Open Post | Weekend, November 10th – 12th By: The Brainiacs Posted on: November 10, 2017

– Abdul-Malik McClain: As you know by now (and Brandon first reported), this weekend the Sooners will host 2018 UCLA DE/OLB commit, Abdul-Malik McClain (Jserra Catholic, CA). I spoke with McClain’s head coach at J Serra, former USC Trojan and first round draft pick, Pat Harlow.

By the Numbers

Harlow, who is himself a big man, tells me that McClain is a legit 6’3/6’4 and is already around 235 lbs. While on film, McClain appears to have Obo/Striker-like pass rush twitch and ability, he is certainly a much taller and longer player than either of them were. He has a true prototypical NFL pass rushers build.

His coach says, and again I’ll remind you his coach was a first round draft pick, “He’s freaky athletic. Super raw but he has a lot of gifts. He doesn’t know how good he can be but he wants to be good”.

In terms of whether McClain could play right away, “You never know. I didn’t think I would be ready but I got a whole lot better in the first two weeks on campus. He definitely has the physical tools to play right away but it’ll depend on how quickly he picks it up. He’s definitely a smart kid. The program here is tough so our guys know how to work”.

Recruiting

McClain committed to UCLA back in the summer time. While one might assume it would be tough to pry McClain away from a regional school like UCLA, coach Harlow tells me that the family is actually from Atlanta and only moved to California about a year and a half ago.

It’s also easy to assume that the instability at UCLA has led McClain to look around but coach Harlow said, “I think the instability is part of it but it’s also the magnitude of the schools. When you’ve got schools like Oklahoma and Ohio State recruiting you now, you owe it to yourself to check them out”.

Coach Harlow tells me that McClain plans on taking all of his official visits which, as of now, will include: Oklahoma, Ohio State, Washington, USC and Notre Dame.

Film

Look at this young man’s mid-season film. Second play of the film he’s lined up at WR. He takes it to the house, effortlessly outrunning the defense. Against the run he’s physical and strong with a sudden punch. As a pass rusher, he’s the first man off the ball and relentless.

It’s absolutely no wonder why McClain’s offer list has blown up lately. Sooners have not been by to see McClain this season but did go by Jserra in the spring. – (Super K)

– DaShaun White: After go back and forth on whether he would visit OU, Texas or TAMU this upcoming weekend, OU LB target, DaShaun White decided he will take a official visit to Texas this weekend.

White spoke with Lincoln Riley earlier this week and the Sooners remain in a good spot with the ultra athletic LB but we will see how things look after the Texas visit. – (Super K)

– Oklahoma is pushing hard for 2019 IMG RB Noah Cain. That’s no surprise. But something he mentioned in a recent conversation caught my attention. I asked if he had if he had IMG teammates recruiting him hard to OU. His response? “All of them. TJ, Bookie and Reuben really pushing me.” Now, Bookie isn’t set to announce his final decision until the third quarter of the Army All American Game. Bookie also visited Alabama, over the weekend, after IMG took on Hoover (AL). But it is interesting to hear another OU target say that he is recruiting him to the Sooners behind close doors. – (Brandon)

– Spoke with Leon O’ Neal earlier this week and it seems like he is contemplating a return visit to Oklahoma. O’ Neal told me his visit to Oklahoma was “amazing” and Oklahoma is a “really good team with good coaches”. He had been adamant he was going to visit teams like Georgia and Clemson but I asked O’ Neal if he planned on visiting Georgia or Clemson and he said that he was really unsure right now. He went on to say that he is in a tough situation, which is very understandable with his longstanding commitment to A&M.

Should also note that he said he wants to visit OU this weekend but is still trying to see if it will work. – (Brandon)

– Lastly, spoke to elite 2019 St. John Bosco defensive tackle, Sua’ava Poti (Bellflower, CA) the other day. I will have a longer write up on him later, but wanted to pass along an interesting note from our conversation. First, Poti said that he will be taking an official to Oklahoma when he is able to next year. That is in interesting in itself, but he added that he would coming with his teammate Chris Steele and friend Jonathon Perkins (San Bernadino, CA). Steele is considered one of, if not the top, corner in the 2019 class and Perkins is one of Oklahoma’s top targets at the LB position. Perkins also has a TON of family ties, as K reported, to Oklahoma and spends a lot of time in the Sooner State already.

