Open Post | Wednesday, February 14th By: The Brainiacs Posted on: February 14, 2018

– Jonathan Perkins: As we’ve previously noted, 2019 LB and Sooner offer, Jonathan Perkins will be at the Sooners’ elite jr day, this weekend.

Oklahoma Connections

I spoke to Perkins for a bit last night to get to know a little more about him and the upcoming trip.

Oklahoma recruits California very well. But it helps when the Sooners have a connection. And, once again, the Sooners have that here. Perkins has family in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, “Actually, my brother is going to pick me up from the airport. He lives in OKC”.

Perkins says he’s visiting the state of Oklahoma three times already with the most recent being in 2015.

The connections to the Sooner state don’t stop there. Perkins actually has connections to the program as well. He’s friends with current Sooner players TJ Pledger and Bookie, “Me, TJ, Bookie, Chris [Steele] we all played seven on seven together for Proway”.

Perkins and Chris are very tight. It’s so surprise that Steele set up his first official visit to Oklahoma…

Pardon the misspelling of Chris’ name in the tweet above.

Recruitment

Perkins was a one time UCLA commit, “UCLA was the first school to offer me…that was about a year ago and then I picked up a few more offers but it kind of slowed until my jr year”.

The Sooners entered the picture in October. Coach Kish went out to see Perkins and made the offer. In fact, Perkins has his OU offer pinned to the top of his twitter profile…

https://twitter.com/Jperkins_21/status/921049455721267201

“I feel like coach Kish is a good coach. We have the relationship that I’m looking for. It’s about trust and I trust him. I really trust him”, Perkins, very genuinely said.

There are always some concerns that distance may matter but with family living so close, I don’t think that will play as significant of a part. Additionally, Perkins says his parents are really leaving this decision to him, “My parents are going to let me decide. So, I don’t think distance matters. I feel like my dad just wants me to go out and play at the highest level wherever that is”.

Perkins said he plans to take his official visit to Oklahoma during the season. So, the Sooners will have at least two chances to impress him.

Ability

Perkins knows he is the perfect Big 12 linebacker. He said the Sooners are recruiting him as an every down OLB but it’s still a bit up in the air. With athletes like Perkins, you can kind of figure it out later. Perkins measured at 6”1, per last year’s regional Opening. In terms of weight he says he’s now over 205 lbs.

He began is high school football career as a safety but moved to linebacker last year. It’s obvious. If you watch Perkins open up and drop, he eats up space fast. He can open up one direction and effortlessly flip his hips and already gain depth in the opposite direction. His downhill speed is fast and he closes violently.

Watching Perkins read the play coupled with his tenacity, he actually moves like a guy who could even be comfortable wading through the trash inside. His ability to check receivers and mirror them on the inside is great. – (Super K)

– Yesterday, I spoke with the father of top 2019 OT, Kenyon Green (Humble, TX). As many of you know Green is one of the most highly coveted OTs in the country and probably the most highly coveted in the region.

Green will make his first trip to Oklahoma this upcoming weekend. I’ll have a full write up about him but wanted to pass along one of my favorite things from my conversation with Green’s father, “This is our first trip to OU and we are extremely excited. And let me tell you who we’re coming with. It’s me, his mom, Kenyon, his sister, my cousin and his wife, Kenyon’s grandparents and we are very very excited”

This is a huge opportunity for Oklahoma to impress a potential future early round draft pick. – (Super K)

– It’s bit early but an in-state guy you’ll want to keep an eye on is 2020 Booker T Washington WR/DB, Javian Hester. Based on what I’ve heard it sounds like Oklahoma could offer pretty soon. One source close to the program said, “That kid can play wherever he wants in college. Has ability to be a star at wider receiver and safety.”

Ohio State recently offered Hester. It appears they are trying to turn their Josh Proctor win into a bit of a pipeline.

Hester plans to be at OU’s jr day this weekend. If he does indeed make it, keep an eye on a possible offer. More in-state talent is certainly better for Oklahoma. – (Brandon)

– The Sooners will get their shot at the prized grad transfer left tackle, Calvin Anderson.

All along, Calvin Anderson has been saying he will make this decision based almost exclusively on which program he feels can increase his draft stock. Anderson has a lot of ties to Texas. His step mother is a graduate of Texas law school. But if this is about NFL development, Oklahoma will have a lot to say in that regard.

Anderson originally planned to make an announcement on March 25th but has told us, recently, that a decision would likely come before that.

We hope to catch up with Anderson after his visit. – (Brandon)

– Devyn Ford: Spoke with 2019 Stafford (VA) RB Devyn Ford, recently. Ford is one of the most highly coveted running backs in the country and is one of the highest rated back by the recruiting services.

He recently narrowed down his recruiting by naming a top six and Oklahoma made the cut.

Apparently, the Sooners new coaching hire is helping the Sooners in this race as Ford said about his decision to include Oklahoma in his top schools, “Coach Beamer and I were close when he was at UGA, so that played into it, but Oklahoma puts so many good RB in the NFL. Hard not to be interested in that.”

He added that he is “working on setting up an official” to Oklahoma.

As we’ve previously noted, Oklahoma is looking to take running backs. So, it sounds like the Sooners will push here. And with Noah Cain not deciding till next December the Sooners will be recruiting other guys. – (Brandon)