The Football Brainiacs

Image of Justin Reid via 247 Sports

Happy Friday y’all!

– Weekend Visitors: There are a lot of big name recruits heading to Norman this weekend for the Oklahoma vs. Tennessee game. We’ve had a running list that we’ve been compiling over on The Original Posters. In case you missed it, you can see it HERE.

I know a number of you have asked whether OU could land any commits this weekend. It’s difficult to say but we certainly wouldn’t put it past Jamal Danley to commit this weekend or shortly after the visit. As we understand it, he was very close to committing a few weeks back. OU has been sitting in a good spot with Khalil Haughton as well and if it weren’t for his desire to take other officials, he’d be someone who could pull the trigger. We’ll also be watching what happens with Justin Reid. Reid confirmed his visit just this week, but he’d been wanting to come for a while. However, his father had a scheduling conflict that was apparently cleared allowing them to now make the trip to Norman.

With all the big name recruits this weekend, it’s not as much about securing a bunch of commits (though that would obviously be nice) as much as it is about putting OU in the position to eventually land some of these players. In other words, just because OU doesn’t land one or two commits won’t mean that the weekend was unsuccessful.

Gabriel Campbell and Torrance Gibson: As most of you know by now DE Gabriel Campbell and QB Torrance Gibson were both planning on making it to Norman this weekend for the game. However, both have not completed all the necessary academic requirements in order to take *official visits (*important distinction as both have taken some unofficials). However, both are in the process of getting that taken care of. We have chatted with both players, and each have said they absolutely still plan on making it out to OU for a visit.

Antoine Stephens: A name you haven’t heard, but one you’re going to want to remember is 2015 cornerback, Antoine Stephens. With PJ Mbanasor committed, OU has been hoping to find one more big corner and they may have just found him. Stephens is a 6’2 186 lb CB out of Kimball High School in Dallas that not many folks know about yet, but they will soon. We’ve been told that OU is beginning to show interest.

Unfortunately, Antoine’s film isn’t publicly viewable yet (some coaches keep their Hudl account on private). But I (K) had a chance to look his film, and in my opinion he is an absolute sleeper! Very long and VERY physical cornerback who can turn and run. What I really love about him though is he’s very instinctive in zone coverage. Beyond all the footwork, good bend, balance speed, size, etc. is one quality that stands above all the others and that is play-making ability. In my mind, an example of something you see from a play-maker is when a corner is in Cover-2 and able to quickly read the QBs eyes, understand his underneath responsibility, then get deeper in a zone and pick off a pass intended for a receiver in someone else’s zone. Two or three games into the season and Stephens has already done it twice!

We’ll have more on Stephens later, but we wanted to introduce y’all to this big, athletic CB from the Dallas area. Again, we’ve been told that OU has already begun to show interest in Stephens. So you can expect to hear more about him as the season continues and his film starts to get out.

Madre Harper: Keeping with the theme of the big corner, how about a CB who is nearly 6’3″? We caught up with 2016 CB Madre Harper out of Arlington, TX this week. He let us know that he was invited to the Tennessee game and will be heading to Norman for an unofficial visit this weekend. It appears this isn’t just your casual invite as Madre tells us that DC Mike Stoops has been recruiting him personally.

Channing Hames: Want another new 2015 name? Look no further than defensive end Channing Hames out of Baltimore, Maryland. We chatted with Hames this week, and he said that he’s been communicating regularly with coach Jerry Montgomery. Hames doesn’t have an offer yet, but he has a lot of interest in Oklahoma. The 6’4″ defender does have a few offers (WVU, Boston College, etc.), but told us he would really like to take an official visit to OU. He also said that with an offer, OU would possibly jump right to the top of his list.

With OU recruiting Gabriel Campbell, Neville Gallimore, more recently Joseph Wicker (mentioned him in last weekend’s Open Post) and with two defensive ends already committed, Hames will likely have to wait on an offer. But he is a long, athletic defensive end with girth the Sooners love to recruit for their odd front. OU is in a good spot for the current DEs they are recruiting, but it’s clear Coach Montgomery isn’t sitting around waiting…he’s going to continue to recruit.

