Open Post | Tuesday, July 16th
Posted on: July 16, 2019
Quick Hitters | BBQ | Watts, Ward, & Collins
– Charlie S
Just a couple quick notes here I picked up here as we are compiling our list for the Champ U BBQ…
*** 2020 Sooners defensive back commit Ryan Watts (Little Elm, TX) will not be at the event.
That is because, as I mentioned a month or so ago, he will be in Trinidad & Tobago on vacation seeing some family he has down there.
Wanted to make sure to get that out before people push the panic button. Right now, things feel like they are pretty solid between Watts & Oklahoma.
*** 2020 Offensive lineman Brady Ward (Mobile, AL) told me he plans on making it back up to Norman for the event.
This is notable, in my opinion, as it does point to the idea that the Sooners are leaning towards taking five high school offensive lineman as we have believed to be the case.
As we have mentioned, the Sooners hope for this summer was to lock up Andrew Raym and Jonah Monheim. Raym committed earlier this week and we have mentioned the fact that Mohneim told Super K he also planned on a July commitment to the school of his choice.
Ward planning on coming to the BBQ tells me no matter how things shake out with Monheim, the Sooners are not done along the offensive line.
*** Then you have the case of Sooners 2020 defensive line target Alfred Collins (Bastrop, TX).
I asked him if he planned on being at the BBQ and he replied by asking me what the date of the event was. Once I told him it is July 27th, he indicated that he would try to make it.
Not sure what to make of that as it appears that Alfred was not aware of the specifics but I will check back with him later this week.
Quick Analysis | 2020 OU TE Commit Jalin Conyers
– JY
Hey guys!
Man, it’s hot outside…almost as hot as the Sooners are on the recruiting trail! OU continues to simmer as the summer goes on and they landed a big-time commit as Tight End Jalin Conyers made it official!
*** Jalin Conyers – 6’5” 215 – Tight End
*** One of those classic guys who looks like he isn’t trying very hard, but you watch him outrunning and running over everyone on tape.
*** He’s a very unique prospect as he has several elite tools at his disposal.
*** Probably not a run after the catch tight end on the Sooners roster like him as he has better speed than many tight ends in recent memory.
*** Not a shifty guy but one who can break tackles and take it the distance.
*** Probably very similar speed wise to a Mark Andrews but a better runner if that makes sense.
*** Will be a Swiss Army knife in Riley’s offense.
*** He runs some wildcat Qb for his high school offense, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him lined up anywhere on the field.
*** Like Urban Meyer used Aaron Hernandez with that underneath shovel counter play that killed us in 2008, I can see Riley using him like that as well.
*** He’s definitely a guy they’ll try to run screens with as once he runs over a smaller corner or safety he’ll outrun linebackers for big plays.
*** His hands are elite which is a good thing for his position.
*** This is a great pickup as he had offers from all over from programs like Ohio State and Georgia.
Jalin Conyers | From Small Town to Big Time
– James Hale
Four-star tight end Jalin Conyers (6’4, 220) of Gruver, Texas, gave his long-awaited verbal commitment to the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday bringing the Sooners total to 15 hard commits on the year. For those of you paying attention to such things, OU is now ranked 10th in the 247Sports recruiting rankings.
Conyers was a prime time recruit on the Sooners recruiting board and has always been a major priority and him along with H-back Michael Henderson (6’1 1/2, 234) of Carrollton (Ranchview), Texas, form one of the best duos of big man receivers in the country.
Following his commitment to the Sooners Conyers talked to TFB about his decision.
“I just decided to go ahead and make it public and tell everyone that I had committed there,” said Conyers. “Going through the whole recruiting process, Oklahoma was always high on my list and after going to OU, Georgia and Ohio State and making those three my top three and going on the visits none of them were close to OU.”
“OU stood out to me. The school proximity wise to my family was important and it’s the closest school. I really decided about a week ago and then I decided that I was going to go ahead and do it now. I thought about it for a long time and because those other two schools are high blue blood schools I just kept asking myself where do iI want to be. At the end of the day, OU has the best combination of academics and football and I felt and I just felt Oklahoma has all the boxes checked.”
Under Lincoln Riley OU has one of the best offensive units in the country and that played a big role in Conyers decision to be a Sooner.
“A big thing for me was Mark Andrews winning the Mackey Award in OU’s offense in 2017,” said Conyers. “That showed me that obviously, they’ve had success with tight ends in the past. OU has one, if not the most, high powered offenses in the country. If Jalen Hurts wins the Heisman this year that would be three back-to-back. Then they have had players like Hollywood Brown and they have CeeDee Lamb coming back and Grant Calcaterra.”
