The Football Brainiacs

– Defensive Line Recruiting: The Sooners are a player or two away from finishing up most of their position groups. The 2017 high school class in general around the country isn’t a loaded defensive line class. This shortage comes at a not so great time given the need the Sooners have at the position. Let’s go through some of the targets and the latest on where things stand. – (Super K)

Joshua Rogers: The Sooners offered 2017 DT, Joshua Rogers (Houston, TX) last week. As I mentioned last week, someone close to Rogers let us know that it is safe to assume the Sooners will get a visit from the big fella. I was told earlier this week that the Sooners will be in Houston tonight to see Rogers play.

Greg Rogers: Another Rogers? Another Rogers. Last weekend Greg took a visit to Colorado and I was told by a couple sources that the visit went extremely well. After that visit there is a lot of confidence on the Colorado side of this. However, I did speak to a source on the OU side of this one and they feel confident as well. USC is a school that was expected to be tough to beat but they are struggling. UCLA is another program to watch out for. But again, OU likes where they stand. But I’m buying that Colorado is a threat.

Joshua Paschal: I spoke to a coach on the staff at Good Counsel High School (Olney, MD) where 2017 Joshua Paschal plays. You will recall Paschal was in Norman for the Ohio State game. I was told by the coach on staff at Good Counsel that the Sooners went by to see Paschal a couple weeks ago (during the bye week). “They (OU) liked what they saw from him (Joshua)”. In terms of where OU is, “I know OU is very high on his list…I would say definitely top three”.

Ondario Robinson: Robinson (Hutto, TX) committed to Texas A&M recently. He planned on making a trip to Norman on multiple occasions but the visit just never came together.

Marvin Wilson: This is one where the Sooners just have to stay patient and continue to recruit Wilson. I still believe that Wilson ultimately would prefer to stay somewhere closer to home. Alabama and Ohio State are new schools in the mix but again, they’re farther from home. The Sooners just need to keep winning and hope that some of the other schools, including Texas A&M, fall off. It’s an uphill battle right now but there is a lot football to be played and there are going to be a lot of potential coaching changes around the country. One thing helping OU here is that Marvin Wilson really likes Mike Stoops. I’m told Wilson prefers a more aggressive coaching style and Mike fits the bill.

– Jeffrey Okudah: Just a quick note on Okudah. He let me know that he may be at the OU vs. UT game tomorrow. – (Super K)

– Jacob Phillips: Phillips will take his final official visit to Texas A&M this weekend. Texas A&M replaced LSU in Phillips original top 5. He was in Alabama last weekend and, as expected, he thoroughly enjoyed his trip. Phillips is no stranger to Alabama. In fact he earned his offer there this past summer at an Alabama camp. Based on our conversations with Phillips and others, it feels like an OU vs. Alabama battle. However, we are unsure of where Johnny Come-Lately, Texas A&M, will stand after this visit.

If it does come down to Alabama and OU there is another question that needs to answered. And that is where things stand with Alabama after receiving a recent commitment from top linebacker, Dylan Moses. In speaking to a source close to the Alabama program, I simply could not get a clear answer on this question. What I do know is that prior to Moses’ commitment, Alabama was very high on Phillips. That is still true. But it’s always a numbers game and my gut tells me the reason I can’t get a clear answer is because they aren’t totally sure themselves. Alabama is no stranger to accepting a commitment and then letting things “play out” close to signing day.

On the flip side, with Tay Evans football career, sadly, over, Phillips has become an even bigger priority for the Sooners.

I am told to expect a commitment announcement next week. Unless something changes, the date I was told is around October 12th. – (Super K)

– Jalen Reagor: Been trying to make sense of this Jalen Reagor situation. As you all know by now things are a little shaky between OU WR commit, Jalen Reagor and the Sooners. In fact last Sunday after visiting the TCU game, Reagor removed “OU Commit” from his twitter bio. In fact he removed any trace of Oklahoma from his profile. Reagor has gone completely silent. I’ve spoken to a source close to Reagor and it sounds like the TCU visit wasn’t actually meant to be anything more than just a fun visit but the source indicated that the Sooner staff may not have reacted to him taking the visit very well. From what I can tell, this may have rubbed Reagor the wrong way.

I have spoken to a source on the TCU side of things and while they felt they did a good job with Reagor, I didn’t get the sense that they felt they have him locked up. In fact I’m told they weren’t even really recruiting him particularly hard prior to that visit.

As of right now we have no word on whether Reagor will be at the OU vs. Texas game but if he makes it then I suspect it’ll go a long way in terms of getting things back on the right track. – (Super K)

– UPDATE (Friday, 9:46 am): Hearing the Sooners could be getting some good news as early as this weekend…

– UPDATE (Friday, 10:47 am): Saw a number of comments below asking about my commentary on Marvin Wilson preferring a more aggressive coach and Mike Stoops being that coach. As I noted in the comment section below, that was intended to mean “aggressive” as in his coaching style…an in your face style of coaching. Not as in the calls on the field. He likes a guy that is going to push him the way Mike pushes his guys. It was not intended to mean “aggressive” in terms of 1 gap hat-in-the-crack attack or dog/blitz packages. Sorry for the confusion. – (Super K)