The Football Brainiacs

Image of Mark Andrews via 247 Sports

On the recruiting front there haven’t been many new 2015 names. OU coaches are obviously occupied with the 2014 season, as are recruits with their respective seasons underway as well. Right now the class targets are pretty much set and a lot of what things are about is just waiting for the recruits to get on campus and then hopefully making a decision.

Jamal Danley: We don’t need to tell you that next weekend is going to be a big recruiting opportunity, but while many folks may want OU to pick up a ton of commitments that isn’t necessarily going to happen. This is simply because many of them have other visits scheduled. One player we are going to watch very closely is Jamal Danley. He has told us that he expects to make a decision very soon after his visit to Norman. Most of you know he actually almost pulled the trigger on a commitment a few weeks back but decided against. Right now, it’s all about this trip. If he likes what he sees then he could very well end up a Sooner and in chatting with him, we got the impression it could happen quickly.

Marvell Tell: Greg Biggins of Scout.com reported earlier this week that star safety Marvell Tell has said he will take an official visit to Oklahoma. While we haven’t spoken to Tell, our guess is this is a positive only in that it’s another indication that OU is becoming that brand again where kids see it as a high profile visit.

Joseph Wicker: A player you’re going to want to keep your eyes on is 2015 defensive lineman, Joseph Wicker (Long Beach, CA). Wicker recently told Adam Gorney of Rivals.com that he will visit Oklahoma at some point. Wicker doesn’t currently have an OU offer. However, we have spoken to a source and told that he will have an offer as soon as he takes his ACT. The hold up isn’t about any academic issues that Wicker has, just that when it’s this late in the process OU likes to have an ACT. Additionally, a player can’t take an official without an ACT score (or a practice ACT score).

Before anyone freaks out, this potential forthcoming offer has nothing to do with where OU stands with Neville Gallimore or Gabriel Campbell. Gallimore and Campbell are both serious about OU. That doesn’t mean they’ll end up in Norman necessarily, but OU is certainly one of their primary targets.

Mark Andrews and the Outside WR Threat: Recently we were asked whether Mark Andrews is still with the wide receivers, or if he has been moved to tight end. As most of you recall, many thought Andrews would grow into a tight end during his recruitment. But he was adamant about wanting to play wide receiver in college. However, we have been told that Andrews is now indeed with the tight ends group.

Back in fall camp you’ll recall we told you that OU had been working on trying to develop Jeffrey Mead as a potential outside threat, because they had hoped to have a big outside target in Dorial Green-Beckham (HERE). Mead looked relatively comfortable for a true freshman last Saturday night, but he also showed that he is still a freshman (rounding his routes, etc.). And as most of you saw, Jordan Smallwood struggled catching the ball. So as we mentioned earlier this week, Dallis Todd may be up next. But it’ll also be interesting to see if Andrews gets a chance on the outside if they can’t find someone with size who is ready to be that big threat.

We will say in asking about Andrews we’ve been told that while he is a big guy (230 lbs+), he carries the weight VERY well. He does not look remotely like one of the big, lumbering TEs that might come to mind. He has a very long frame and doesn’t look his listed weight because of how well he’s put together.

General Recruiting Note: We know that a lot of fans want to see commit after commit. And after the Sugar Bowl a lot of people expected OU to take a meteoric rise to the top of the recruiting world. But we wanted to point out that while it may not appear totally obvious, when you really think about it OU’s recruiting really has taken a big step forward. In recent years we’d see a ton of offers going out this fall. And inevitably some scrambling, if you will, towards the end of the recruiting cycle. Recruiting is about filling needs with scheme appropriate athletes. When we look at the position groups we can see that, unlike recent years, there is a lot of clarity in terms of targets and what OU could very well end up with. Consider:

Offensive Line – This position is almost done. If Danley commits, and we already know Barnett should end up a Sooner, then the position group will be full.

Defensive Line – OU is only looking to take one NG in each class and they’ve got that in Marquise Overton (who is actually now starting to recruit 2015 DE Darrion Daniels, by the way). And OU already has two long athletic defensive ends in a class where they would actually be fine only taking two. At this point it’s just about getting that cherry on top, and Coach Montgomery has OU in serious contention for four major DE targets including Gallimore, Campbell, Daniels and Wicker.

Secondary – OU currently has an elite CB prospect committed. And while that doesn’t seem like much, Will Sunderland will also be a Sooner. OU leads for Kahlil Haughton (he confirmed he’s set to make the trip to Norman next weekend). And OU is sitting in a very good spot with Justin Reid as well. Don’t expect to see many, if any, DB offers go out because OU knows they are in very good position with all of these prospects. And if a decision was made today, they’d likely get all the guys we just listed.

Wide Receiver – OU is essentially done at this position. The only receiver that OU will still take at this point, as we understand it, is Ryan Newsome. And, interestingly, OU is in Newsome’s Top 4.

Running Back – OU is believed to be done at this position.

The two positions where things are still a ways from being resolved are at the TE and the Linebacker spots. To be honest, there isn’t really any spin we can put on the LB recruiting at the moment. Hopefully, OU can land some of the targets they’ve got right now in guys like Amante Caban, Cassius Peat, Khaylan Thomas, etc. Recruiting is a lot about leverage. You need a commit or two to create that sense of urgency in other recruits.

Consider a player like Dru Samia, who was all but wrapped up to UCLA, and then takes a visit out to OU. He could have easily said, ‘I’ll make my decision after my official to OU’ (which he won’t take until Bedlam) so that his family can see the school. But instead he committed almost immediately. Simply put, OU needs to create some momentum right now when it comes to their LB recruiting.

– UPDATE (Fri., 12:30 pm): OU has rescheduled their previously announced non-conference home-and-home match-up with LSU for 2027-28. If you’ll recall, OU postponed the LSU series back in late 2013 when they announced a home-and-home agreement with UCLA. Feel free to make all the necessary jokes about how it’s a ridiculously long time from now.

– UPDATE (Fri., 4:50 pm): Doesn’t sound like GameDay will be coming to Norman for those of you who might have been expecting and/or planning on it.

Game Day producer Lee Fitting says the show is going somewhere off the radar next Saturday. "Not easily predictable at all." "A shocker."

— CoachingSearch.com (@coachingsearch) September 5, 2014