“OU has a very high powered offense and they have the best offensive line in the country. They won the Joe Moore Award for that. It wasn’t the most important factor for me but it was definitely a big influence for me knowing that I will be part of one of the most high powered offenses in the country. You can’t beat that.”
Relationships with Sooners coaches also played a big role in Conyers decision to be a Sooner.
“My two best relationships were with Cale Gundy and Lincoln Riley,” said Conyers. “Coach Gundy will be my position coach and I’m so happy with that. He was always straight up with me and he told me how I can help OU win football games and win a national title.”
“Coach Riley is a fun guy and very laid back. He’s always straight forward with me and we always joke around. Not only that but he has a great relationship with my family. He talks to my parents almost every day and not just about football but about what my family is doing. We just have a great relationship with him. He is from Muleshoe and is also from a small town. We bonded because Gruver is a small town and we got along and related very well just from being from small towns in Texas.”
“He told me that he fit in at OU and said that he felt that I would fit in well at OU too. He was telling me that throughout the visit and I ended up thinking that myself, that I fit in very well at OU. So, I have a good relationship with Coach Riley and Coach Gundy.”
If the family was not on board then Conyers would not be a Sooner.
Jalin is one of five children along with Rylan, Quinn, Dax, and Callie and they are a tight-knit group. “My family the most important thing to me in my life,” said Conyers. “My mom (Kimberly) and dad (Corey) have been very active in my recruiting process. I don’t want to say they have been nudging me in any particular order but they would give me their thoughts on what they thought about each school. They would always make sure that the decision I was going to make was going to be my decision. They want it to be only my decision and they did not want to influence it in any way.”
“They were just really active in the recruiting process for me. Not only them but my grandmother and grandpa and aunt are all very close. We all live within close proximity to each other and they are always coming together and coming to games along with the mom and dad, and brothers and sisters. I’m grateful for everything that they did during this recruiting process.”
“In Gruver, growing up and playing football is the thing to do. I mean that’s the thing to do in a small town in Texas and if you are not playing football in Texas you’re not really doing anything important to most people. My family has done everything to help me and have always been there for me.”
If you are a receiver you are always looking for a program that has great quarterbacks and nobody has quarterbacks like Oklahoma.
“The quarterback that I’ve talked to the most in Spencer Rattler,” said Conyers. “He is a big guy and I’ve talked to him throughout the recruiting process. I don’t know if he’s going to play next year or not because I also talked to Tanner Schafer a lot. He is actually from Canadian which is about an hour or two from my hometown. When I was at my old school we actually had to play Canadian. I knew about him and when I went down for my visit we visited with each other and just thought who would have thought that two kids from small-town USA in Texas would be at OU now and planning to win more Big 12 Titles and National Championships.”
“OU has a great quarterback history and they have a chance to get a third straight Heisman Trophy with Jalen Hurts this year. That’s the crazy good thing about this university and this offense. They will be able to get the ball to you as a receiver. It won’t be just me but to all my teammates as well.”
Conyers has been leaning to OU for some time as he has been wearing OU gear around town and at school so it was no secret that he was leaning to the Sooners. All the folks around his hometown are happy for him that he’s going to be a Sooner.
“I would say that everybody is happy for me,” said Conyers. “Of course, there are a couple of people that are Georgia fans or were Ohio State fans kind of saying go there. Then you have fans of Texas schools that were telling me not to go to OU.”
“The Gruver community is huge for me and they have supported me through football, baseball or basketball, whatever I was playing. They have especially supported me through recruiting and of course, they all wanted me to stay close so they could watch me play. That played a little part in my decision but they all said where ever I went that I had to be happy. Then when I decided to go to OU that made them feel better for me.”
“So everything has been positive about me going to OU because everybody is happy for me, even those that didn’t want me to go there. There are some that are saying that they won’t be cheering for the team, but they will be cheering for me. Gruver, no matter who they are rooting for personally, will always be pulling for me.”
Conyers will be the only inside receiver in the class while Henderson is expected to be an H-back in OU’s system.
Jacobe Covington Sets Announcement Date
– Super K
It appears Sooners 2020 DB target, Jacobe Covington has shifted his commitment date back to this fall…
As I mentioned last week, Covington’s mom had informed me that his commitment timeline had moved up and they were hoping to announce before the season.
She said that this would have put Jacobe in a situation where he would have only visited the school he committed to for a game this fall.
