That sounds like a player trying to work outside of the system and getting himself in trouble for doing so. Jones has the physical ability to do things and make throws a lot of guys can't make, but that doesn't mean he should always try to make them. He didn't "always" do it, but he definitely developed a well-earned reputation over his career as a guy prone to a backbreaking mistake at inopportune times.

You can see that with interceptions early in his career, but he also had costly fumbles returned for touchdowns in games that ended up deciding the Big 12 title: Kansas State in 2012 and Oklahoma State in 2011.

Defenses decided to often rush just three players, and Jones wasn't content to take checkdown throws, Gruden writes. Gruden points to some shortcomings in the offensive schemes that didn't help Jones, including a lack of tight-end play that resulted in a loss of balance and putting too much on Jones' shoulders, which might have contributed to some of his regression.

Really interesting analysis from Gruden, who adds a perspective I hadn't heard.

At Jon Gruden's QB Camp, former Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones discusses the Sooners' high-tempo and high-volume offense.

For most of these games, we'll do a "What happened" section in addition to "What we learned," but we had SoonerNation on the case, so you can see more about the raw facts here and here.

A few of my observations on what we learned:

• Unseating Blake Bell looks mighty, mighty difficult. Given how he'd looked as a passer in limited opportunities thus far in his career, there was plenty of reason to doubt how well Bell would handle running the Sooners' entire offense. Still, when you consider how he played and threw in high school, there was equal reason to believe he'd handle it fine. Belief in the latter looks to have paid off. Oklahoma will want his completion percentage to be a lot higher, but he made a whole bunch of plays down the field and over the middle that show plenty of potential. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, but most importantly, he didn't have a turnover. If that means a lower completion percentage, Oklahoma's staff will take that trade all day. On Saturday, though, Bell was what he needed to be: A step ahead of competition Trevor Knight and Kendal Thompson. There's no guarantees yet, and Bob Stoops has never placed a high premium on naming a starter in the spring as opposed to fall camp, but by now, I'd be shocked if Bell doesn't mature into "The Guy" for the Sooners over the summer and leave little doubt in fall camp about whose team it is.
• The defense has a few interesting new faces. Trey Franks was suspended all last season, but turned a few heads by making seven tackles and breaking up two passes. The former receiver looked solid on the other side of the ball. We'll see how he fits into the rotation at safety for the Sooners. That's a huge position of need, and you'd have a hard time convincing me he couldn't challenge for a starting job in fall camp. D.J. Ward, a hyped, home-grown defensive end recruit, finally got on the field after being cleared by the NCAA, but he didn't record any stats and Saturday was his first practice in pads.
• Bob Stoops clarified his pay-for-play comments. I wrote about Stoops' controversial comments here, but he added another clarification after Saturday's game, according to The Oklahoman. "I was just asked about paying players to play football, and of course I went off on what they already are paid,” Stoops said. “And I probably was a little -- I didn't mean to be insensitive when I talked about when the dining halls close and we've all been in that situation. We've all been a little bit hungry on a Sunday here and there. … That doesn't mean I'm not concerned about my players and want to best for them." I don't disagree with Stoops there, but what he said doesn't change my point about the possible repercussion on the recruiting trail. It won't be hard for folks to make the case that other coaches are more sympathetic to their players' current situation, whether it's true or not. I agree with Stoops in that introducing how much he makes is irrelevant to the discussion (he argued that in Saturday's clarification), but I'm betting if Stoops had it to do over again, he'd take a pass at the question. No one's asking Stoops to change his answer or his belief. He's entitled to his opinion, and suggesting it's not a valid opinion is silly, but I fail to see the positives for him in speaking out on the issue.
• Start up the Trey Metoyer hype train one more time. Every now and then, guys make big noise during the spring and don't show up in the fall. That happened to Metoyer last season, but he sounds like a more mature player this spring, and showed up in a big way again on Saturday. Six catches for 122 yards will definitely get people fired up for him to break out in the fall. He's got everything you could ask for physically, he's just got to turn it into production. I sense we'll be hearing "Bell to Metoyer" quite a few times this fall, but only a few less times than "Bell to Shepard." Sterling Shepard had a quiet day with just two grabs for 22 yards, but I loved what he showed last season. The Ryan Broyles comparisons are premature, but he's definitely got flashes of the FBS all-time leader in receptions.

Nobody collects Big 12 title crystal bowls more than Oklahoma. The Sooners got another one last season (debate the merits of it all you want, but it resides in the Switzer Center no matter how much you complain) when it shared a Big 12 title with Kansas State.

