On Saturday, January 14th, the Oklahoma Sooners landed a commitment from offensive lineman Walter Rouse out of Stanford. Rouse has one year of eligibility remaining. He is a big addition for the Sooners, and will add some experience to a rather young offensive line room. Standing in at 6-6, 318-pounds, Rouse has plenty of size to start. He could be an immediate impact player for the Sooners in 2023, but if nothing else, he will at least add good depth to the offensive line.
Walter Rouse originally committed to Nebraska, before Oklahoma ended up flipping him in the eleventh hour. When he announced his commitment to the Sooners, he stated, “I never knew how the power of one’s faith and gut intuition could so forcefully persuade a decision. That happened to me this week.” Bill Bedenbaugh and Oklahoma did a great job of closing here and landing one of the top offensive linemen in the portal.
https://twitter.com/wrouse19/status/1614332659072638977?cxt=HHwWgoCx1YLAoecsAAAA
What Could Walter Rouse Bring to Oklahoma in 2023?
As I mentioned before, Walter Rouse only has one year of eligibility remaining. With that in mind, I don’t believe that Oklahoma would have pursued him as hard as they did if they did not think that he could contribute heavily. I expect Rouse to see the field early and often in 2023. He has a great frame to play at offensive tackle, and he possesses good length and mobility.
While at Stanford, Rouse earned All-Pac 12 honors, and was even a Freshman All-American in 2019. He started for four seasons at Stanford before entering the portal. With all the experience that he has, Rouse should be a good contributor for Oklahoma alongside Tyler Guyton in 2023.
