Happy Tuesday, friends and fans!

Over the last few days there has been a lot of buzz around Oklahoma Sooners freshman WR Trejan Bridges potentially moving to defense to play in the secondary. On Monday, Lincoln Riley was asked about this possible switch, but he did not add merit to the rumblings. It wasn’t until later in the day when DC Alex Grinch confirmed the news that the pass-catcher out of Carrollton, Texas was in fact practicing with the safeties. The Norman Transcript’s Tyler Palmateer broke it all down in detail.

Following Monday’s practice, Grinch spoke with the media and explained what goes into trying out players at different positions and why it’s a valuable trait to have as a football player.

With the news swirling about that Bridges was being seriously looked at as a safety, OU Daily’s George Stoia reached out to the skilled athlete’s offensive coordinator from Hebron High, Jeff Hill. His former coach had great things to say about Trejan, and was not at all surprised to learn that it came from a selfless, team-first place.

Players get looks at multiple positions more often than the public sometimes realizes, and Riley said as much during his Monday presser. In the past, guys like Andre Woolfolk and Lendy Holmes kicked off their collegiate careers as receivers, but eventually made the fruitful switch to the defensive secondary. Michiah Quick more recently also made this transition, but that experiment ended with an injury and subsequent transfer.

Bridges, of course, had plenty of experience on the defensive side of the ball in high school. Check out this clip from SoonerScoop:

No matter what happens next, the move shouldn’t be considered official until Bridges either appears on the defensive depth chart or takes the field on defense. Even if both of those things happen, his future as a receiver isn’t definitively over. He’s done everything right up to this point as far as proving his worth on the outside, despite the wealth of talent on the roster.

Having said that, he does fit the mold of what Alex Grinch wants at safety, as he possesses the size, length and ball-hawking ability that could cause problems for opposing offenses. He certainly has some of the best ball skills on the team, and if his physicality holds up like it has so far on special teams, this potential move could actually pay off for Oklahoma in a major way.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! Defensive recruiting is being helped with defensive results, TTU plans to play more than one QB on Saturday, KU is in a bit of a pickle and more!

OU Links

• Joel Klatt is out here showing Jalen Hurts some love (like everybody else) by dropping some incredible stats from the first three games of the season. It’s impressive no matter how you slice it, and unless you’re Jalen himself, you can eat up this rat poison like it’s a delectable treat. I know I will!

• Lincoln Riley recently talked about how defensive recruits are responding to Oklahoma’s improved play on D. Before the season, it was mostly about selling the plan and the vision, but now there are visible results for prospects to consider. OU Insider’s RJ Young has more.
• With starter Alan Bowman sidelined with a shoulder injury, Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells didn’t name a starting quarterback for this week, but he did say that he expects to play two QBs against Oklahoma.
• Starting today, Sept. 24, all of OU men’s basketball practices are free to the public. If you want a sneak peek at Lon Kruger’s latest squad, you can check them out starting at 2 p.m. CT today. The exhibition game against Southeastern Oklahoma State is on Oct. 29, then OU hosts UTSA to tip-off the regular season on Nov. 5.

• In case you missed it, check out this ‘No Rat Poison’ t-shirt from the awesome folks at BreakingT. Jalen Hurts isn’t about the praise or the hype, but he’s definitely all about this shirt! Now you can be, too!

• In case you also missed this, Oklahoma’s partnership with Jordan Brand has brought to life these Sooner-themed React Havocs, and you’re just a couple clicks away from sporting a pair for yourself. Christmas is still a few months away, but why wait? Show off your OU pride everywhere you go in style!

Around the Sports World

• The Kansas Jayhawks Athletic Department is under NCAA fire after it was discovered that coach Bill Self and the men’s basketball team committed five Level I violations (the most serious in nature) and the football team committed two Level II infractions under former coach David Beaty. KU has 90 days to respond to the charges.
• Houston Cougars QB D’Eriq King has decided to sit out the remainder of the season in order to save a year of eligibility by redshirting. The dynamic dual-threat has struggled coming back from a season-ending injury in 2018, but plans to remain at UH in 2020.
• The Texas Longhorns have been bitten hard by the injury bug so far in 2019, and the latest losses come from the secondary. Most notably, starting safety Caden Sterns and starting cornerback Jalen Green are both expected to miss considerable time.
• Lionel Messi won the FIFA award for Best Men’s Player of the Year. Even though he’s currently overcoming an injury, after the run he’s had, it’s certainly well-deserved.

• Washington Redskins tight end Vernon Davis may be 35, but he can still hurdle over you. Well, he can jump high, but no, this is not actually a hurdle. Like, not at all.

• SB Nation’s Jon Bois and Kofie Yeboah have opened the Fumble Dimension, and it’s brought chaos to the NBA2K world we know and love. It’s better if you just watch (all 47 minutes if you’ve got the time) instead of having me try to explain it to you. Check out this small preview at the very least. Compelling stuff.

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