That gave Oklahoma eight Big 12 titles since 2000, five more than any other team in the league. The Sooners have done that with a bunch of different quarterbacks, and they'll have to add another name to that list this year if Oklahoma is going to win its ninth Big 12 title.

Do you believe the Sooners can reload and win the Big 12 yet again with several players who are far from household names this spring?

Oklahoma returns just four starters from the defense that got off to a strong start but struggled late last season, never more so than in the loss to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. Landry Jones quarterbacked an offense that bailed out the defense in dramatic wins against West Virginia and Oklahoma State. Without an experienced quarterback, any defensive shortcomings might be more exposed this season. Even with the personnel losses, though, could those defensive shortcomings be fewer in Year 2 in Mike Stoops' defense? The defensive line needs a lot of work, and there is a lot of turnover there, but the offensive line will be a strength.

What do you think of the Sooners' chances? Do you buy that Oklahoma will be in the mix yet again, despite all the turnover? Or will Oklahoma come up short and settle for an average season that doesn't come with a Big 12 title trophy?

Vote in our poll.

David Ubben is talking rising quarterbacks, leaving quarterbacks, and spring ball in this week's Friday Four Downs.

Oklahoma's had some pro days turn into quite the ballyhooed affairs in the past. None more so than the 2010 pro day that had anyone who was anyone watching Sam Bradford complete a perfect throwing routine with a reconstructed shoulder after sitting out the season.

Wednesday wasn't anything close to that circus, but the Sooners had plenty of big talents on display for NFL scouts, though Landry Jones' throwing session, choreographed by QB guru George Whitfield, saw him complete 68-of-71 passes.

"62% of Landry Jones passes today were under chaos pressure (off-balance, escapes, retreats), same % as NFL games," Whitfield tweeted on Wednesday.

Jones faces an uphill battle to becoming a first-round selection, but the FBS No. 3 all-time passer certainly has plenty of game tape to fall back on. He definitely helped himself on Wednesday, though, and weighed in on Oklahoma's spring quarterback battle.

"I give the edge to Blake because he's been here longer, but those 2 other guys are just as talented," Jones told reporters.

So did guys like cornerback Demontre Hurst who posted a 4.5 40-yard dash time, faster than everybody in attendance except for former Sooner DB Reggie Smith, who posted a 4.31 time. Running back Dominique Whaley also posted a 4.59 time, the same as receiver Justin Brown, a Penn State transfer. It's good to see Whaley post a nice time after never quite grabbing his starting spot back this season following his leg fracture in 2011 and being passed up on the Sooners' depth chart.

Defensive lineman David King posted a solid 4.72 time as well. You can see the full results from the Sooners on Oklahoma's site.

Bigger talents like Tony Jefferson and Kenny Stills didn't run, opting to allow their times at the NFL combine last month to stand. Jones elected to do the same.

We're moving on with a new series today looking at the players across the Big 12 who have to replace program legends. We might as well call this the Nick Florence Memorial team, but let's talk Oklahoma Sooners.

Big shoes to fill: Oklahoma's receivers

If you want to know more about Oklahoma's quarterback spot and the big shoes to fill there, you can do that with the guys at SoonerNation. There's no reason to rehash the race to replace Landry Jones, but we'll look at the guys who Jones' heir will be throwing to today. Kenny Stills left early and Justin Brown had a solid performance in his one year as a Sooner after transferring from Penn State. Together, Oklahoma's got to replace their top two receivers who accounted for 155 catches, 1,843 yards and 16 touchdowns. That's no small task, but the Sooners have a lot of guys in place to make it happen.

Fresno State transfer Jalen Saunders is at the top of that list after showing big potential in the second half of the season last year once he was ruled eligible. He had three games with at least nine catches (including 15 for 181 yards against Notre Dame) and topped 100 yards receiving in the Sooners' last three regular season games. He's well-suited to be the unit's best player next season, but look out for young guys, too. Oklahoma brought in an unbelievable haul of receivers in the 2012 recruiting class, and it may start paying off now. Sterling Shepard had a strong 2012 season with 45 grabs for 621 yards, but Durron Neal and Trey Metoyer should embrace bigger roles this season with a new quarterback.

The Sooners have had a strong receiving tradition for quite some time now with guys like Stills, Ryan Broyles, Juaquin Iglesias, Manny Johnson and Malcolm Kelly, and they look well suited to continue that tradition in 2013.

More big shoes to fill:

• Oklahoma State
• Texas
• TCU
• Texas Tech
• West Virginia

Two Big 12 receivers were the biggest head-turners on Sunday as the skill position players went through their workouts in Indianapolis at the NFL scouting combine.

