Open Post | Tuesday, April 28th
Posted on: April 28, 2020
Sooners Turning It Up | Virtual Tours Coming
– Charlie S
*** Over the last couple of weeks, we have talked about the Sooners staff shifting their focus to virtual tours.
*** With the lack of in-person visits being able to take place due to the pandemic, the OU staff is paying attention to details…big and small.
*** We will obviously be tracking recruits who take the visits and checking in with them following their experience.
*** We have confirmed several recruits who are slated to take the tour in the near future, such as DL Kelvin Gilliam, LB Danny Stutsman, EDGE Clayton Smith, DB Tommi Hill, and we will be working on confirming more names this week.
Quick Hitters | More Virtual Visitors
– Charlie S
*** Heard back from 2021 DB Donovan McMillion (6’2″ 195) out of Canonsburg, PA who let me know that he will be taking the virtual tour this week as well. Not exactly sure which day yet, but he is in the process of finalizing the day and time.
McMillon could turn into a guy to keep an eye on for OU as he has expressed some serious interest in the Sooners. I would expect him to physically visit Norman when allowed.
*** James also mentioned that 2021 QB Caleb Williams is supposed to be taking in the virtual experience this week as well. As you know, Willimas is the top QB on the Sooners list and he has already visited Norman on numerous occasions.
You also likely saw the tweet Williams put out late last week which stated that he plans on cutting his list down once again very soon.
As we have been saying all along, he has his plan and we feel good where OU is at in that recruitment.
Snippet from: Monday Notebook | WR Depth, Post Draft Talk & Roundball Roundup
– James Hale
Ready to make their marks
*** Things could not have come off better for Lamb who was expected to go somewhere between nine and 13 in the draft only to fall to his home state Cowboys at 17. Lamb immediately is no worse than the third receiver on a loaded Cowboys offense but more than likely the second receiver on a team that had two 1,000 yard receives last year in Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup.
The Cowboys have asked Lamb to wear number 88 after Hall of Famer Michael Irvin but the gregarious Lamb said he will number 10 in Dallas.
“I’m very thrilled for CeeDee and his family,” said OU head coach Lincoln Riley. “I’ve been there with him since day one and remember watching him when he was a sophomore in high school. The progression he’s made since then and the impact he made on the OU program and our university is just absolutely tremendous. Really excited for him here at the next level with the Cowboys. I think he’s got a great chance to have a long and very prosperous career.”
OU always preaches that their program is built on family and love for one another and that was never more evident when Lamb called his position coach Dennis Simmons following the draft.
*** The Chargers traded up, giving up both second-day picks, to get Murray. That worked out great for him because he should slide right in and be the starting MIKE backer for LA when they play in the new SoFi Stadium next season.
“I’m emotional,” Murray said after he was selected. “Obviously, this is a huge goal that I’ve wanted to accomplish since I was a kid. Coming to Oklahoma, I wanted to leave a mark on the defensive side of the ballad was able to do that. It’s just a lot of emotions right now. It’s just a lot of emotions right now. I’m just happy that I was able to do it, but honestly, this is just the beginning.”
“I had a meeting with them at the NFL combine and I thought it went well. Obviously, it went pretty good because they decided to come get me. I feel like it’s the perfect situation for me and I”m excited.”
Murray was a three-year starter and team captain for two years at OU and the fact he went in the first round of this draft and will mean a lot to program in the future.
“Kenneth has been a great leader for us, a starter from day one,” said Coach Riley. “He was one of the most influential and active players we’ve ever had in terms of off-the-field activities and has just been a great all-around Sooner. He’s also a tremendous example of the progress of ‘Speed D’ and we look forward to him have a great career and becoming an instant-impact player with the Chargers.”
*** For Hurts up to this point he has done everything right and make-no-mistake about it he worked his way into the second round of the NFL Draft. When he was a freshman at Alabama I thought he was a great college quarterback but I never thought he would be a high draft NFL pick. Hurts worked on his game his last year at Alabama and then made the best decision of his life in choosing to come to OU as a grad transfer to work with quarterback whisperer Lincoln Riley.
That move paid off as Lincoln Riley improved Hurts as a passing quarterback by leaps and bounds and Hurts put the work in an offense that knows how to showcase a quarterback.
I’m happy for Hurts that he went in the second round but I don’t like where he went. I have nothing against the Eagles but in Philadelphia, they have a franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz. The Eagles like Wentz so much that they recently gave him a four-year contract worth $128M with $107M guaranteed. Considering Philadelphia needed a wide receiver or a linebacker nobody expected the Eagles to go quarterback there in the second round but they did in Hurts.
Hurts was incredibly happy he went that high to the Eagles but I heard he was shocked as he said he had not dealt that much with Philadelphia throughout the draft process. Normally teams don’t draft a backup quarterback that high unless they feel they really need a quarterback but Wentz has been injury-prone thus far in his career and maybe that has spooked the Eagles. It was Nick Foles that led the Eagles to their Super Bowl Champ in 2018 and not Wentz who tore an ACL and LCL in December of the 2017 season leaving the QB duties to Foles. Then in December of 2018 Wentz was suffering from back spasms that shut him down again in December. The Eagles were struggling under Wentz but once again Foles came through for the Eagles rallying the team into the playoffs where they lost in the second round to Green Bay.
The Eagles wanted to pick up Foles option for 2019 at $20M but he bought his way out of Philadelphia for $2M to become a free agent. It worked out for Foles as he signed a four-year $88M contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. On the field that wasn’t going so well for Foles as he suffered a broken collarbone and Jacksonville has already moved on from him trading him to the Chicago Bears as the Jags decided to go with former Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew.
So, you never know in the crazy world of the NFL and Hurts can go into training camp and show that he can play then maybe things work out for him, but if Wentz establishes that he is healthy then Hurts will have to learn the NFL as a backup QB and that’s not easy to do. All your reps come in practice and if Wentz is healthy those are somewhat limited and you basically carry a clipboard and try as hard as you can to stay engaged in the game on the sideline. If Hurts gets into a few games he has to hit in those games and if he doesn’t then when his four years are up he has to hope he still gets a second contract with another team or you have to hope that you have impressed the Eagles enough that they want to sign you to a second contact instead of the starter.
Hurts will still get good money as he will sign a contract for close to $9M million dollars and get around $3M signing bonus. So, being a backup quarterback is not bad work if you can get it but Hurts competitive drive is so strong if he ever wants to get big NFL money he will have to somehow get to his second contract with his rep still intact and teams willing to sign him to as their starting QB
*** Neville Gallimore thought he would go higher but in many ways, he went right where people expected by landing in Dallas where he will play with former Sooner great and NFL All-Pro Gerald McCoy and the Dallas Cowboys.
