Transfer tight end Bauer Sharp, who spent just two seasons as a quarterback, might play a significant role in the Sooners’ offense in 2024.
After just two seasons as a quarterback, transfer tight end Bauer Sharp might be a key member of the Sooners’ offense in 2024.
Sharp recorded 54 touches for 421 yards and eight touchdowns in his last season with the Lions. At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, the product of Dothan, Alabama, possesses the size and agility to contribute to Oklahoma’s offense in his first year of participation in the program.
“This is his fourth year in college football; he’s fearless, strong, and has adjusted well. I think he will have an impact at OU,” Mark Willoughby, a radio broadcaster from Southeastern Louisiana, told AllSooners. “Hard child, fierce rival. Raw in the tight end position, but makes up for it with strength, size, and agility.
Sharp has only played tight end for the Lions for two years, but carrying a fair amount of the team’s offensive load this season.
The former standout player from Dothan was recruited by SLU to play quarterback, but he decided to switch to tight end because the school had a glut of strong passers.
Willoughby continued, “Sharp’s play style and physicality also played a part in him making the move.”
Willoughby stated, “To capitalize on Bauer’s raw talent, moving to tight end was dictated by following in Cole Kelley’s footsteps.” “His size, athleticism, linebacker mentality, and the pressing need at tight end position made him a strong candidate for a conversion.”
Sooner supporters should be pleased to see Sharp’s athleticism, particularly considering the team’s lack of a dynamic tight end option in 2023.
Because of his athleticism, the fourth-year player can fill a variety of roles, as evidenced by the various ways SLU’s offense has used Sharp.
The exceptional tight end had action as a receiver for 136 snaps, a run blocker for 132 snaps, a pass blocker for 19 snaps, and a ball carrier out of the backfield for 25 snaps during the previous seaso
Pro Football Focus reports that in 2023, Sharp’s overall offensive grade was 80.7.
Willoughby also lauded Sharp’s athleticism, describing how it allowed the veteran tight end to help the Lions’ offense in multiple ways.
“Strongest part of Bauer’s game is his athleticism. Fast enough to beat linebackers and safeties in coverage, can split wide, get deep,” Willoughby said. “Has a nose for the goal line in wildcat, speed to break a big play if he reads blocks correctly — power to run through tackles. Some Taysom Hill qualities. … Flashes elite receiving skills, hard-nosed runner with the ball in hand — (his) overall game needs refining but (the) upside is huge.”
Jackson Arnold, a true sophomore who is starting his first season as a full-time starter, should benefit greatly from having a large, athletic tight end to rely on as a blocker and receiver. Arnold was a former five-star prospect.
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2022, Randall Sweet has covered collegiate, professional, and high school sports throughout the Sooner State. Sweet has jobs at the Sooner Sports Pad, OU Daily, and OU Nightly throughout her time in college. The native of Lubbock, Texas, is a staff writer with AllSooners and Inside the Thunder, and she has bylines in the Norman Transcript and VisitOKC.com.
Leave a Reply