“Everybody is talking a lot about the quarterback,” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said Friday at Oklahoma’s annual media day, referring to former starter Rhett Bomar. “But quite honestly, J.D. Quinn was going to (have) a 50-50 chance or greater to start, and … that is a little bit more of a concern with depth.”

Head coach Bob Stoops booted Bomar and Quinn, both sophomores, off the team Wednesday, citing NCAA rules violations committed by the players when they accepted extra compensation above that to which they were entitled related to their employment at a Norman car dealership.

Coaches quickly moved Thursday to name fifth-year senior Paul Thompson as the Sooners’ new starting quarterback.

But as Wilson noted, replacing Quinn may prove to be more challenging. Quinn was listed in Oklahoma’s media guide as the starting right guard, and Wilson said Friday that Quinn also was being groomed to be a backup center in case Jon Cooper hadn’t fully recovered from a dislocated and broken right ankle suffered in last season’s loss to Texas Tech.

Following Quinn’s dismissal, Stoops said there were only six or seven linemen he felt comfortable using in the playing rotation. He said it was possible a true freshman could earn playing time on the line this season and singled out one, Chase Beeler of Jenks, who’s recovering from an ankle sprain suffered during the summer.

“He works hard, he looks good and he looked good yesterday (during the first day of practice), even with a sore ankle,” Stoops said. “He has the strength and the power as a guy up there. … I think strength-wise, he showed immediately that maybe he’s ready for it.”

Because he’s a freshman, Beeler is not allowed by coaches to talk to the media. But the line’s most experienced player, senior tackle Chris Messner, said he’d have no problem if a freshman worked his way into the rotation.

“I’m not the kind of person who worries about experience,” Messner said. “As long as somebody comes in and works hard and shows that they’re willing to do what it takes and that they’re a team player, I really don’t care how much they’ve played.”

Of the 14 offensive linemen on the Oklahoma roster, eight are freshmen and four are sophomores. Three of the sophomores – left guard George Robinson, Cooper and right tackle Branndon Braxton – started at some point last season.

“We have guys that are young, but they have played in games,” Thompson said. “They’re sophomores, maybe, but they’ve got a lot of experience. I’m not going to let that (youth) bother me. They made great strides this summer as far as strength and condition and I think they’re getting to where they need to be.”

Red-shirt freshman Brian Simmons – listed as Quinn’s backup at right guard in the media guide – downplayed any depth issues.

“It starts and ends with the line,” Simmons said. “It’s the foundation of the offense. But we have enough talent that I think we’ll be fine, regardless of how the depth is. We’ll be in shape for anything.”

Stoops said that by the time the Sooners open their season against Alabama-Birmingham on Sept. 2, he expects most of the questions about the offensive line to be answered.

“We’ll have seven (or) eight guys that we’ll like by the time we’ll play,” Stoops said. “All those guys will make improvements. We’ve got our numbers back in a decent way and we’ll keep building.

“Everybody loves to paint this terrible picture, and it’s not that. … We don’t look at it that way.”

On Friday, it was announced Ohio State and Oklahoma will play a home-and-home series in 2016-17.

The two traditional powers have met twice before, with the Sooners beating the Buckeyes in 1977 and Ohio State evening the series in 1983.

“We still have a few details to work out, including where the first game will be, but we have an agreement in principle,” Ohio State associate athletic director Steve Snapp said Friday. “We want to play a marquee game every year, either home or away, and Oklahoma certainly fits into that category.”