Open Post | Monday, August 13th By: TFB Posted on: August 13, 2018

Quick Hitter | 2020 DB Update
– Charlie S

– Back in May, the Sooners offered 2020 defensive back Miles Brooks out of Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville (FL).

As we reported at the time, Brooks was very excited about receiving the offer from the Sooners and in particular, Coach Cooks.

“Coach Cooks is in on some top DB talent, it’s pretty nice that he thinks this highly of me (to offer)”. He added “Coach Cooks has a lot of experience coaching, and playing, which is always good. I know he definitely knows what he’s talking about and is a great teacher”.

I reached out to Miles recently to see where things stand in regards to he and OU at this point, kind of checking to see if the excitement or communication had waned a bit, which would not be unusual.

Brooks said, “The communication has been good! I talk with Coach Cooks a lot”. He went on to say “We are trying to set up a visit for sometime during the season.”

If you recall (or read the linked thread above) OU offered Brooks and his teammate and fellow defensive back Fred Davis on the same day.

This is all very good news for Sooner fans as it indicates that the OU staff is continuing to focus their efforts in the Sunshine State where they have scored some very big wins on the recruiting trail of late.

I asked him which other schools are recruiting him pretty aggressively right now and he said, “Florida, Alabama, Miami, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech”. So, the Sooners will have a battle on their hands for the talented defensive back but it is obvious that they are keeping their focus on the ’20 class while wrapping up the ’19 class.

I will continue to check in with Brooks, and Davis for that matter, from time to time and bring you any news of a planned visit.

 

 

Quick-Hitters | Fall Camp, New OL Official Visitor & More
– Super K

A few notes from the past couple days of practice…

***Offense, in general is finding their rhythm. Was told offense won the day Friday but again overall good competition.

***Was told that yesterday was “pretty even” with a slight edge to the defense. Was told defense dominated the first half of team period and the offense dominated the second half.

***INTs this weekend came from Kenneth Murray and Robert Barnes. Also, told that Parnell Motley had a couple INTs as well. Apparently Motley was a desolate island for receivers, yesterday. “Didn’t allow a catch all day”.

***You’ll recall, James mentioned on Thursday that Brayden Willis had been banged up during camp. As I said, that was something I hadn’t heard. I was able to confirm that earlier this weekend. Was told he was indeed injured but came back yesterday.

 

***New Official Visitor | Name to Know: JUCO OT, Finley Felix (Coffeyville CC) picked up a Sooners offer back in May. He tells me that he will take an official visit to Oklahoma on September 22nd for the Army game.

In the process of founding out more about Finley. As a reminder, Sooners are still in the running for JUCO OT Anthony Whigan who tells us he still plans to officially visit OU despite his recent Penn State commitment.

Again, we hope to have more on Felix, shortly.

 

***As you all know 2019 OT, Jonah Tauanu’u committed to Oregon the other night. Jonah was scheduled to visit OU for the Bedlam game and I would surmise that will still happen but I’m waiting on confirmation. His mother did say after his commitment that it was a “bittersweet moment”. As we previously noted, she was very much pushing for Jonah to not only take his time with things but she also very much seemed to like Oklahoma.

Although it may not seem ideal for Sooner fans, I actually think this may signal that the Sooners have a better chance than I originally expected.

How so?

Because Jonah grew up a lifelong USC fan. It’s his home state/city school. It seemed almost like a forgone conclusion that he’d end up there. USC has some built in advantages for kids in that area. Oregon? Not as much. So, if the Sooners get Jonah back on campus for an official, I like their chances better than I did when it seemed they were going to have to contend with USC.

Also, Jonah would still be close to family as his mother has said she plans to move nearby wherever Jonah decides to go to school. If it happens to be Oklahoma, she mentioned Frisco, TX as a possible spot she’d look into. Babe’s Chicken all day errrday! Ammirite?

Again, we’ll work to confirm whether Jonah plans to go ahead with his official visits.

 

 

Offense Finding a Rhythm | Fall Camp Notes | Fast Five
By: Super K

Below you will find our “Fast Five” sourced notes from the most recent practice.

If you would like to read a ton of additional detailed sourced camp notes, please click this Donor Link!

***Was told that earlier in the camp the offense was having a pretty rough go against the defense. Source said that began to change on Tuesday, just before the Wednesday break. This particular source surmised that Murray and Kendall splitting so many first-team reps may have been one of the causes of the sluggishness on offense.

***Last week I mentioned that a source told us Rambo lacks consistency and he needs to put together, “sooner rather than later”. I pressed a second source on one exactly that might mean. Here’s what I was told, “Rambo can be really good but he seems to be holding himself back a bit. Sometimes he’s just doing the minimum outside of practice. On the field it’ll show. He has the talent so when he makes plays they’re really big plays. But he’ll make a mistake on a simple thing. For example. he’ll catch a well-defended curl and explode upfield for a big play and then he’ll get a wide open curl and drop it”.

***I was told that young Jaylon Robinson is making a lot of plays in the second wide receiver group. He’s inside right now. We’ll see if they take a look at him outside as well. OU doesn’t have a problem letting their little fast guys get outside and run!

***Some of you had also asked about some of the rotation stuff regarding the first group of wide receivers. On one side, in the first group, I’m told you’ve got CeeDee (of course) and behind him is AD Miller. I’m told that behind Miller is freshman, Jaquayln Crawford.

On the other side you’ve got Hollywood (of course) and behind him is Rambo. Again, that’s first group. Like I said, don’t be surprised if the pull Robinson up in that first group and maybe bump him outside behind Hollywood and Rambo. We’ll see.

***One other thing. To correct something, I’m told that Dru Samia would not be the backup tackle should one of them go down. As of right now, it sounds like he would be Quinn Mittermeier. There was some thought that Adrian Ealy would also be bumped up to the “A group” but I cannot confirm if that has happened just yet.