This one will be interesting to watch because of the teammate aspect and Oklahoma’s strong California pipeline. – (Brandon)

– Missouri Visitors: You’ll recall Brandon mentioned earlier in the week that Perkins may come down with his teammate. Looks like he will indeed be back in Norman. Good news for OU as Texas has been trying for over a month to get Perkins back to Austin on a visit. Only took two weeks to get him back to Norman.

Caught up with 2019 LB offer, Shammond Cooper out of Trinity Catholic in Saint Louis, MO who let me know the plan currently is for him and a few of his teammates to come down to Norman this weekend for a visit with a coach of theirs. For those that don’t know the Sooners offered Cooper back in February this year joining a pack of other big time national offers as well.

Trinity Catholic is loaded with talent next season and some of Cooper’s talented teammates will join him it sounds at this time. Per Cooper he believes those teammates will be – 2019 ATH Isaiah Williams, who holds an OU offer, 2019 WR Marcus Washington who doesn’t currently hold an OU offer but holds numerous other big time offers from schools like Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas to name a few. And 2019 OT Ira Henry, 6’5″ & 320-pound OT who like Washington doesn’t hold a Sooners offer currently but does from programs like Arkansas, Florida, Louisville & Missouri.

Cooper let me know a while back the plan has always been to get to Norman this season and the TCU game was the target. He is undersized at this point listed at 6’2″ and 190-pounds so seems to be someone they like in a hybrid S role. Like his speed on film and looks comfortable dropping into coverage in space, even flashes some ball skills.

Cooper had this to say when I asked what he was looking forward to the most about the upcoming visit – ‘Just seeing the facility and to meet Coach Riley in person,’ he said. ‘And I want to see a Sooners win.’

Isaiah Williams is smaller in stature as well at 5’10” and 160-pounds but this kid is electric with the ball. Sudden, great quickness, make you miss ability and can fly. With the Sooners history of success with smaller/explosive wide receivers in their offense, aka Jalen Saunders and more recently Marquise Brown got to think they will do what they can to sell him on the same role. Could also throw in Dede Westbrook who was 6-foot tall but slender framed like Jeff Badet as well. So definitely have the film they can put in front of him to show how they can make him successful and then have him watch #5 Saturday night.

Marcus Washington is listed at 6’2″ and 170-pounds but is an explosive athlete in his own right. Kid has great ball skills and can pluck with ease, shows his route running ability on film and runs well. Nice ability to high point. Obviously with the talent OU is going after at the receiver position they may hold off on offering due to guys like Theo Wease Jr, Jadon Haselwood and Arjei Henderson for example and don’t forget they already have Trejan Bridges committed. However, Washington is a prospect I like so one to keep an eye on moving forward. – (Alex)

 

– Sooners Hosting Offered 2019 OTs: Bedenbaugh continues to stack OU with top offensive line talent. As good as the line is right now, the future looks even brighter. I have a couple more names to add to the list of visitors (we’ll put together a final list to post tomorrow).

Both of these big men are the coveted 6’5/6’6 athletic offensive tackle types.

Justin Osborne – Flower Mound, TX (Marcus HS). Osborne does hold an OU offer. OU is one of the early offers for Osborne. He hasn’t put his jr film together so here is his sophomore film:

Tyler Johnson – Conroe, TX (Oak Ridge HS). Johnson’s name has been on the recruiting scene for a while. He already holds offers from OU, Texas, Michigan and a number of other big programs. The Sooners didn’t have much success recruiting his 2018 teammate, Joseph Ossai. Perhaps they’ll do better with Johnson. – (Super K)

– This Week’s Donor Board Auction: Last week the Pick’Ems winners were able to bid on a pair of Beats Solo 3 Wireless Headphones. This week, winners will bid on…