Peyton Bowen ready to be a 'Swiss Army Knife' in Sooners' defense
It was a wild and unprecedented turn of events that helped the Sooners land 5-star defensive back Peyton Bowen.
And it all wouldn’t have happened without a paperwork mistake, which prompted one of the biggest national stories of the offseason.
Oklahoma and Notre Dame were significant suitors for the highly-touted prospect, and Bowen initially committed to the Fighting Irish in January 2022. But he spurned both programs during his signing day ceremony on Dec. 21, instead announcing he would sign with Oregon.
Bowen signed his national letter of intent later that day and faxed it to Oregon, but he was still having doubts.
There were a lot of factors that caused Bowen to flip. He developed strong relationships with the OU coaching staff, particularly cornerbacks coach Jay Valai. He’s close with OU quarterback Jackson Arnold, who was his teammate at Guyer High School in Texas. He also wanted to be coached by Brent Venables.
But ultimately, he saw it as the best fit for him.
“I made the decision based on where I would feel most comfortable,” Bowen said. “That’s ultimately what led me here.”
Signing Bowen is easily one of the biggest wins of Venables’ tenure with the Sooners, and he's one of the crown jewels of the team’s 2023 class.
The Denton, Texas native was a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school and was ranked as the No. 2 safety and No. 16 overall prospect, per 247Sports Composite rankings. Bowen joins edge rusher Adepoju Adebawore as the two 5-star defensive recruits in OU’s 2023 class.
In addition to showing the ability to rush the quarterback and cause chaos in the backfield, Bowen stood out for his ability to jump passing lanes as a safety. That was on display in Guyer’s second-round playoff game against Highland Park last season, when he intercepted a pass late in the third quarter and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown.
“It was like a huge momentum shift for the game, too,” Arnold recalls. “It was a huge play for us. Pretty impressive stuff.”
Bowen should be heavily in the mix for playing time at safety. Billy Bowman is a likely starter at one of the safety spots, but Bowen could have a chance at grabbing the other starting spot.
But Venables mentioned Bowen as a candidate to play the cheetah position — a hybrid of linebacker and defensive back — and said his versatility makes it easy to move him around the defense.
“I think (he’s) a guy that’s beyond his years in regards to (how) football’s easy for him,” Venables said. “The schemes are easy for him. He comes from a very good program where he's been coached incredibly well with both terminology, systems, diversity within their schemes.
“So he understands ball and he finds the football. He's got a tremendous skill set.”
Bowen said his preference is to play in pass coverage. But he prides himself on being versatile and said he’s modeled his game after former All-Pro safety Ed Reed.
“I like running around, baiting the quarterback and just making those big interceptions,” Bowen said. “But it’s not going to deter me from playing cheetah to where I’ll go down there in the box and go make plays on running backs or blitz the quarterback. I don’t want to focus on just one thing. I want to be a Swiss Army Knife. Like (coach) Valai always said, 'Go do whatever they need you to do when the time comes.’
Ultimately, Bowen is excited to see how he fits in Venables' defense and is confident he can make an impact right away.
"The history of his defense (is exciting), just how great it's been over the years. Just because they had a down year last year, they lost a lot of their guys so I wasn't too worried about it.
"There were some times they should've played better. But that's why I came here. I knew I could come in, make an impactful role early and just play football."
( FWIW I think Swiss Army Knife is a stupid phrase when it comes to describing a player, that is all. )
It was a wild and unprecedented turn of events that helped the Sooners land 5-star defensive back Peyton Bowen.
And it all wouldn’t have happened without a paperwork mistake, which prompted one of the biggest national stories of the offseason.
Oklahoma and Notre Dame were significant suitors for the highly-touted prospect, and Bowen initially committed to the Fighting Irish in January 2022. But he spurned both programs during his signing day ceremony on Dec. 21, instead announcing he would sign with Oregon.
Bowen signed his national letter of intent later that day and faxed it to Oregon, but he was still having doubts.
There were a lot of factors that caused Bowen to flip. He developed strong relationships with the OU coaching staff, particularly cornerbacks coach Jay Valai. He’s close with OU quarterback Jackson Arnold, who was his teammate at Guyer High School in Texas. He also wanted to be coached by Brent Venables.
But ultimately, he saw it as the best fit for him.
“I made the decision based on where I would feel most comfortable,” Bowen said. “That’s ultimately what led me here.”
Signing Bowen is easily one of the biggest wins of Venables’ tenure with the Sooners, and he's one of the crown jewels of the team’s 2023 class.
The Denton, Texas native was a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school and was ranked as the No. 2 safety and No. 16 overall prospect, per 247Sports Composite rankings. Bowen joins edge rusher Adepoju Adebawore as the two 5-star defensive recruits in OU’s 2023 class.
In addition to showing the ability to rush the quarterback and cause chaos in the backfield, Bowen stood out for his ability to jump passing lanes as a safety. That was on display in Guyer’s second-round playoff game against Highland Park last season, when he intercepted a pass late in the third quarter and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown.
“It was like a huge momentum shift for the game, too,” Arnold recalls. “It was a huge play for us. Pretty impressive stuff.”
Bowen should be heavily in the mix for playing time at safety. Billy Bowman is a likely starter at one of the safety spots, but Bowen could have a chance at grabbing the other starting spot.
But Venables mentioned Bowen as a candidate to play the cheetah position — a hybrid of linebacker and defensive back — and said his versatility makes it easy to move him around the defense.
“I think (he’s) a guy that’s beyond his years in regards to (how) football’s easy for him,” Venables said. “The schemes are easy for him. He comes from a very good program where he's been coached incredibly well with both terminology, systems, diversity within their schemes.
“So he understands ball and he finds the football. He's got a tremendous skill set.”
Bowen said his preference is to play in pass coverage. But he prides himself on being versatile and said he’s modeled his game after former All-Pro safety Ed Reed.
“I like running around, baiting the quarterback and just making those big interceptions,” Bowen said. “But it’s not going to deter me from playing cheetah to where I’ll go down there in the box and go make plays on running backs or blitz the quarterback. I don’t want to focus on just one thing. I want to be a Swiss Army Knife. Like (coach) Valai always said, 'Go do whatever they need you to do when the time comes.’
Ultimately, Bowen is excited to see how he fits in Venables' defense and is confident he can make an impact right away.
"The history of his defense (is exciting), just how great it's been over the years. Just because they had a down year last year, they lost a lot of their guys so I wasn't too worried about it.
"There were some times they should've played better. But that's why I came here. I knew I could come in, make an impactful role early and just play football."
( FWIW I think Swiss Army Knife is a stupid phrase when it comes to describing a player, that is all. )
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