Open Post | Tuesday, June 18th
Posted on: June 18, 2019
Fast Five | Sourced Team Notes
– James Hale
*** I’m told Senior defensive tackle Neville Gallimore (6’2, 295) junior linebacker Kenneth Murray (6’2, 239), sophomore defensive end Ronnie Perkins (6’3, 253), junior corner Tre Brown (5’10, 183) and junior Robert Barnes (6’2, 208) have been leaders on defense and are off to great starts this summer.
*** Also hearing youngsters such as defensive lineman Kori Roberson (6’3, 273), cornerback Jeremiah Criddell (5’11, 188) and pass rushers Joseph Wete’ (6’4, 220) and David Ugwoegbu (6’3, 213) are newcomers that have stood out early in camp.
*** Word is that Offensive lineman R.J. Proctor has been a breath of fresh air and it’s easy to tell that he has played a lot of college football already. That battle for playing time at all positions, outside of center, on the offensive line is going to be very interesting in fall camp.
*** To nobodies surprise, I have heard that Sophomore Charleston Rambo (6’1, 180) has been great this summer, really working to take a step forward from his positive finish last season. Rambo will be the main deep threat for OU and the Sooners need him confident and feeling good about his game.
*** As expected, I’ve been told Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts (6’2, 219), Tanner Mordecai (6’2, 208) and Spencer Rattler (6’1, 198) have been great leaders thus far at camp and as Coach Riley continues to say to anybody that will listen he has not named a starting quarterback.
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In The Trenches | 2020 DT Commit Perrion Winfrey
– JY
***I’ve watched Perrion Winfrey’s film a few times now.
***Normally I like to draw a comparison to Sooners who have recently gone through the program. Honestly, over the last 10 or so years, they haven’t had someone quite like him.
***Physically he’s the same size as Gerald McCoy. At 6’4” 305, and a 305 that looks like it was chiseled out of Granite, he’s a different kind of player than the Sooners have had in the middle for going on 10 years.
***In Grinch’s system, I’m excited to see him get turned loose. He’s very quick and doesn’t stay blocked for long.
***If there is a knock on him it’s his hand usage. He’s so strong that he’s been able to get by on his quickness and strength while allowing offensive linemen to get their hands on him.
***As he refines his hand fight technique, look out. Literally, the guy has been dominant, making negative plays all over the place while not using his hands.
***Thibodeau may have landed a guy who can turn the production of the interior around. He’s very similar to Neville Gallimore who I expect to have a monster year in this system.
***The thing is though, Winfrey is two inches taller than Gallimore. I’m excited about him, and if he gets in and works the technique, you could see a guy with all the tools to get drafted very highly.
***There’s not another defensive lineman like him in the big 12 in my opinion.
Updates | Blayne Toll
– Super K
***The situation with 2020 DL Blayne Toll (Hazen, AR) is one we are still trying to get clarity on.
A few weeks ago I spoke with Toll’s mother and she mentioned their plan which was very straightforward. They wanted to make a summer decision so they hoped to take all five official visits before the dead period. The five official visits expected were Arkansas, Oklahoma, Memphis, Tennessee and then possibly Ole Miss.
At that time, the OV to Oklahoma had not been scheduled.
But what I came to realize a little while after that conversation is that Oklahoma is very tight on official visit numbers. In fact, before last week, I believe they only had three remaining. And, Lincoln likes to save one all summer in case a grad transfer candidate pops up. So, in their minds, they only had two.
They used both of those official visits last week on Perrion Winfrey and Tyler Baron.
When I checked in with Blayne’s mother during the early part of June she said the date still hadn’t been set, “We are working on that. Haven’t set a date yet”. So, as of early June, it seems the plan was still to take an official visit in June.
This past Wednesday, as they were beginning their Arkansas official visit, I checked in with Blayne’s mother once again. She said the visit still hadn’t been scheduled.
I asked her if the scheduling issue was coming from the OU side. She said, via text, “A little.”
So my follow up to that question was whether OU might miss the chance to get him on campus before Blayne makes a decision. Her response to that was, “No I don’t that is the case.”
Now that the official visit to Arkansas is over, I’m going to see what more we can find out about where things stand with Blayne visiting. But as of last Wednesday, it seems they still wanted to make a return visit before a decision is made.