OU has a connection through Hames in that his head coach, Corey Robinson, is also the coach who really brought Charles Tapper into the football world. Hames’ teammate, 2016 stud DE Rahshaun Smith, will be in Norman this weekend.

Takkarist McKinley: One defensive end target that went off the board yesterday is JUCO DE/OLB, Takkarist McKinley. He had planned on taking an official visit out to Oklahoma for Bedlam, but to his surprise he was actually able to sign and be eligible/play immediately. Yesterday, he signed with UCLA and has told us that he will head over to campus next Tuesday with the expectation that he’ll play this year.

Ed Oliver vs. Tyler Moore: I (K) caught some of the North Shore vs. Westfield game and there was a heck of a match-up in the trenches between two OU targets; 2016 DL Ed Oliver and former OU target 2015 OL Tyler Moore. Really like both of those players. Ed Oliver is very, very high on Oklahoma’s 2016 board and you can absolutely see why. He’s got great quickness, plays with good pad level, and has surprisingly violent hands for a kid that young. What does all that mean? Well, it means he’s a very disruptive player.

He and Moore went back-and-forth and it was fantastic to watch. Oliver’s primary weakness at this point is that he can’t quite finish the play, but I suspect that will come with time. On three straight plays he had his hands on the ball carrier and didn’t bring him down. So tackling drills should fix that, but he is a little sawed off and doesn’t necessarily have the length you’d like. However, his explosiveness and motor more than make up for any length deficiencies. I mean the kid absolutely has a non-stop motor. It’s so refreshing to watch a player go hard throughout a play and throughout the game.

– UPDATE (Fri., 10:24 am): Add another visitor to the list of recruits expected this weekend, 2015 LB & OU offer Anthony McKee.

Getting ready to take off Oklahoma visit #D1Lifestyle pic.twitter.com/Br0f1sjdVu

— Anthony McKee Jr (@AnthonyMcKeeJr) September 12, 2014

We had previously been told that McKee wouldn’t be in Norman this weekend, but this would obviously appear to contradict that. And the list keeps on growing.

– UPDATE (Fri., 11:37 am): K just spoke with Ykili Ross’ father and unfortunately they won’t be able to make it in this weekend. Updated visitor list.

– UPDATE (Sat., 7:30 am): Our newest contributor Alex King got a chance to see OU targets QB Shane Buechele and CB Madre Harper. He really liked what he saw from both. Here is a tweet from Alex about Madre Harper:

Really impressed by '16 CB Madre Harper (@SHARP_HARP34) . At 6'3 kid is smooth turning and running. Sinks hips in back pedal & gets low.

— Alex King (@AKing_Evals) September 13, 2014

Harper will be at OU today with both his parents and Alex tells us that Harper will visit LSU later in the month. But apparently OU is recruiting Harper the heaviest.

– UPDATE (Sat., 7:30 am): While it seems there might have been a good chance of Jamal Danley committing on this trip, those chances may have gone down a bit. Due to some confusion, Danley’s father was not able to make the trip with him as originally expected. We don’t know how big of an effect that will have on Danley’s decision but we thought it was at least noteworthy.

– UPDATE (Sat., 3:14 pm): Sorry we’re a little late on this, a lot of us are traveling today. But as most of you have seen by now, Will Sunderland has committed to Oklahoma. You’ll recall our quote regarding Sunderland back on July 14th when we said (HERE),”The only way Will Sunderland won’t be a Sooner come signing day is if OU decides they want to go another direction.  And we don’t see that happening. Just take our word for it, this one is a wrap.”

– UPDATE (Sat., 3:40 pm): Big Jamal Danley sent us this picture of him in the Crimson and Cream. We’re keeping an eye on Danley!

 

– UPDATE (Sat., 1:57 am): Jamal Danley commits to Oklahoma! That makes two this weekend!