The Football Brainiacs

Image of Donovan Jeter via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

– Team Note | Running Back: As most of you know by now, the Sooners will be without Samaje Perine for the next two to three weeks. Leaving the Sooners with Joe Mixon, Abdul Adams and then…that’s about it.

Coach Stoops noted that they could use Dimitri Flowers as a running back if needed. I was told yesterday, as expected, Abdul Adams is getting a lot more reps than usual.

Was also told that the Sooners pulled up a walk-on running back by the name of Devin Montgomery off of a scout team and he took a few reps. My guess is the Sooners are just looking at Montgomery in case there is some catastrophic series of events but I thought it was worth noting that they seem to at least be giving him a glance.

Montgomery is listed at 5’9 210 lbs. – (Super K)

– Team Note | Charles Walker: Earlier this week coach Stoops indicated Charles Walker would not be available this weekend for the Texas Tech game. When asked if there was a possibility of Walker being out the remainder of the season, Stoops said it would be up to the doctors but certainly didn’t dismiss the possibility.

Many of you may recall that when Stoops first noted that Walker was out for the Texas game he mentioned that Walker himself had been the one to declare he had suffered a concussion. This led to quite a bit of speculation.

Last week I noted a long absence was possible saying,

I will say that based on what I’ve heard from a couple sources, this could be more serious than it sounded when last week’s report first came out. I was told a long absence is possible. However, most folks I’ve reached out to have been reluctant to say much about it so it’s been difficult to get a specific timeline.

I’ve since then spoken to four sources close to the program about Walker. A couple sources indicated that they believe he will be out the rest of the season but there was still some uncertainty. The reason for this uncertainty appears to be that, as Stoops indicated, Walker’s concussion was self diagnosed. There are mixed feelings inside the program about what Walker is dealing with. As expected, some believe this is the case of a player who is concerned about the possibility of getting another concussion while in college uniform. And there are some who believe the issue is very real. Either way, the university and the staff are obviously taking this very seriously. And I am told that if/when he is able to play, they will play him.

I came away from my conversations with sources thinking three things 1) if we do see Walker again, my guess is it won’t be till late in the season and if we don’t see him at that time then we probably will never see him in a Sooner uniform again and 2) while I understand the reason for skepticism, I was told a couple things that made me believe that this could be a very serious issue and as such speculation isn’t fair to him and 3) there is a possibility that what happened to Tay Evans has simply given a lot of players, like Walker, who have suffered concussions, concerns that could be causing them to be extremely cautious. – (Super K)

– New Defensive Tackle Offer | Donovan Jeter: Yesterday the Sooners offered 2017 DT, Donovan Jeter (Beaver Falls, VA). Jeter decommitted from Notre Dame but has publicly stated that the Irish still lead in his recruitment.

We hope to catch up with Jeter to find out if a visit to the Sooners is a possibility.

Listed at 6’5 285 lbs, Jeter clearly fits the preferred build and body type of what the Sooners look for to play at their 4i DE/DT spot. We’ve seen the Sooners shift their front this year, even standing freshman DE, Amani Bledsoe, up on occasion at a 5 tech. Based on where Jeter plays and how well he runs they might be able to use him in all the same ways they use Bledsoe.