The Football Brainiacs

Player Profile

Position: Defensive End

Height: 6’4″

Weight: 273

Class: Junior

Seasons at OU: 2

Hometown: Antioch, TN

The Path to Norman

Reggie Grimes, whose father is a former Alabama defensive lineman, played high school ball in Tennessee. He began receiving major offers from big programs, but didn’t have much interaction with OU until later in the process. He visited Norman in October, 2019, after which TFB’s Super K went to see him. K came away impressed:

Grinch on a mission to add more speed to his Speed D…#Sooners hosted Ravenwood HS (TN) 4-star DE, Reggie Grimes, this past weekend.

6’4 240 lbs
SPARQ verified 40 = 4.58
SPARQ verified shuttle = 4.25@iamreggiegrimes sees opportunity to help #OU continue to rebuild their D. pic.twitter.com/v8DR3SscMT

— Super K (@SuperK_TFB) October 22, 2019

Not long after that visit, the Sooners got a Thanksgiving day Boom.

@Hayesfawcett3 @CoachThibbs pic.twitter.com/64I20RQQ14

— Reggie Grimes II (@iamreggiegrimes) November 28, 2019

Career so Far

Grimes started playing right away his freshman season. Without a normal offseason, he didn’t have much time to prepare; he still played in eight games on the season, looking good in the snaps he received.

In 2021, Grimes became a much larger piece of the defense. He played in every game, earning five starts and often seeing snaps at key moments. Grimes’ athletic ability was evident for all to see on a defensive front that included several NFL draft picks. The defensive end also earned Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honors for the season.

Stats

Years: 2021 | 2020 | Career

Games Played: 13 | 8 | 21

Tackles: 18 | 5 | 23

TFL: 2.5 | 1 | 3.5

Sacks: 2 | 1 | 3

Stats via Soonersports.com

Highlights

What a move by Reggie Grimes. 😮#SpeedD x @iamreggiegrimes pic.twitter.com/TD7ZfHNVfp

— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) September 4, 2021

Reggie Grimes (@iamreggiegrimes) with a big time effort play here as he gets his paw on the ball against TCU.

But did he take a potential Pick-Six from DaShaun White (@Demoeto) 🧐 pic.twitter.com/V2lit5OzCb

— Charlie (@CharlieS_TFB) October 20, 2021

This Season

The 2022 Sooners defensive front will look almost entirely different following several NFL departures and a new coaching staff. Grimes will hold down one defensive end spot with Ethan Downs manning the other. The offseason has carried nothing but positive word on Grimes, with predictions that he could be looking at a breakout season and continue developing into a future NFL pick. Sooner fans can’t wait to see what he can do in 2022.