That choice likely would’ve been Washington.
However, this new commitment date helps the Sooners. I checked with Covington’s mother last night and she said that with the decision date being moved back to the fall, they will likely visit both Washington and OU for games this season.
As you likely know, Covington has already taken official visits to both Washington and OU so the return visits will be unofficial visits.
Spotlight | 2020 OU Commit | OT Noah Nelson
– Charlie S
Caught up with Sooners 2020 offensive tackle commit Noah Nelson (Gilbert, AZ) recently. Noah was gracious enough to take the time to speak with me about a number of different topics including his family, football history, personal goals, and where things stand between him and OU. Noah committed to the Sooners back on May 13th.
We started the conversation by talking about his family, His father Byron played football at the University of Arizona and was selected in the NFL Draft. His mother, Cathie, younger brother Micah, older brother Daniel, older sisters Kaitlyn and Rachel all form a solid foundation of support for Noah.
Noah began his football career as most kids do as he played flag football early before switching to pads prior to high school. As a youngster, he played along the line on both sides of the ball but when he entered into high school, his coach saw his potential at offensive tackle and had him focus solely on that position. Obviously, it turned out to be a wise decision as he was pursued by division one powerhouse programs from across the country.
As for his high school team this upcoming fall season, Noah said ‘We are pretty young on defense, but our offense is pretty seasoned. Our whole offensive line is seniors and we should lead the charge. We are a pretty big O-line. I would say we are one of the biggest lines in the nation for high school. We have somebody that is my size (Noah is 6’8″ 295 lbs) at right tackle, both of our guards are around 300 and so is our center.”
He went on to say “Our right guard (Cooper Darling) just committed to Oregon State and that was his dream school so once he got it, he wanted to commit right then. I feel great for him.”
We shifted the conversation to touch on his personal goals.
I asked him what his goals were for the upcoming season, his last at the high school level and Noah said, “There are some obvious ones for me like to be more dominant on every play and lead my team as far as I can, but I think a big thing for me is just going out there and enjoying it more.”
“When you’re trying to get offers or you’re trying to figure out what school you want to go to, you focus on going out there and having a spotless performance. Now, I can go out there and have more fun.” He added, “It’s me and my buddies out there playing so I want to enjoy it and when it’s all over, it’s time to get to work for the next step at OU.”
The recruiting process can be a grind and it can take a toll on a young man as he is out there working to secure offers. “When you’re going through the process, you are more focused on what the schools think during a game and what did they see and then you worry if they don’t return calls or the vibe changes.”
Nelson obviously did a lot of things right as Sooners offensive line coach, Bill Bedenbaugh, made him a priority.
“I look at some of the rankings they have on me and there were some things going on in my life which didn’t allow me to make some of the camps that you would need to go to to have the big time ranking which would allow you to go to the big time events.” He added, “I feel like my choice not to attend those camps gave me a bad rap among the ranking services but that was never something I really worried about and especially now since I am committed to Oklahoma.”
Noah is a very intelligent young man and he is not a ‘star chaser’ in terms of the rankings.
“I look back at Creed Humphrey and on one service he was a three-star and now he’s out there killing stuff. Orlando Brown was a three-star and now he’s a starting tackle in the NFL.” He added, “I am very satisfied with how my recruiting process went and I am excited to be a Sooner”.
As the conversation moved forward I asked him if there was a sense of relief that the recruiting process is over for the most part for him.
Noah said, “A lot of schools are respecting my choice. A couple of schools came by after I just committed because they were already planned. Texas came by because they wanted to try and steal me away, USC still hits me up all the time, Alabama came by but at this time USC is really the only other school that hits me up consistently.”
Noah will be making his way back to Norman for the ‘Champ U BBQ’ and he won’t be coming alone.
“My family won’t be making the trip out for the BBQ, but I will be taking the trip out there with Jonah Monheim (2020 OU OL Target).”
As for what is he looking forward to about his return trip, Noah said, ‘Since I have already made my decision as to where I am going to go, now it’s all about building relationships with the commits, players, and staff and taking a more in-depth look at everything OU has to offer me.”
As you most of you know, recruits and commits tend to have group text messages, and this year is no different. I asked Noah if the OL guys have their own group and he said: “Yes sir (chuckling).” He added “We have a group called OU 2020” I didn’t ask him for the names in there, but it is safe to say, Noah, Nate, and Andrew are not the only names in the group.
As we were wrapping up, I asked him for his thoughts on how he views his relationship with Bedenbaugh and Riley.
