The Sooners have landed yet another South Florida player as 2019 4-star CB, Jaden Davis (Fort Lauderdale, FL) has committed to Oklahoma. Davis chose Oklahoma over the likes Clemson, Miami, Texas and numerous other programs. Davis continues the beginning of what is beginning to look like a South Florida pipeline and in particular one to St. Thomas Aquinas High School. The Sooners signed St. Thomas Aquinas linebacker, Nik Bonitto in the 2018 class.
Thank You God For Everything??
(Video courtesy of @TFB_Sooners) pic.twitter.com/isG0MUZyJr
— IV (@Jayd4_) July 19, 2018
Davis says he knew Oklahoma was the right choice from the first time he visited Norman, “It just felt like home. It felt like everything was coming together, the opportunity to get on the field, the development, the chance to win a national championship, the family vibe you get being around the OU players and coaches. That was the first official and I knew right then that’s where I wanted to go. I still wanted to take my officials to make sure but no other school gave me that feeling like OU”.
Now that Davis is committed he says he’ll be recruiting a number of players including Dax Hill and South Florida native and friend, Kenny McIntosh.
For Davis family there was a long standing trust with the Oklahoma staff, “My dad knows the coaches are going to treat you right. He already had a previous connection to coach Stoops caused he (dad) played at Youngstown (State). He wanted me to go somewhere where he knew he could trust the coaches. He trusts those guys.”
Talent and Technique
Davis isn’t just fast and athletic. He understands the game. One of things I noticed right away watching his film is that at the line of scrimmage Davis will sometimes open the gate early and sometimes mirror his man and flatten him. I asked him why he makes that choice.
“If I’m playing a guy who doesn’t have as much speed I’ll open up and play him in a trail technique because I know I can squeeze him. With a faster guy I’ll stay patient and flatten him, make him take a longer path”.
Mirroring a fast guy isn’t something you can just do. You have to work at it. It runs counter to the normal human intuition. Normal intuition tells you that when a fast human being is running at you, you should start running in the same direction. But that intuition will get you beat. It takes training to stay patient at the line of scrimmage and force the speedy wide receiver to take a longer path.
It doesn’t take much to recognize that Davis will be an asset to any secondary. He has the athleticism and the football IQ Oklahoma has been looking for in the past couple of recruiting classes.
