LB Devante Bond Commits to Oklahoma
Posted on: November 18, 2013
Great work by Bob Przybylo over at Scout.com for uncovering Devante Bond’s commitment. As you’ll recall we told y’all last week that we had heard really good things: https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/?p=975
This is a big time pick up. The last we heard is that he will play the role of the “Jack” LB which is Eric Strikers current role. As we’ve noted, lately they have expanded Strikers role significantly and he continues to grow and impress in his coverage skills. Having Devante may allow us to put him, another elite pass rusher but with a bigger body, in Strikers role and then move Striker around in both coverage and blitzes. You may have noted that during the Baylor game they kicked Tapper out to the loose 7 on passing downs and let Striker blitz up the middle. Devante frees up what we can do with Striker and gives us more beef in run support on the edge and ensures that there are at least two major points of pressure against the opposing offense.
If Devante ends up as a good a pass rusher as we think he can be; he’s going to add a ton of flexibility to the defense.
Huge news for the Sooner!
18 Comments
OU is rolling. Big, athletic players on D. Can’t have too many.
So true. They’re finding the “right” guys, in every sense of the word.
Any chance Striker moves into Julian Wilson’s role in the nickle to keep bulk in defending the run?
That’s an intriguing idea and definitely something we’ve talked about. We’re going to be paying attention to that kind of thing in the spring. We should be able to give y’all some really good info in the offseason.
I think he’ll take Nelson’s role. He’s been taking on more responsibility lately and evolving into a complete backer
Yeah, I felt if Striker hones his coverage skills, then he’ll be a nightmare for defenses trying to figure out where he is and what he’s going to do. And, I’ve been pleased with how his ability to recognize and play coverage is coming along.
Big ceiling for this kid.
I agree Billy.
Contrary to all the doom and gloomers, this 2014 class is really beginning to break loose. I’m more interested and trust the final Brainiac rating of this class than anyone else’s.
Me too. No way commercial recruiting agencies can evaluate every high school player and come out with a consistently accurate rating. Add to the fact most of these guys are still growing and developing, and I’ll take the expertise of the guys actually studying the players OU is looking at, as opposed to what some site assumes based on a game during a kid’s sophomore or junior year.
The problems with those “evaluation” sites runs even deeper than that. It’s one thing if they were actually sitting down and evaluating some tape on these kids and giving an unbiased opinion. That’s not what’s happening in a lot of cases. There’s a lot to the story and was part of the reason we even started this site. Perhaps we will write a post about it sometime down the road. And our issues with the corporate sites shouldn’t be confused with us having issues with the local guys that work those sites because those guys aren’t the “evaluators”. They just worked to provide fans with great information.
Love your analysis, been over this week finally. Tried to comment last night but wouldn’t work for some reason.
Thanks Alex! Glad you got it working. If you ever had any issues with it feel free to email us
Cary – I completely agree. I have no clue how people can look at this class and not like it.
Super K
I can’t wait for this class to be inked and you guys give your final ranking and analysis in comparison to others nationally and in the Big XII.
For an idea of how productive Bond was at JUCO last year, playing an outside LB position he had 27 Tackles for Loss, and 17 Sacks.
wow. too nice.
Do you guys think OU goes after a couple more LBs? Still have Jonathon Willis out there, that we all like, and the newest offer, Jonathon Thomas. Or has Bond taken the spot(s) those two would fill? Anyone else, realistically, like Miclisse or D.Williams? And love your breakdowns. This has become my ‘go to’ site. We’ll see how it all turns out.
We’re going to be looking at the LB situation shortly. We do have a note on Miclisse coming later today. I know J Willis hasn’t heard from OU yet and with Devante Bond in the fold it looks less and less likely. Jonathan Thomas has grade issues that he’s been working to rectify. His coach told us it’s a “crap shoot”. He’s definitely doing better in school but they’ll know for sure how things look at the end of this semester. He’s a smart kid just wasn’t taking school as seriously when he was younger.
And thanks for the kind compliment! 🙂