On Bedenbaugh, Noah said, “He shoots me straight and he’s the best in the business. It’s a great combination with what I have skill wise and his developmental abilities to teach me what I need to do.” He continued by saying “my mom is sitting here saying that she loves Coach Bedenbaugh, he’s in constant communication with us”.
On Riley Noah stated, “I haven’t had a situation where I have needed to talk to him about things outside of football, but I definitely know I can and that is a really attractive quality about coach Riley”.
The last thing we touched on was whether he would be enrolling early or if he planned on completely taking in his senior year of high school.
Noah said, “Some of the other guys in the group chat, like Andrew and Nate, I kind of talked them into graduating early so we can get some extra time in and hopefully be over prepared once fall camp rolls around next year”.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about Noah and his family, He is a very bright and engaging young man who has a good head on his shoulders and a great family foundation.
I picked up a strong sense of leadership from Noah as well and that will be a tremendous asset not only to him but to the Sooner program going forward.
Quick Hitters | Champ U BBQ Notes
– Charlie S
Ok just a taste of the list we are working on for the Champ U BBQ on the 27th…
***As you know if you read the Noah Nelson piece this morning, Sooners 2020 offensive line target Jonah Monheim (Moorpark, CA) is expected to be in. We will confirm that with him as we go here, but no reason to doubt that the visit is going to happen.
***Touched base with 2021 Athlete AJ Green (Tulsa, OK) who let me know he plans on being in attendance for the event as well.
***Also was in touch with 2021 WR Latrell Neville (Missouri City, TX) who confirmed he plans on making the trip up to Norman for the BBQ.
***Some other names we have recently confirmed for the BBQ are:
2020 OL Noah Nelson (OU Commit)
2020 OL Nate Anderson (OU Commit)
2020 OL Andrew Raym (OU Commit)
2020 RB Seth McGowan (OU Commit)
2020 WR Brian Darby (OU Commit)
2020 LB Brynden Walker (OU Commit)
2020 ATH Davon Graham (OU Commit)
2020 LB Edgerrin Cooper (OU Commit) *Possible
2020 TE Jalin Conyers (OU Commit)
2020 ATH Mikey Henderson (OU Commit)
***This is by no means our complete list…do not panic…just some of the names we have confirmed at this point…there are a lot of ‘Maybe’s’ and ‘Possibly’s’ out there***
Big 12 Media Day | Michael Thompson to Remain on Offense
– Charlie S
James got it from the head coach himself…
Big 12 Media Day | Sooners
– Charlie S
James is down at the event and I will grab some quotes as Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley takes the podium…
***Lot of great memories in this building
***Great time of year, signifies new beginnings
***Lot’s of new faces, really excited about
***New mentality new scheme, very excited, very eager to play
***New faces on offense with new QB and new OL, return quite a few skill guys.
***On Kennedy Brooks: “Kennedy was reinstated late last week. Back full go. I was not involved at all, not updated at all during the process”
***On Defense: “I think for us it was first in spring football getting a baseline. More importantly, getting a baseline on how we want to play.”
***Spent spring educating the defense on what they need to do…physically and mentally. Very hungry group.
***Riley says OU hasn’t consistently played great defense over the last few years but have shown up in some big games, including the last one in this stadium.
***Riley on Jalen Hurts – “He’s eager. There’s been things that we do where he’s been able to trace back to what he’s done at Alabama or high school. He’s a really smart kid. Eager and worked hard at it.”
***On the offense – “We don’t plan on the offense dipping.”
***On Dallas area in recruiting – “It’s a critical area for us and has been historically and maybe much more in the last few years. It’s almost our second home. You have the state of Oklahoma and the Metroplex.”
***On the first game against Houston – “Houston is a really good football team and has been a really good program for the last several years. I’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Holgersen. We worked together for a long time. It’ll be a tough opener for us.
***On expectations – Riley says the high expectations of Oklahoma football are a positive. It helps the team focus each offseason.
***On Targeting – He’s a fan of the intent of the targeting rule. But he hasn’t been a fan of how severe the penalties have been. Says there needs to be an emphasis on protecting players, however, can’t be “reckless” with ejections.
***On Austin Kendall – Always going to let Austin Kendall go to West Virginia, Said he had a concern with Kendall being allowed to play right away. Personal relationship he had with Kendall led him to not fight Kendall’s eligibility.
***On Big 12 being viewed as an offensive league – Riley says there will always be good offenses in the Big 12, but that the league will continue to evolve.
That’s it for Riley at the podium!
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