Open Post | Monday, August 4th (UPDATE 3:58 pm)

Image of Erick Fowler via 247 Sports

Erick Fowler: One of several visitors on campus this past weekend was 2016 OLB Erick Fowler (Manor, TX). Fowler already has a number of offers, and this weekend he picked up another from the Sooners. We caught up with Erick and it’s pretty clear Oklahoma made a tremendous impression on him. For starters, he talked about the fact he wants to play the Jack LB position in an odd front. That’s where he plays in high school, and he feels that’s the position that suits him best. OU is one of the few schools in this area that runs a 3-4 defense.

Outside of a trip to Houston for a camp, this trip to Norman was the first time Erick has been outside the city of Austin. That fact alone created a situation where the Oklahoma trip made a huge impression on him. For him it wasn’t just a trip to a school he’d never seen, it was his first trip to a school and to another state which is something he will clearly never forget.

Erick has a relative that currently plays for Baylor, so he’ll be visiting there later this week. Additionally, his step brother is Desmond Jackson — a DL for Texas — but in talking to Erick, we don’t get the sense he’s a “fan” of any one school. It sounds like he’s looking for a place he fits and loves. And the Sooners clearly did their job, because after a weekend Norman, Erick said “I loved it!”

Malik Jefferson: We didn’t talk to Malik personally, but we’ve gathered some notes about his trip from some folks that did talk to him this past weekend. Malik came in on Saturday and wound up staying overnight. He came down with his mom, and on Saturday he attended some team meetings. Sunday, he and his mother were given a tour of the facilities. The word we received was a little mixed. One source said that the mother and Malik absolutely loved the trip, and that Bob Stoops made a huge impression on both. In fact, we were told that Malik wants to come back to OU for an official visit with his whole family.

Another source who spoke to Malik didn’t necessarily say the opposite of that, but the impression was a little more tempered. He told us that Malik really enjoyed the trip and perhaps more than anything was surprised by how much better it was than he expected. He said the family clearly liked Coach Stoops, but Malik also has a tremendous amount of respect for Charlie Strong and some others. It does sound like Malik is working on a Top 8-10 list and after this weekend OU is on that list.

Most folks, including us, felt that Texas or Texas A&M would win the services of the extraordinary 2015 LB. And while that may still remain the case, this trip was important for OU. Why? Because making a good impression on him and his mother before the CFB football season starts means that OU is relevant in Malik’s recruiting. And while they may not be the top choice at the moment, if OU has the big year they are expected to have with Texas and TAMU having decent years, OU could put themselves in an even better position to surprise. Norman may not be in the state of Texas, but it’s still close to home.

Bob Stoops: Coach Stoops was working this weekend! It’s clear he wanted to make sure he was involved with the recruits who were on campus. We were told he spent a lot of one-on-one time with them, and that he personally made the offer to Erick Fowler.

Darius Anderson: 2016 defensive lineman Darius Anderson was scheduled to be in Norman this weekend, however he rescheduled for this coming Wednesday.

PJ Mbanasor: OU commit PJ Mbanasor was on campus as well and, as usual, he had a great time. He said he got a chance to pick up some OU gear while he was in Norman (shirt, visor, socks). He said it’s always great being around the coaches and he’s looking forward to making it back for the Tennessee game.

Will Sunderland: As noted before, Will Sunderland was also on campus Saturday. Honestly, we really don’t reach out to Will regarding his recruitment because as we said…this is just a sit back and wait situation. As long as a spot remains available, Sunderland will be a Sooner.

Samaje Perine: The amount of raving about Samaje coming out of the first few days of practice is unreal. The team will go full pads for the first time today. They’ve been in uppers the past 2-3 days, and it seems no one wants to tackle Perine! A couple days ago, he apparently collided with someone trying to tackle him and he (Samaje) hit a guy so hard they had to do a concussion test on the defender.

Dorial Green-Beckham: Just a quick note on DGB. Was told that on Saturday DGB made one of the most spectacular one hand catches you’ll ever see. Word is he was covered perfectly and somehow went up and grabbed the ball one-handed. Everyone went crazy. Have been told that covered or not, if you just throw the ball up to this young man…he’ll find a way to come down with it.

UPDATE (10:55 am): It would appear 2015 ATH & recent OU offer DeAndre McNeal did not make it to Norman over the weekend, but just tweeted out that he is now at OU on an unofficial visit.

– UPDATE (10:57 am): Interesting note from Rivals’ Adam Gorney

– UPDATE (2:03 pm): Despite recent reassurances, Jamile Johnson announces he has decommitted from OU.

