Oklahoma State football's Lyrik Rawls aims to reclaim starting safety spot after ACL tear
Scott WrightThe Oklahoman
STILLWATER — Last Friday afternoon was a celebration for Lyrik Rawls.
Oklahoma State’s first preseason practice in shoulder pads.
It was a day Rawls had been waiting roughly 10 months for, since suffering a torn ACL last September that ended his redshirt sophomore season.
Last fall, he could only watch from a distance as his Cowboy teammates made a run to a 10-4 season and an appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game.
In the spring, he could take part in some of the non-contact drills, but was relegated to the sideline anytime the pads were popping.
Yet last Friday, he strapped on his shoulder pads with intent.
“I was holding it in, trying to keep all my excitement in,” Rawls said with a smile. “Once we got back out there, it felt good to be there. I been waiting on this.”
With the Cowboys a week into preseason camp, Rawls is ready to fight for the starting safety job he had earned a year ago. But a lot has changed in the last 10 months — some of it a direct response to Rawls’ injury.
After he went down four games into the season, Cameron Epps moved into the starting role and showed significant growth. Dylan Smith shifted from cornerback to safety and showed flashes of talent as a true freshman.
The Cowboys added another safety in the offseason, bringing in Kobe Hylton from UTEP via the transfer portal, and he has the potential to jump into a starting role.
Suddenly, the safety jobs look to be the source of OSU’s most intense preseason position battle.
Of course, the biggest move involving safeties is that of Kendal Daniels into a role that will see him frequently slotted as a linebacker. That opens up some playing time at the middle safety position, where players like Rawls, Epps and Ty Williams are getting extra work while safeties coach Dan Hammerschmidt searches for his starters.
Trey Rucker is back as a super-senior, likely filling the same spot he held all last year, which tightens the competition even more.
“It’s making me go even harder,” Rawls said. “It’s making me see it’s not gonna be easy for me to go back and get my spot. Any move I make wrong, somebody waiting to get in. And then I’m going to get them. So I feel like this is making the whole room better.”
