The Football Brainiacs

Image of Darius Mouton via pasadenaisd.org

– I’m sure everyone is still excited about the big commitment Oklahoma received yesterday. Kudos to the staff on a job well done. Oklahoma was one of the first schools to offer PJ Mbanasor, and I know he valued that a great deal. Oklahoma also did a fantastic job of communicating with him. And PJ had regular communication with not just one coach, but with multiple coaches on the staff.

– With OU locking up Mbanasor, we’re working under the premise they are looking for at least one more CB. And they are currently recruiting guys like Ykili Ross, Isaiah Langley, etc. But I wanted to briefly introduce y’all to a CB that I caught up with earlier this week from here in the Houston area. His name is Darius Mouton out of North Shore HS.

He isn’t as tall as Mbanasor or Jaylon Lane, he’s around 5’11”, but he is very long. He’s got great game speed and it isn’t just in returns or tracking down a defender from behind. Where you really see it is in how effortlessly he covers. There aren’t a lot of wasted movements or false steps, and he doesn’t look overly anxious. That calmness often comes from a corner’s understanding and confidence in his own athleticism and ability to stay in phase or recover if necessary.

Mouton currently has a few offers from schools like Colorado, Utah and Indiana, but is definitely interested in receiving an offer from schools in the traditional Big 12 South area. He isn’t the kind of player who has attended camps like NFTC and Rivals, so he’s gone under the radar but as y’all know when we love a kid…we talk about him in hopes that it will help.

– Yesterday, OU offer Kahlil McKenzie put out via tweeting and RT’ing that he will be making his final announcement at The Opening this July and will decide between Arizona and Tennessee. I have to be honest, with limited space in this 2015 class, I’ve never been shy about the fact that my favorite 4i DE prospects are guys like Neville Gallimore and Gabriel Campbell. Campbell is a long athletic guy, and Gallimore is a shorter ‘big’ guy with absolutely ridiculous upside.

All of which is to say that while certainly on some level McKenzie eliminating OU is disappointing, I do believe there are other targets on the board that fit this defense just as well, if not potentially even better. And before anyone takes that as sour grapes, trust me when I say it is not. We wish the young man success wherever he winds up, but if he has moved on then so must we.

– To follow up on the previous note, I spoke to Gabriel Campbell recently and he’s still very much interested in Oklahoma. He said Coach Montgomery has stayed in regular contact with him, and he still plans on either making a trip to OU this summer or for an official visit in the fall.

– However, Campbell isn’t the only stud in Yazoo City. 2015 LB and Miss. State commit Timothy Washington is another prospect from Yazoo City, and he’s interested in OU as well. While Washington may very well end up in Starkville, he called me the other day and let me know that he was looking around and was definitely interested in seeing Oklahoma. Some of the other visits he’ll be taking this summer are Louisville and Kentucky. Washington’s mother will be taking him on the trips and one has to think if she’s willing to drive him eight hours to get to Louisville, she might also be willing to drive him eight hours to get to Norman.

– A few weeks back, we mentioned that Oklahoma had gone by to visit 2015 LB Jordan Griffin out of Armwood HS in Seffner, FL. I caught up with Jordan again recently, and he told me that just before the Armwood spring game OU stopped by again for another visit. While there the coaches let him know that while an offer has not been extended yet, Jordan is an “offer kid” and one could be extended to him in the near future.

If OU does indeed offer, it sounds like there would be a lot of interest on Jordan’s part. Afterall, Oklahoma did a pretty darn good job developing the last LB out of Armwood HS – Eric Striker.

– UPDATE (1:52 pm): Multiple reports this afternoon have the Sooners extending an offer to 2015 DE Keisean Lucier-South (Orange, CA).

– UPDATE (1:55 pm): Demetric Warren of Varsitypreps is reporting that 2017 LB & Miss. State commit Anthony Hines III will be in Norman this weekend. Pretty impressive offer list considering he’ll be entering his sophomore year in h.s.