– UPDATE (3:58 pm): As most of you know by now, OU was in pads for the first time today and with that comes the infamous Oklahoma Drill. While we no longer get hardly any video of practices, Sooner Sports TV was generous enough to release some footage of today’s action. And while it’s not a lot — the video itself is only 1:49 and it’s not just highlights — it is better than nothing…..so enjoy. (I’ve linked to it there, but will embed here as well for those who are able to see the video)

 

139 Comments

  • disqus_MGlT3IoZ53 says:

    Perine will have his opportunities early with Mixon out the first week or so

  • vargo05 says:

    Open post!!!!!!!!!! BOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Josh says:

    26 Days Till Football Time in Oklahoma!! Going back to 1948 today for this Sooner and the first OU QB to be named an All American! Cool image from Bedlam that year and in true “Bedlam being Bedlam” fashion even a dog got into the action. Here is the caption for that image from that play…
    “The University of Oklahoma-Oklahoma A&M game was complete in every respect when the inevitable dog got in the picture. The eyes of the some 30,000 Stillwater spectators, however, were on Jack Mitchell, Sooner quarterback, about to cross the double stripe. Mitchell took the ball on the Aggie 14, cut around end on the optional play and headed for the corner for the score. Oklahoma won the bell-clapper battle, 19-15.” Staff photo taken with Big Bertha by A.Y. Owen on Nov. 27, 1948″

    • Boom says:

      Thanks for doing this Josh. Really good stuff and it brings attention to our past players and the great tradition at OU. These guys paved the way for the ones we have today. It’s so cool to know that we can go back 56 years to pick a player of the day when some schools can only go back 2 or 3 years. Only ONE Oklahoma. Boomer

      • Josh says:

        Absolutely been my pleasure. It is a blast to look these guys up and then get caught up reading about their OU careers and life after football. I think I’ll start next year at 99 days so I can get everyone involved. Any OU list that doesn’t have a Selmon on it really just isn’t complete!

        • Boom says:

          After you get to #1, you may need to do another post with all the greats to get the blood pumping.

    • EasTex says:

      I am in full agreement with Boom, your daily contribution in celebrating and honoring the rich tradition of OU football is greatly appreciated.
      “Bell-clapper.” Man, it has been a very long time since I heard that expression. Good stuff.

      • Josh says:

        It has been my immense pleasure. There aren’t many things in this world I love like my Sooners, I mostly jokingly tell my kids “There are two of you… There’s only 1 Oklahoma” had a similar joke I told my exwife, she obviously didn’t find it humorous lol but it has been great talking OU history with folks that appreciate it as much as I do! Boomer!!

  • Zack says:

    Oklahoma drill today right? I hope we get some footage

    • Super K says:

      Yep! And hope so too!

    • soonerbred4ever says:

      I had my neck fused at three levels a couple of weeks ago. I have to give the Oklahoma drill some credit for that. It just took a lot of years on top of that. My high school coach had a different twist though. The defender had to lay on his back with his head toward the runner. When the whistle blew he tossed the ball to the runner and you had get to your feet to meet the runner in the hole, which was only about three feet wide. If you didn’t hit the runner in the numbers you probably got run over. It’s amazing we didn’t have more injuries.

      • ToatsMcGoats says:

        You aren’t the young man that was blasted by Rufus, are you?;)

      • SoonerinLondon says:

        That’s the same twist my coaches had.

      • vargo05 says:

        We did a similar way as well. We had it where both guys laid down heads towards each other on the back. Then both had to scramble to get up and hit it. Well, I was usually the smallest guy on the team and too stubborn to be smart about it. However, I usually faired pretty well. I don’t really miss those days that much.

        • FeedtheMonster says:

          I think every team needs those smaller guys who are tough as nails, and refuse to quit.

          • vargo05 says:

            My body has paid for it over the years, with the help of years of basketball. I feel another knee surgery in my future, to go along with the 7 other surgeries I’ve had by age 35. Yuck.

          • FeedtheMonster says:

            I understand. Knees, back, shoulder, neck – all need some attention. Between the Football years and too many years of manual labor, I’ve been pretty hard on my body.

  • Jason Vos says:

    I’m willing to bet Perine is the type of RB that will hardly ever fumble the ball & would be great in pass pro. A quality that could push Ford to backup & Perine to starter b4 its all said and done

  • Jason Vos says:

    so who was the surprise visitor?

  • vargo05 says:

    This Perine talk has me excited and nervous all at the same time. I’m excited about what he can do, but nervous he may really hurt somebody.

  • jmac45 says:

    Would really love the McNeil kid from Mesquite too. 🙂

  • Lane Gilstrap says:

    Malik Jefferson was the surprise visitor

  • Big Higg says:

    Ready to see Perine on the field with all of this talk. Hopefully I’ll get to see it first hand vs Louisiana Tech!

  • Stephen says:

    Does anyone know what position OU is recruiting McNeal is being recruited as? Or what position he’ll most likely play if he chooses OU?

