Open Post | Thursday, July 6th
Posted on: July 6, 2017
– Starrland Baldwin: As many of you may know, I went to the Pylon 7 on 7 Nationals a couple of weeks ago. While there, I got to watch several Sooners commits up close and in person. I have covered everyone except Sooners cornerback commit Starrland Baldwin.
One of the things I noticed while watching Baldwin is how long he is. Not just in height, where Baldwin is listed (albeit incorrect) at 5’10′. To me, Baldwin stood at a good 6′. Height is a good thing, but it’s his long arms that will catch your attention from the start. If you have long arms, it gives distinct advantages in coverage. Long arms allow you to press much easier, but they also allow you to keep your hands on the receiver a lot easier as well. I got to see just that with Baldwin at the 7 on 7 Nationals.
Another thing I noticed was his physicality. Baldwin plays with an edge. It’s all well and good to have long arms, body length and speed, but if you don’t have a physical presence to you, you definitely are wasting your physical gifts. Baldwin has that physicality, and uses his length to his advantage. He presses using his long arms, but it’s his physical prowess that makes his punch on the line devastating to the opposing wide receiver. I saw it over and over where Baldwin used his length, strength, and physical mentality to overwhelm many of the players there a couple of weekends ago. These players he was manhandling weren’t your average players, either. Every player at that 7 on 7 nationals is going to play at the next level. It’s really hard to put into words, but I told K that Baldwin was the one guy I came into with questions and walked away thinking OU got something that could be very special.
Lastly, Baldwin has great feet and a good football IQ. I know this because, as well as Baldwin performed in press man, he was just as good in zone. There you saw Baldwin use his physicality in bumping receivers off their routes. He also plays through the receiver. The reason this was impressive to me is because they weren’t in pads; that didn’t matter to Baldwin at all. It caused receivers to think about where he was during their routes while trying to catch passes. That, in itself, is an asset to a defense.
Baldwin brings a lot to the table for Oklahoma. He is known as a tireless worker and plays with an edge that isn’t taught. He is all smiles and joking while off the field, but the second he gets between the lines I noticed a different guy. If he continues to progress during his senior year, Oklahoma could have another defensive back that vies for playing time early on in his freshman year. All in all, I came away pleasantly surprised with Baldwin, considering that I came into that tournament with the perception that he was raw and needed trained up. Of course, he needs to continue to work on his feet, strength, and grasp of some defensive philosophy, but Baldwin has a high ceiling that Kerry Cooks will definitely enjoy having in Norman come the 2018 season. – (Brandon)
– Defensive Back Recruiting: Being that it is a dead period, I wanted to quickly go through players that Oklahoma is still pursuing. I will give you two guys today and update some guys at each position the rest of the week.
The first, obviously, is instate star Joshua Proctor. Proctor has been committed to Ohio State since the spring and keeps to himself. TFB has spoken to several sources and we are told that Proctor is still expected to be on campus sometime this summer. Our guess for that visit is the BBQ, which is what the Sooners staff is pushing for. Also, we would not be surprised to see Proctor making an earlier trip to Norman in the near future. I know that several commits that Proctor is close with have been pushing the 2018 Owasso (OK) safety very hard. One to watch for sure.
Jaiden Woodbey is another Buckeye commit that Sooners defensive back coach, Kerry Cooks, is pushing hard. Woodbey came out publicly and stated he was 100% Buckeye a couple of weeks ago. Afterwards, he vowed to stay off twitter till the season. Woodbey hasn’t been real active besides a lot of retweeting as of late. This one is getting harder to see, but his close friend, and OU commit, TJ Pledger is pushing Woodbey to join him in Norman still. If Woodbey does make it to Norman for the BBQ in late July, things could get interesting. This is definitely another one I would watch closely. – (Brandon)
