The Football Brainiacs

Image of Johncarlo Valentin via nj.com

– Du’Vonta Lampkin: As a brief update, Lampkin’s release has not quite come in yet. I have been told by some close to the situation, however, it is expected (right now) sometime in September.

– Redshirts: I spoke with a couple sources and was able to track down some names of guys we are told, as of now, are likely to redshirt. Keep in mind (1) any number of circumstances could change things and (2) this list is not necessarily complete, rather simply the names we have been told thus far:

DB Antoine Stephens
OL Cody Ford
DE Kenneth Mann
DE Gabriel Campbell
WR John Humphrey
DL Neville Gallimore
LB Arthur McGinnis

– Caleb Kelly: 2016 LB Caleb Kelly (Fresno, CA) released the list of schools he will officially visit this fall and, as expected, OU made that list. The other schools that will also receive visits are Michigan, Oregon, Notre Dame & Texas. I’m told the OU staff continues to feel good about where things stand with regards to Kelly, who has already been to Norman multiple times prior. So while this official visit was expected, it still speaks to Kelly’s interest in that he could have just as easily decided to see some other school with one of his five official visits. Instead, he chose to see OU again.

I have been curious about Kelly’s interest in Texas since they were a school that offered late in his process. Kelly’s mother did tell me that they have family ties to Texas. Regardless, it stills seems that OU and Michigan are probably the schools to beat at the moment.

– Johncarlo Valentin: 2016 offensive lineman & OU offer, Johncarlo Valentin (Philadelphia, PA), is planning to be in Norman next weekend for OU’s season opener. Valentin had originally planned to use an official visit during the weekend of the WVU game, but evidently there has been a change of plans.

Valentin is a very talented offensive lineman, who is being pursued by a number of programs. You’ll recall, however, that he has a close relationship with former OU standout Trent Williams. When we spoke with Valentin several weeks ago, he even went so far as to say, “Trent Williams is like my brother…he told coach Bedenbaugh about me.”

Valentin has also scheduled an official visit to Arizona State in the month of September. While not yet confirmed, I expect him to also visit Auburn and Virginia Tech at some point as well.

– Jordan Parker: Earlier this week, 2016 CB Jordan Parker (Pittsburg, CA) tweeted out that he has set up his official visit to Oklahoma for October 3rd when the Sooners will be hosting West Virginia. Last we heard, OU was looking to take one more CB in this 2016 class. Obviously room can be made for the right prospect, but as of now it is our understanding the Sooners are looking to fill that one secondary spot.

Obi Eboh is still very much in play so it’ll be interesting to see, if Eboh were to commit, how things might play out with Parker. Perhaps they are both takes for OU irrespective of numbers. We’ll have to wait and see if it comes to that.

– Avery Roberts: An offer we missed that occurred recently was to 2017 LB Avery Roberts (Wilmington, DE), who has received a number of major offers from schools across the country. I spoke to Roberts earlier this week, who said he is very interested in the Sooners and is in the process of speaking to his parents about possibly taking an unofficial visit to Norman sometime soon.

– UPDATE (Sun., 4:57 pm): Have chatted with a few sources and it sounds like 2016 CB Obi Eboh is contemplating making a commitment decision pretty soon. It also sounds like OU is the team to beat. I can’t say for certain when this is going to happen but I’m being told that Obi and the family are definitely thinking about making the decision very soon. And again, OU is the favorite at the moment.