  • Ash Jones says:

    Rasheem Green is going to U$C. Don’t get your hopes up on him. 🙁

  • CS says:

    Have this q on my mind! If Taylor Evans looks as good as the coaches are calling, is it a better move to play Nila as center, Shead/Dionte/Evans as guards? I know Ty has good technique but I always notice that Nila has that extra power/mean streak, which could be very lethal.

  • Cory Reedy says:

    Man I hope Samaje takes it easy on the guys. We don’t need any defenders going down. : )
    Save it for gameday Samaje!

    • Zack says:

      Yeah Keith ford ruined our defense last year when he trucked Phillips.

      • Sooner Ray says:

        They should blow a big train horn anytime Perine touches the ball or crosses the line of scrimmage so that everyone has time to prepare themselves for the pain.

        • Jed says:

          I already desperately want to see him rip off a 50 yarder. Imagine what he looks like at full stride.

  • Jordan Esco says:

    2015 S Jamile Johnson decommits from OU, update above and I’m sure we’ll have more either later or in the coming days. Regardless, this seemed inevitable for a while and fair or not I’m not expecting many here to be to broken up about this.

    • vargo05 says:

      What I don’t understand is when these kids are so steadfast about being committed then decommit just a week or two later. Johnson had been saying everytime he was interviewed and on Twitter that he was all OU. I know they’re kids, but it’s just shady to me.
      That said, I’m not tore up about it one bit. If you want to be here, fine. If not, we’ll find somebody who does.

      • Zack says:

        Completely agree it had been rumored ever since the day he committed that he was going to continue to look elsewhere. Doesn’t hurt my feelings though as long as we still pull haughton and/or Reid. I think Sunderland is basically committed so I would be shocked if he doesn’t end up in Norman. And I’ve been hard on Sunderland but the production is there, he just needs a new hype guy to make his highlights, I believe I read that he had 100 tackles and 5 ints last year but honestly his highlights don’t show much.

        And I know some may ask, so does this finally open the door for whitfield…my guess is no since apparently we are recruiting him as a linebacker and none of our top linebacker targets have eliminated ou.

      • Jed says:

        There was likely more than a bit of self-psyching going on. Guy trying to ‘will’ his way into being happy with his commitment. Sometimes it even works. Give him space, maybe he ultimately moves on, maybe he comes back (if there’s still space when he does). None of this stuff is final until signing day.

    • cpearc00 says:

      Good riddance.

    • James D-Space says:

      In terms of talent, is this a big loss?

    • HoustonChiver says:

      I was just tired of pretending to be happy …— J.Johnson Jr. #⃣3⃣ (@MilJohnson) August 4, 2014

      My money says he ends up at UT. Oh well, Next!

  • vargo05 says:

    Some of these kids are as fickle as a fart in a cyclone.

  • ratman says:

    Ride on Blake Bell.

  • SoonerPhins says:

    Will Whitfield be offered now? Hopefully so.

    • Zack says:

      I hope so but like I said I don’t think the 2 were connected. Mike stoops is wanting him at linebacker.

      • Boom says:

        That’s correct but the more Mike sees him, wonder if he likes him at NB more than LB. If I remember correctly, he had a brother play college ball and he was heavier. I think they see him filling out to 235/240. If not and Whitfield shows he could play the nickle then maybe Mike pulls trigger.

        • Zack says:

          I think they just believe that he’s a lot like Jordan Evans and could be an ideal linebacker for the big 12 which is essentially a converted safety. But I think whitfield could be a great safety based on his instincts alone.

  • Jordan Esco says:

    OU is close enough they might not get an official, so I wouldn’t necessarily read too much into this if Sooners don’t get one.
    https://twitter.com/Official_MalikJ/status/496379664152027136
    That said, still think he’s a long shot for OU. But I’d love to be wrong.

    • SoonerPhins says:

      Can’t fault a kid if he wasn’t happy. Good luck to him where ever he goes.

      • Jordan Esco says:

        I never have issue w/ a kid leaving/changing their mind, and certainly wouldn’t ever bash them on the way out. But the expectation of handling things in a classy manner is a two-way street, IMO.

  • DCinAZ says:

    J.Johnson Jr. #⃣3⃣ ‏@MilJohnson 3m
    I was just tired of pretending to be happy …

  • HoustonChiver says:

    My money says Jamile Johnson ends up at UT.

    • Super K says:

      Perhaps but I don’t see them offering unless he has a huge sr season

      • TheFuerte says:

        Is it possible that he decommitted because the coaches stopped calling or he read the writing on the wall. He may have been a filler for Vontre, and it sounds like he will make it now.