Texas' Marquise Goodwin is hoping his 4.27 40 time -- the fastest of any player at the combine -- is enough to outweigh his lack of production throughout his career and convince an NFL team to see his potential. He was well ahead of a trio tied for second at 4.34, a group that included West Virginia's Tavon Austin. The two earned a whole lot of buzz early in the morning when they tied for 4.25 unofficial 40 times, just one-hundredth of a second slower than Chris Johnson's 4.24 time in 2008, the fastest of any player in combine history.

Goodwin caught just 26 passes for 340 yards and three scores last year, which certainly makes one wonder about how well he was used in Texas' offense. The Olympic long jumper was way out in front of the pack in the 40, though, and his time is the second fastest in combine history.

TCU receiver Josh Boyce and Oklahoma receiver Kenny Stills tied with the sixth-fastest time at 4.38. Those are two really strong times, and Stills definitely turned heads.

Baylor's Lanear Sampson was 13th overall with a 40 time of 4.46. Here are some other top performers at the combine from the Big 12, according to NFL.com. You can see the full results here on the NFL's very cool searchable database.

40-yard dash

• West Virginia QB Geno Smith: 4.59 seconds, fastest among quarterbacks.
• Kansas State QB Collin Klein: 4.78 seconds, fifth among quarterbacks
• Oklahoma QB Landry Jones: 5.11 seconds, 13th among quarterbacks

Broad jump

• Texas WR Marquise Goodwin: 11 feet, second overall
• TCU WR Josh Boyce: 10 feet, 11 inches, fourth overall
• Oklahoma WR Kenny Stills: 10 feet, four inches, 13th overall
• West Virginia QB Geno Smith: 10 feet, four inches, 13th overall

Three-cone drill

• Boyce: 6.68 seconds, third-fastest
• West Virginia WR Stedman Bailey: 6.81 seconds, 12th fastest

20-yard shuttle

• Austin: 4.01 seconds, third overall
• Bailey: 4.09 seconds, 10th overall
• Boyce: 4.1 seconds, 12th overall

60-yard shuttle

• Boyce: 11.26 seconds, third overall
• Baylor WR Terrance Williams, 11.5 seconds, 12th overall

You can see top performers in every event by position at that database, too, so check it out.

We're counting down the 10 best individual games of any Big 12 player in 2012. Bowl games and nonconference play count, but these are the performances that topped them all at the end of the season.

No. 6: Oklahoma QB Landry Jones vs. West Virginia

Date: Nov. 17, 2012

Why it's on the list: If you're averaging 10 yards an attempt in any game, you're doing very, very many things right. That was Jones during a dramatic win in Morgantown to keep the Sooners in position for a Big 12 title, capped by a game-winning touchdown pass to Kenny Stills with just 24 seconds to play. That was Jones' second go-ahead touchdown pass to Stills in four minutes, and Jones finished with six for the game. He completed 38-of-51 passes for 554 yards, breaking the school record for passing yards and tying his own school record with his six scoring tosses. He completed 74.5 percent of his passes, his highest number of the season. Jones made play after play to answer West Virginia's offensive onslaught, and got the last laugh with huge fourth-quarter drives to give the Sooners a big victory on the road. His quarterback rating of 200 in the game was his highest in a Big 12 game since trouncing Texas Tech in Norman 45-7 and racking up a QB rating of 224 all the way back in 2010.

The rest of the list:

• No. 7: West Virginia RB Andrew Buie vs. Texas
• No. 8: Baylor RB Lache Seastrunk vs. Kansas State
• No. 9: Oklahoma State RB Joseph Randle vs. Texas
• No. 10: West Virginia WR Stedman Bailey vs. Baylor

The NFL scouting combine is the biggest annual showcase of future football stars before the NFL draft, where players who have entered the draft get measured, run through drills and show scouts and coaches what they can do without any pads on.

This year, a record 333 players have been invited, and the Big 12 landed 30 invitations.

Draft stock can swing wildly during the week, with the main event -- the 40 time -- often serving as the catalyst for that stock. Call it silly, and in some ways it is, but it's the reality of the process. Here's who's headed to Indianapolis from the Big 12:

• Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
• Stedman Bailey, WR, West Virginia
• Josh Boyce, WR, TCU
• Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State
• Anthony Cantele, K, Kansas State
• Marquise Goodwin, WR, Texas
• Chris Harper, WR, Kansas State
• Tanner Hawkinson, OL, Kansas
• Tony Jefferson, S, Oklahoma
• Lane Johnson, OL, Oklahoma
• Landry Jones, QB, Oklahoma
• A.J. Klein, LB, Iowa State
• Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State
• Jake Knott, LB, Iowa State
• Joe Madsen, OL, West Virginia
• Stansly Maponga, DE, TCU
• Bradley McDougald, DB, Kansas
• Stacy McGee, DL, Oklahoma
• Tracy Moore, WR, Oklahoma State
• Alex Okafor, DE, Texas
• Joseph Randle, RB, Oklahoma State
• Lanear Sampson, WR, Baylor
• Quinn Sharp, K/P, Oklahoma State
• Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia
• Kenny Stills, WR, Oklahoma
• Matthew Tucker, RB, TCU
• Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
• Terrance Williams, WR, Baylor
• Braden Wilson, RB, Kansas State
• Tom Wort, LB, Oklahoma

Pretty good set of players there. You can see them when the combine kicks off Feb. 20.

Every year, there's lots of turnover and change for every college program. What do the Big 12 teams need to do before next fall? Let's continue our look with the Sooners up in Norman.

1. Figure out if Blake Bell is their guy. All indications are that the BellDozer is about to become the BellThrower, moving his dozing to more of a part-time gig. That said, when he's thrown out of the formation in the last two years, the results haven't been super promising. Still, Bell has a big arm and is likely the heir to Landry Jones as the next Sooners quarterback. Drew Allen's already transferred, but Bell might face some heat this spring from youngster Trevor Knight, who drew rave reviews for his acting work as Johnny Football on the scout team leading up to the Cotton Bowl. Bell is probably the Sooners' future at the position, but he's got to prove it this spring.

2. Fill about a zillion holes on defense. Oklahoma's defense is depleted, though cornerback Aaron Colvin does return. Safety Tony Jefferson and linebacker Tom Wort left for the draft early, and three starters along the defensive line, including Jamarkus McFarland and David King, are gone. Safety Javon Harris grew up a bit this year, but is gone, too. Defensive coordinator Mike Stoops had his defense in great shape early in the season, but the wheels fell off late against WVU, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. Can he find suitable replacements for all the whole and keep re-establishing his defense in Norman to get the Sooners back into national prominence?

3. Figure out an offensive identity. Regardless of who wins the quarterback job, Oklahoma made it clear that the quarterback running game will be a part of the offense next season. Both Mike and Bob Stoops saw firsthand how maddening it is for a defense that has to cover a dual-threat quarterback who is a true dual threat when it comes to his arm, too. Oklahoma has traditionally been married to pocket passers, but that's going to change. Both Bell and Knight can run, and we saw some zone read from Bell in the Cotton Bowl. Trey Millard is the perfect foil for it. Oklahoma's still going to want its quarterbacks to be pass first, but how much running will be required? That probably depends on who wins and how good they are at executing the quarterback run game.

More offseason to-do lists:

• Oklahoma State
• TCU
• Texas
• Texas Tech
• West Virginia

We’re continuing our countdown of the Big 12's top 25 players from the 2012 season. Here's more on my criteria for the list. You can take a peek at how the preseason list looked here.

The official list is locked away in a vault in an undisclosed location, but we'll be revealing one player a day moving forward.

On with the show ...

No. 18: Landry Jones, QB, Oklahoma

2012 numbers: Completed 367 of 555 passes (66.1 percent) for 4,272 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Most recent ranking: Jones was ranked No. 2 in our preseason list of the Big 12's top 25 players.

Making the case for Jones: Jones is one of the league's biggest names, but never quite reached the potential he showed during his breakthrough sophomore season. Jones threw for a whole bunch of yards, but comparing the value between positions is always difficult. He's definitely one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but he also racked up his yardage on more passing attempts than any quarterback in the Big 12.

Jones was just seventh in the Big 12 in passer rating, behind guys like David Ash and Seth Doege at Texas and Texas Tech, respectively. He grew into his leadership role and carried the Sooners to another 10-win season, but when the Sooners faced elite defenses, Jones looked very average. K-State slowed him down significantly. He was held without a touchdown pass against Notre Dame in a 17-point loss and produced just one touchdown in a blowout loss to Texas A&M, though he did have his highest completion percentage of the season in that game.

Jones had to deal with an almost entirely new receiving corps and played well this season to grab yet another spot on our postseason list of the Big 12's best players.

The rest of the list:

• No. 19: Lache Seastrunk, RB, Baylor
• No. 20: Jake Knott, LB, Iowa State
• No. 21: James Sims, RB, Kansas
• No. 22: Aaron Colvin, CB, Oklahoma
• No. 23: Josh Stewart, WR, Oklahoma State
• No. 24: Nick Florence, QB, Baylor
• No. 25: Quinn Sharp, K/P/KOS, Oklahoma State