Offensive Line Picture Will Change in July
– Charlie S – Posted on: June 29, 2021
Currently, the Sooners have one public commitment along the offensive line in the ‘ChampU 22′ class’ in center Demetrius ‘Pancake’ Hunter.
OU hosted the majority of their top targets on campus in June as basically everyone aside from Kam Dewberry made it to town at one point or other (main targets).
Devon Campbell, Jake Taylor, George Fitzpatrick, Jacob Sexton, Cole Hutson, Malik Agbo, Dayne Shor, Earnest Green and Cam Williams all made their way to Norman throughout the month.
The overall picture of the class will become more clear as a bunch of those guys will announce commitments to the school of their choosing.
– Cam Williams will announce his choice this Thursday. (Oregon)
– Jake Taylor confirmed with me yesterday that ‘We will be finishing up soon’ and we expect him to announce in July.
– Based on his communication with the family, K believes George Fitzpatrick will make his choice known this summer.
– Dayne Shor will be announcing his choice on July 31st. I checked in with Dayne yesterday and he said ‘No more visits, no more top lists, just gonna announce on the 31st” (This is why I love covering the linemen)
– I checked in with Jacob Sexton yesterday as well and he said would be announcing his decision ‘For sure in July’. (Following this writeup, Jacob announced he will be committing on July 3rd, Saturday). OU is in a good spot here.
– CJ has a good relationship with Cole Hutson and while Cole had not indicated any rush to make a decision or a concrete timeline, CJ believes he is a guy who could make a surprise announcement at any point and think it is likely he pops before the season begins. (Following this post on the 29th, Hutson announced he would be making his choice today, July 2nd). Not feeling OU here.
– Devon Campbell, Malik Agbo, and Earnest Green are all guys who visited Norman who do not have a set timeline and will likely let their recruitments play out into the fall at the very least.
I feel pretty confident in saying July will see multiple additions to the Sooners ’22 offensive line class, and I believe we have made it pretty clear we feel OU is in good spots with Taylor and Fitzpatrick and would not be surprised to see both in Norman. I am not saying things could not change with one or both of them, but things are trending well for OU here.
Then you have Cam Williams, Jacob Sexton, and Dayne Shor who plan on announcing in July. Cam announced to Oregon yesterday and Sexton and Shor are guys who both have strong relationships with Coach B and the rest of the staff in Norman, and OU is certainly in the running (or leading) for their services.
So say you lock up Taylor and Fitzpatrick (very possible) and one of Sexton/Shor (likely)…that would leave you with a 4 man OL class coming out of the summer with Campbell, Green and Agbo still in striking range.
With the majority of the class making decisions in the near future, OU will have a very good picture of the work that has to be done on the recruiting front once the summer dead period ends (for a week in late July).
Could OU be in a position of power in regards to waiting out one final big piece…or will they be scrambling to find some additional quality targets?
I would lean towards the former, but it will be interesting to see things play out.
Take on Dindy
– Super K – Posted on: June 29, 2021
They say the game is won and lost in the trenches and for the Sooners to take that next step they’ll need to continue to improve on the defensive front.
Enter 5-star Gabriel Dindy. The Sooners have an inside track here with his parents having attended OU.
However, as many of you know by now, Dindy’s father is taking a position with a church group in College Station and TAMU has been recruiting Gabriel for quite some time.
***This would lead some to believe that Dindy is likely headed to TAMU. I am told that is not the case…
***In fact, I was told that Dindy’s family would prefer him to end up at OU.
***As we’ve previously noted, Gabriel is an exceptional young man (reminds me of Tim Tebow). His family knows that and they will let him make his decision but again, I don’t get the sense at all that Dindy’s father’s new position will cause any additional pressure on Dindy to end up at TAMU.
***I think the family is in OU’s corner.
***The schools I’d actually watch in this one are Clemson and Alabama. Alabama in particular.
***I know that Dindy has told me how much he likes coach Dabo Swinney, but he is big on discipline and I get the sense that Alabama’s environment will be extremely appealing to him.
***So, my take is simply that rather than TAMU being the team that OU needs to watch, I think it’s going to end up being the normal thorn in OU’s side in Alabama.
What now? What to Watch
– Super K – Posted on: June 30, 2021
***The Sooners passing on Evan Stewart earlier in this cycle is looking more and more like a…to put it mildly, a learning experience.
***Not to pour salt on the wound but I’ll tell you all a little more insider information, the Sooners almost pulled Terrance Brooks earlier in the cycle and inexplicably backed off. That came to me from someone very close to Brooks.
***It’s done and past but, again, they have to learn from these errors. The Sooners may have passed on the best WR and best CB in the country and that can be the difference between a playoff win or loss.
***The next thing we will be watching is whether the Sooners pumping the breaks earlier in the cycle on Jacob Sexton will impact his decision.
***From here, as Charlie has noted, the wide receiver targets will be Andre Greene Jr. (Richmond, VA) and Evan Stewart
***Greene visited recently and I’m told he and his family loved the visit. And, I have to give credit to the Sooners for continuing to recruit Greene even before this latest string of decommitments.
***The impression I got was that Greene just wanted to know that he had a spot at OU and that he was wanted. As long as the Sooners do that, I think there is a very good chance they can land him and perhaps soon.
***With Stewart, as I’ve said before, it’s more about thawing the ice. His mother actually told me a week or so ago that he was considering a visit to OU last week. It sounds like his father was encouraging him to give the Sooners one more shot.
***If they can thaw the ice, then OU will be a real player for Evan in my opinion because I believe OU has the right combination of what Evan is looking for (more on that later perhaps)…
***The Sooners are also going to have to recruit a back up possibility for someone like Raleek. I think they know that.
***So, there is still plenty of time to end up with a great skill class and perhaps even a better class than was committed. Just gotta learn from this and roll.
Quick Note on a Return Visit and Timeline Update
– Charlie S – Posted on: July 1, 2021
As we have talked about quite a bit recently, the 2022 offensive line class for the Sooners will get some clarity throughout the month of July as several targets make their verbal pledges.
Cam Williams, Jacob Sexton, Cole Hutson, Jake Taylor, and Dayne Shor have all indicated they will be making their commitments before July runs out. We also believe it is likely that George FItzpatrick will choose his destination before the month is over.
One guy that we know of who does not plan on making his decision in July is recent official visitor Malik Agbo out of Federal Way, WA
Agbo tells me that he currently plans on announcing his decision in mid-November.
So that will be a long time since he had been in Norman…right?
Wrong.
Agbo let me know that he currently plans on getting out to Norman for a game this season. I asked him when that may occur, and he said “I plan on going to the game vs Nebraska in Norman. I heard that one is the one to go to!”
No matter what happens for the Sooners in regards to the offensive line class in July, having Agbo planning on making his way back to Norman just prior to making his commitment is a good sign that OU is very much in contention in this recruitment.
The planned return trip also lends more credence to K’s initial takeaway after he met up with Agbo on his west coast swing in the spring when he told me ‘Agbo is a guy I could definitely see Bedenbaugh pulling’.
Have to be in it to win it, and right now, Bedenbaugh and the Sooners are in it for the talented big athlete.