  • Jordan Esco says:

    If The King is buying in that’s probably good enough for me.
    https://twitter.com/Barry_Switzer/status/496391884638814209

  • Dana Rogers says:

    So long Mr. Johnson. Hello, Mr. Whitfield. JS…

    • JB says:

      That is the player left I covet most.

      • Dana Rogers says:

        Didn’t see JE’s comments and associated replies prior to posting or would have added there. But yeah, have been saying for a while that for some reason (a bunch actually) this kid intrigues me seven ways from Sunday. Not the least of which are my thoughts that given an opportunity to prove himself on the national stage (small town kid makes good thing is one heck of a motivator) he gonna make some Coach look very smart indeed.

    • Jordan Esco says:

      You wanna see why people are so excited about Charles Walker, go to around the 0:48 second mark (I think).

      Sure, it’s just one snap but he DESTROYED his man. Dude is pushing 300 bills (and is probably the most cut up 300 pounder I’ve ever seen) and you’re just not supposed to be able to move like that at his size.

      • cpearc00 says:

        He’s the guy I’m most looking forward to seeing this year. The fact that he won’t be starting this year just shows how deep we are on the D-line. Glad to see him in action since I haven’t heard much about him in the last few months.

      • Eric Hoffpauir says:

        It’s against a redshirt freshman, but still. He just threw Daimler off like he was a bag of towels.

      • Zack says:

        I think the dline was on alert for perine and ford didn’t see those 2 with a hit stick highlight.

        • Kody K. says:

          True, If Perine or Ford was behind your blocker you might as well just stay blocked.

          • Zack says:

            Yeah I thought jordan wade was about to get lot up in the video but it didn’t look like ford went the right direction to make a move.

  • Malicong says:

    It is not everyday that we lose a commit and no one is all that upset. He sounds like a good kid. Hope he finds a place he can be happy and succeed.

    • Zack says:

      Agreed but I think so many believe whitfield is deserving. I haven’t seen JJ’s fan club leader post since that tweet, Kody I know you’re one of the few who isn’t happy JJ decommitted.

      • Kody K. says:

        Zach, I just knew you’d call me out. Must be the devil in you. And no I’m not happy and you shouldn’t be either as he was a respectable recruit. On the other hand, I’m confident we’ll land a better prospect. Btw, what the heck did he mean “pretending to be happy.” I wonder if his parents or somebody close to him was making him feel forced to be a Sooner. Regardless, if he isn’t happy let him move on. There are so many other talented kids that would treasure an OU offer. We have plenty of time b4 signing day.

        • Zack says:

          I’m indifferent about the decommitment if we miss out on haughton I think I would feel worse but Reid is still out there and if we just offer whitfield even if it’s as linebacker I think he would end up a safety if needed.

          • Sooner Ray says:

            Here’s the thing about recruits and commitments that happens year after year. The coaches know what they need and work hard to get it, we as fans know who we want and bit&h and moan when it doesn’t happen. Bottom line is we are always better off with people who WANT to be Sooners, everyone else can just move along. We will be fine and as Switzer always told recruits, “We will win with or without you”.

  • Krys Allen says:

    Explosion at the :55 second mark in that Oklahoma drill!!!

  • Won says:

    from the USPS today… BOOMER!!!

  • connie usa says:

    AWESOME Video!!!! I’m pumped for the season!!!

  • bjwalker82 says:

    Charles Walker honestly terrifies me. I’m not a person who scares easily but I’d be shaking if he were in front of me on that line.

  • EasTex says:

    In the last drill, who is the DL #87?

    • Zack says:

      Dj ward I think.

      • EasTex says:

        He handled the drill well.

        • Zack says:

          He looks like he might be ready to spell some guys this year and take a big leap next year.

          • EasTex says:

            It would be great if he did, after all the trials and tribulations he has been through for the past three years.

          • Zack says:

            He’s going to have to make a name for himself in the limited time he’s probably going to be given with all the seniors and juniors ahead of him. But he did look like he’s strong enough to play the 4itech

  • Amayetli says:

    Rick DeBerry released his top 8

    pic.twitter.com/YFYa1W8pxI

  • Ed Cotter says:

    Disappointed to see the decommitment, but this may now open a spot for Ykili Ross, if he isn’t fully gung ho on USC. I know he plays CB, but fully capable of playing safety. Hey, a guy can hope. Get him in for an official, we stand a decent chance.

    • Ed Cotter says:

      Also, good luck to JJ in what he ultimately decides on his future school.

    • BoomerDave says:

      I don’t think anyone is too disappointed with this decommitment including the coaches.

      • Ed Cotter says:

        Probably Dave, but I like to see guys that make a commitment stick to it. But if he isn’t happy with his decision then he needs to rethink things. Bottom line though is we want guys that have a burning desire to wear the Crimson and Cream, and if you aren’t all in, then find another school.