Open Post | Tuesday, June 9th
Posted on: June 9, 2020
Quick Hitter | Caleb Williams Announces Decision Date
– Charlie S
As I mentioned was likely in the comments on James’ thread this morning, Sooners top target at quarterback, Caleb Williams, has announced his intended commitment date in his new blog.
The date…July 4th…surprise, surprise huh?
(We have been mentioning the fourth of July as the likely date since late April)
Caleb had a plan, he has stuck to the plan, and now will announce his commitment on the date which he had planned…all along.
We still feel very good about where things stand between he and OU.
You can find his full blog in the link of the tweet below…
The Latest | 2022 Offensive Lineman Devon Campbell
– Darius Terrell
The pieces are still falling into place for top programs across the country trying to assemble their Offensive Line classes for 2021, but 2022 Arlington (Bowie) Offensive Lineman Devon Campbell is good enough that he deserves our attention right now.
I was able to connect with the 6’3 275lb 5-Star prospect earlier in the week to get some background on himself and his thoughts on what will be important during his recruitment. While talking to Devon, I was intrigued to find out that Campbell was still relatively new to the game.
“I started playing football when I was in 5th Grade. 11 years old. I’d say that my favorite part of playing the game is hearing the energy of the crowd and feeding off of the intensity of my teammates and coaches. Everybody gets hyped up.”
The fact that he’s only been playing about 5 years now is scary. I’ve got his video attached below and if you take a look at it you see a kid that is not only bigger than everyone, but he appears to be just as fast as everyone out there as well.
Despite holding nearly 25 offers from FBS programs already, he’s still trying to take it all in before he begins to narrow things down.
“I have offers from Illinois St, Kansas, Houston, Tulsa, Texas, Florida St, Oklahoma, TCU, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma St, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas Tech, SMU, Penn St, Missouri, Arkansas, Miami, Nebraska, Florida, and Baylor. Everyone is equal right now in my mind and I’ve been trying to stay in touch with every school the best that I can. This is all still a little bit of a shock to me and I’m grateful for all of these opportunities.”
Here’s where things start to get interesting. Although he told me that distance wouldn’t be much of a factor in his decision at all, I asked Campbell specifically how important it is to go to a program that consistently puts Linemen in the NFL.
“It’s very important for me to go somewhere that gets guys to the next level because that’s my dream career.”
Noted. That definitely bodes well for a few teams already on his radar more than others.
My Take: Campbell is the clear-cut top Offensive Lineman in the 2022 class in Texas and rates as a consensus top-20 prospect nationally. He’s the real deal. In talking to him, I got the impression that he truly doesn’t have a list of favorites yet but Texas and Oklahoma both were two of his first offers and I’d personally be surprised if they weren’t mainstays throughout his recruitment.
Oklahoma will likely have an advantage with Coach Bedenbaugh, as Campbell was clear that player development will be a big component when it comes time to narrow things down. The good news for Texas and Oklahoma fans is that both staffs are well aware of Campbell and have been on him heavy early. While he says distance won’t be a factor, that tends to change over the course of the recruiting process for many recruits once the reality of leaving home starts to get closer. You can expect for the SEC regulars (Bama, LSU, Georgia) to be present in this one as well. Whoever lands Campbell will be getting a walk-in starter, do yourselves a favor and take a look at his ridiculous tape from this past season.
Sophomore Highlights:
Snippet From: Monday Notebook | DL Puzzle Coming Together?
– James Hale
No virtual visits this past week and the coaches were told to go on vacation because once June 15th rolls around the staff will be totally back and they will not be allowed to travel or take time off until we have a vaccine or a cure for COVID-19. A few coaches took advantage and went to visit friends or went on a family vacation. Once they and the players are back then will be in Norman until their season is over.
With that being said none of the coaches were around when three-star defensive tackle Isaiah Coe (6’3, 305) of Iowa Western CC committed to the Sooners last week. I have to admit in an era that recruiting plays out so much on social networks where we watch the reaction Coe’s commitment is strange because Lincoln Riley never rolled out the eyes and none of the Sooner coaches have retweeted his verbal commitment. The 247Network is counting it as a commitment yet Rivals does not.
This is strange because players don’t announce for all to see that they are committed to a certain school unless they are certain that they have a scholarship from that school. I mean Coe has other offers and he chose OU over Arkansas, and I realize that the Hawgs are down but Sam Pittman is a cool guy and will be a good guy to play for and Coe would be playing in the SEC, so he has other options. However, he has been talking to OU and you have to believe that Coe totally believes that he has a scholarship at OU and will be playing at OU next year or he would not have risked the embarrassment of having to take that back on twitter and committing elsewhere.
Also, how can OU pass up on a defensive lineman that looks like he is going to be a player that will definitely be in your rotation inside on your defensive line? I mean OU next year will be playing with two JUCO players that were ranked as the top two DTs last year but they really need sophomore Jordan Kelley (6’3, 293) or redshirt freshman Kori Roberson (6’4, 273) to step up because OU needs some prep DTs to step and play. They got that in Neville Gallimore and now they need another prep to step up.
OU also needs a prep defensive tackle to step and commit in recruiting. Two JUCO’s last year and I’m going to go ahead and say a top JUCO this year and that’s great if you plan on signing the top JUCO DT every year. I know that’s not OU’s plan and I don’t think getting a verbal from Coe is going to hurt them in prep recruiting this year, but OU needs to sign a couple.
In the class, OU is off to a good start with four-star Ethan Downs (6’4, 240) of Weatherford, Oklahoma that continues to excel whenever anybody sees him and looks like a great get for the Sooners.
OU did not make the top five for four-star Shemar Turner (6’3 1/2, 260) of DeSoto, Texas who has talked to OU quite a bit but came out recently with a top-five of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M.
OU seems to be in a much better position with four-star Marcus Burris (6’4, 262) of Texarkana (Pleasant Grove), Texas who has a top three of OU, Texas, and Texas A&M, and I believe is leaning to OU. I really thought Burris was going to announce soon, but now I’m not really sure but I think OU has a great chance to sign him.
OU did make the top six for four-star WDE Kelvin Gilliam (6’3, 250) of Highland Springs, Virginia who says OU, Arizona State, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, and Penn State. I think OU is very much in the mix for Gilliam but he doesn’t sound like he’s in a hurry and OU has a major battle on their hands to sign him.
We have thought that four-star SDE David Abiara (6’4, 248) of Mansfield (Legacy), Texas was going to flip from Notre Dame to OU any day now, but it hasn’t happened yet and the longer it goes you have to wonder if it will.
OU still remains in the hunt for four-star SDE Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge (6’7, 240) of Portland (Jefferson), Oregon and this seems to be an OU vs Stanford battle. With COVID-19 dominating recruiting he might end up staying on the West Coast because he just can’t get out and see OU.
