Walter Rouse back from his injury and ready to roll
The Oklahoma Sooners made a few splashes last offseason both in the transfer portal and in the 2023 Recruiting Class. One of those was the addition of Stanford Cardinal offensive tackle transfer, Walter Rouse.
Rouse finished his four-year career at Stanford with multiple accolades. He was an All-Pac 12 honorable mention selection twice and freshman second-team All-American. Instead of going pro, something he admitted was the plan. He decided to use his COVID year and transfer to Oklahoma.
That’s how he ended up at the University of Oklahoma. The Sooners had a need at tackle after the departures of Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris to the NFL.
Combine that with the injury to freshman Jacob Sexton, and the Sooners were thin. Rouse comes to the Sooners with 38 starts under his belt and more than 2,500 snaps at the collegiate level. Despite missing the spring due to a shoulder injury, he said he’s ready to go.
“The shoulder feels great,” Rouse said. “A lot better than I expected it to be. Honestly, from the first day to now, I feel like I’ve been getting better every single day and improving just a little bit. Honestly, I’m just having fun. I haven’t been able to hit somebody in about eight months.”
He admits missing the spring led to a learning curve, but he said it helped that he could ask questions and do some mental reps on the side. But even with that missed time, Rouse feels the offensive line is coming along really well.
“Overall, especially the one’s group, we are really connecting with one another, and I’m loving working with Savion (Byrd) on the left side,” Rouse said. “Just really forming a great relationship with one another. Some of the stuff we are doing is non-verbal because we just are already feeling it, it’s already instinctive.”
The offensive line plays a major role in how the offense performs as a whole. It helps to have one of the best in the business coaching them in Bill Bedenbaugh. It might be crazy to say after losing a first-round left tackle, but if this group can come together, they have a chance at being even better than a year ago.
And if they are, the addition of Walter Rouse through the portal will be a big reason as to why.
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