Open Post | Tuesday, December 20th
Posted on: December 20, 2022
What the Defensive Class Looks Like | Final Stretch
– Charlie S – Posted on: December 20, 2022
Let’s take a look at the potential Sooners Defensive signing class…
Interior defensive line – The Sooners have commitments from Derrick LeBlanc, Ashton Sanders, and Jacob Lacey (ND transfer) and they are looking to take one more, hoping to land Markus Strong who visited last week – (who we have heard stands around 6’2.5 not more than 6’3). This is what you have to do, you have to develop HS kids instead of stop gapping it with JUCO and transfers. Based on where it’s been, this is a good infusion of young talent for the Sooners, now it’s time to develop them. Strong would round the class off as a nice addition of potential.
Defensive Ends – OU was feeling good about Akana last week, we don’t know if anything has changed but when it’s this late in the game, you’re not hearing anything of substance ahead of signing day. Akana did make a couple visits this week to some NIL 5 stars in Louisville and Colorado and Texas is continuing to push. In terms of potential, PJ Adebawore, Taylor Wein and the potential addition of Akana, this is a very good haul. Add in the transfer of Dasan McCullough and this haul is ridiculous. You look at what they have done over the last two cycles with R Mason Thomas and Gracen Halton, and you can see OU has upgraded their talent rapidly.
Linebacker – Three dudes that will absolutely destroy you. OU has commitments from Sammy Omisigho, Lewis Carter, and Phil Picciotti and all three guys can blow you up coming downhill and two of the kids will be able to play well in space off the rip. They continue to upgrade the athleticism in the room and OU looks to have put together back to back very good classes.
Corners – Per a source, OU is trying to have the biggest and fastest corners in the country. They certainly look like they are trying to do that with Vickers and Johnson on the back of Jayden Rowe. They project Jasiah Wagoner as a swing guy who can play outside or inside and while he is not that big guy, he is uber twitchy and you can play him in multiple spots. The Sooners also added JUCO Kendel Dolby who can play multiple spots and is a really nice pickup. Very nice class.
Safety – You can’t talk about this room without talking about Peyton Bowen. Right now you have Erik McCarty and Daeh McCullough committed. You are waiting on Peyton Bowen to make his move from Notre Dame to Oklahoma. Again, we expect that to happen, but this late in the game you’re not getting any news until there is news and we aren’t going to write hourly updates on it just to write them. The view of this class will be determined by the fact of Bowen signing with OU or not. While we expect OU to be the destination, not gonna lie, we have seen strange things happen as David Hicks was telling OU he was coming an hour before he committed to Texas A&M and OU didn’t find out it wasn’t going their way until 15 minutes before he announced. The outlook on this group will be determined by what Bowen does.
What the Offensive Class Looks Like | Final Stretch
– Charlie S – Posted on: December 20, 2022
Lets take a look at the potential offensive signing class for Oklahoma…
Quarterback – You cannot get any better than what the Sooners have in Jackson Arnold. Simply put, this is an outstanding get for Lebby and it has been quite remarkable how solid Arnold has been to OU throughout a rough season on the field for the program while being approached by many programs flush with NIL money. Massive win for OU.
Running back – DeMarco Murray will add Daylan Smothers and Kalib Hikcs to his room. Solid class to follow last years addition of Jovantae Barnes and Gavin Sawchuk from the high school ranks. We have told you about communication with LJ Johnson (A&M Transfer) but nothing has come from that to this point for OU and I’m not sure anything necessarily will arise there, but this is another nice class for Murray and Oklahoma. Smothers is a guy who likely will push for time in the rotation and Hicks has a skill set that looks to be tailored for the OU offense.
Tight End – Joe Jon Finely picked up a commit from Kade Mcintyre and added Austin Stogner back to the roster following his one year at South Carolina. Nice additions to the roster and OU will have four tight ends on scholarship heading into the spring as Jason Llewellyn and Kaden Helms joined the program last year. I would like to see them potentially add one more experienced player, and we know they have kicked the tires on several TEs in the portal, but so far, it looks like that has yet to be determined.
Wide Receivers – This is one where the less I say the better it probably is overall, but OU does add a very nice duo of pass catchers in Jacquaize Pettaway and Keyon Brown. Both of these guys bring speed, which OU desperately needs. Right now, OU has not added any transfers, but they did host Tre Harris (La Tech) this weekend and we have reported that OU feels good about their chances there. My issue with this group is that they left a lot of meat on the bone and are playing heavily in the ‘IF” game. What I mean by that is…IF Marvin Mims returns, IF Tre Harris signs, IF Drake Stoops returns, IF the young guys from last year develop (1 catch between Gibson and Anderson this year)…if all those ‘IF’s’ turn out to be positive for OU, they should be fine…if they turn out to go against OU…lookout. For that reason I wish OU had closed on another HS receiver or been a bit more aggressive in the portal here early on as I feel like OU needs all three of those ‘if’s’ to end positively for the Sooners in order to have a good room next year.
Offensive line – Very nice class as Bedenbaugh is bringing in Logan Howland and Heath Ozaeta to start their careers at tackles and Josh Bates to start at center. The big fish is Cayden Green who is enrolling early and you hope he will immediately push for a spot in the two deep. Green is a guy who can play anywhere along the line and his talent will have him flashing throughout the spring and into the summer and fall camp. Bates is also an early enrollee and that’s always a bonus, particularly for offensive linemen. Would like to see the Sooners bring in an experienced tackle from the portal to push the guys they have on campus.
Quick-Hitter | Alton Tarber
– Super K – Posted on: December 16, 2022
Just wanted to pass on a quick note for those of you who are wondering what lead to Alton Tarber entering the portal. I checked in with a source close to Tarber and was told that it basically was a home sickness issue.
It happens.
Quick Hitters | Tease and Ford
– Charlie S – Posted on: December 19, 2022
Just wanted to pass along a few notes from today’s events…
***First, Oklahoma State transfer DE Trace Ford announced on Twitter that he is done with his recruiting process. Ford visited Auburn, OU and USC. I have reached out to Ford himself and haven’t heard back to this point to get a sense of where things stand following his visit out west, but I do know he enjoyed his visit to OU and I had them ahead of Auburn. Source I touched base with a few minutes ago believed OU is in as good of a spot as they want to be, but not sure how strong of a threat USC is. Will update if we get anything to add prior to his announcement.
Update: USC appears to have made a big impression and they have a lot of momentum.
***Second, as many of you saw, ’23 WR Micah Tease publicly decommitted from Arkansas earlier today. As we have steadily reported, we do not believe OU is a player in this one as they have not been pushing for Tease at the receiver spot.
DJ Hicks | Update
– Super K – Posted on: December 19, 2022
I’ll keep this short and to the point. I checked in with DJ Hicks following the Sooners in-home visit with him.
Hicks told me he’s solid to Texas A&M for now. He did add the “for now.” I’m not sure if that leaves a crack open but it’s continuing to look less and less likely.
Second place didn’t use to matter but with the transfer portal, it does.
Team Note | Bowl Personnel
– Charlie S – Posted on: December 19, 2022
Ok, as I sit here and catch up from a day of playing hooky…just spoke to James and can confirm that OL Brey Walker and DT Josh Ellison are practicing and on the roster to play in the bowl game. They are still currently in the portal and right now, I have not confirmed what their intentions are going forward.
New wide receiver DJ Graham is wearing number 81 and running back Emeka Megwa is practicing, but we do not know his status or availability in regard to actually playing in the game.
On another note, with Eric Gray heading to the pros, Marcus Major is still injured and Jalil Farooq is getting some reps at running back.