However, again, my guess is that the delays are tied to OU’s official visit numbers. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this has left the Toll family feeling a little uncertain about where things stand.
The Latest | Jase McClellan | Just Breathe
– Super K
I know there has been some concern about Sooners 5-star RB commit, Jase McClellan taking an unexpected official visit to Texas this past weekend.
I did have a chance to chat a bit with Jase’s mother and my personal opinion is that this visit was what I had originally suspected and mentioned over the weekend, just Jase taking visits as he said he would all along.
Jase’s mother said, “where things stand is Jase McClellan is committed to OU”.
She continued, “If you notice he is visiting the same schools he has visited repeatedly since he was a freshman, even after committing”.
In the context of what we were chatting about, she seemed to be saying that this visit wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. In other words, he’s been committed and has visited schools before and remained committed after.
My personal read on it was that Jase is just taking visits and I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes more, as he said he would the last time I spoke with him.
Obviously, I can’t know for certain what impact these visits are going to have and they aren’t talking about it in any great detail. But, I don’t think someone stays committed for two years and then takes a trip to a school he’s already been to multiple times and suddenly realizes something he didn’t realize before.
My read could obviously be wrong. But based on the albeit little communication I had with his mother and the circumstances surrounding his commitment, coupled with the fact that Jase has maintained he would take official visits, my personal advise on this one is just breathe and let it play out…
I’ll bring you more if I get it.
Update | 2020 LB Brynden Walker
– Charlie S
Quick note here on 2020 linebacker and Oklahoma State Commit Brynden Walker…
As you know, K has been in touch with Brynden and people around him throughout the Sooners involvement with him and we mentioned that he would be taking a return trip to Stillwater this past weekend.
A couple of you brought a quote from an interview with the OkState 247 site to my attention which implied he reaffirmed his commitment to Oklahoma State following the visit.
I reached out to Walker and asked him directly if that was the case and he said: “I’ve always been pretty firm with Oklahoma State, but right now, I’m just relaxing and taking everything in”.
Heading into the visit he had questions about Oklahoma State which needed to be answered. As K has mentioned, between the two schools, one school has a certain amount of prestige and one offered more comfort at this time.
Comfort level is something that can change over time, the level of prestige is not.
So with that said, Brynden let me know that he plans on getting back to Norman, and he may make it back to Stillwater, prior to the dead period.
In other words, in my opinion, nothing has really changed in his recruitment following the Oklahoma State visit this past weekend and the Sooners remain in the picture with another big bullet left in the chamber with the BBQ coming up in July.
The OU momentum may have been slowed a bit, but they are by no means dead in the water with their pursuit of the 2020 linebacker.
Quick Hitter | 2020 LB Edgerrin Cooper Visiting
– Charlie S
*** As I mentioned earlier this month, 2020 LB Edgerrin Cooper out of Covington, LA., was planning on getting up to Norman prior to the dead period.
At the time, I speculated that his visit may be contingent on Brynden Walker and OU and where things were at in regards to a flip.
Edgerrin hit me up yesterday and let me know he will be in Norman tomorrow, June 18th.
So while OU is still working on Walker, they have also continued to recruit some of their other targets, which is a good thing.
2020 4-Star TE set to Return to OU
– Super K
As you know, Sooners along with Georgia and Ohio State made the final three for 2020 4-star TE, Jalin Conyers.
Conyers is coming off of his official visit to Georgia and he took his official visit to Ohio State last month.
The Sooners have already hosted Conyers on a visit and it looks like they are set to host him for a return visit this week. He tells me he plans on being back in Norman tomorrow (Tuesday).
Getting Conyers back on campus before the dead period is obviously great as Conyers tells me he is looking to make a July decision.
Sooners Commit Brian Darby Heading To Norman
– Charlie S
***Sooners picked up a commitment from 2020 Wide Receiver Brian Darby back on June June 6th following a June 3rd OU satellite camp down in Houston.
Darby will be heading up to Norman for a visit on Wednesday, June 19th. While it will not be his first trip to Norman, he was in town for a game last year, it will obviously mark his first visit as a Sooner commit.
Darby is very excited to get to campus and see some of the things he didn’t have the chance to take in on his previous visit as well as continuing to build his relationship with the entire OU staff.
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