The Football Brainiacs

– Robert Barnes: Son of former Sooner, Reggie Barnes, 2017 DB Robert Barnes (6’2″ 185 – Southlake, TX) has already been picking up offers this spring. He added an Iowa offer this past week in addition to those he already held from Duke, Boston College, Nebraska & Oregon State.

Oklahoma has been by to visit Barnes a couple times during this spring period and the staff would like to see him in a camp setting. So Barnes is planning to be in Norman next month to make that happen. With a good showing it’s certainly conceivable that he could pick up an offer at that time. At nearly 6’3″ with great range and a solid pedigree, Barnes certainly has the look and athleticism of a Mike Stoops type of safety. – (Super K)

– Cam Roane: Another camp attendee next month with be 2017 quarterback Cam Roane (6’2″ 195 – Colleyville, TX), who has been picking up a ton of interest with a number of big time programs in the area having visited this spring. In fact, Lincoln Riley is one of those who has stopped by recently. – (Super K)

– Chris Brown: Kerry Cooks and Tim Kish were in Houston this past week to check in with 2016 LB Dontavious Jackson and while taking in a practice, the OU assistant duo came away rather impressed with Jackson’s teammate, 2016 DB Chris Brown.

We spoke with Brown following the OU offer, and he says the Sooners will be a strong player in his recruitment. And he’s also planning a visit to Norman for later this summer. – (Brandon)

– Brey Walker: I went and watched the stud Southmoore 2018 offensive lineman yesterday during practice and was not disappointed. I’d even go so far as to say Walker is the best freshman OL I have ever seen. Even with being a 2018 kid, the attention has already started and will only continue to increase. OU has already offered, as have a number of other schools, and Michigan — who has been doing a lot of recruiting in the state this past week — also added their name to the hat with an offer on Thursday.

This will be a name you continue to hear more and more about, not only from an OK Preps perspective but nationally as well. – (Brandon)

– Keith Ford: As many of you are well aware by now, Ford is planning to transfer to Texas A&M. And somewhat surprisingly, he has given several interviews in which it can be construed as though he’s bad-mouthing OU and their staff.

It’s hard to see what purpose this serves considering Bob Stoops gave him a full release, preventing any restrictions as to where he would be allowed to transfer, and given the nature of the suspension that led to him being removed from the program this past spring.

Even being as unhappy with your situation as he has led everyone to believe he was, one would think you’d be much better served to at the very least be complimentary of your former school/staff. That’s if you even feel compelled to saying anything at all rather than simply choosing to focus on your future versus the past. And maybe these quotes are being misinterpreted, but again why even put yourself in a position for that to happen in the first place.

But to each their own I suppose. – (TFB)

– Asante Samuel & Benjamin Sapp: The Sooners offered teammates and 2018 defensive backs Samuel (5’10” 163 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and Sapp (5’10” 160 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL) on Thursday. Both have fathers who played in the NFL as well as pretty extensive offers lists already, especially for 2018 kids. It’s obviously super early for 2018 offers, but based simply on geography alone one would have to believe OU will have their work cut out for them here. – (TFB)

– Deonte Williams: Cooks continues to flood the market with offers, extending another on Thursday to 2016 DB Deonte Williams (6’1″ 218 – Plano, TX). – (TFB)

– Jordan Elliott: OU failed to make the cut for the 2016 DT, who did hold an offer from the Sooners. – (TFB)

https://twitter.com/JAE__95/status/601560857248534528

– Ed Oliver: Just wanted to briefly address this topic as it seemingly overtook Twitter on Thursday night. If you weren’t already aware, Oliver is a 2016 DT and, according to many, one of the top players in the country. He committed to Houston last night and a gaggle of recruitniks lost their collective you-know-what on Twitter when it happened.

This isn’t related to OU in so much as despite being his very first offer, the Sooners weren’t really believed to be much of a player in Oliver’s recruitment. That said, if a school like Houston can start to land players like Oliver then it only further increases the difficulty for a school like OU to come in and recruit the state.

However, that is said with two major caveats. First, it’s just one kid. A talented one at that, but still just one guy. Second, it’s VERY much worth mentioning that Oliver has a brother on the Houston team and a former high school coach now on the Cougars staff as well. So in that regard it’s not exactly as though this is some major coup necessarily, but this is also a kid that had offers from schools like Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M, and UCLA. So it’s not exactly something that can be completely disregarded either.

The point being we wouldn’t exactly be breaking news in telling you there is a propensity for Texas kids who would prefer to stay close to home if the right opportunity presents itself. And, yes, OU has had more than their fair share of success recruiting the state of Texas in the past, but again you don’t need us to tell you that hasn’t exactly been the case in recent years.

Between Texas A&M, TCU, Baylor, and even at times Texas Tech, the Sooners have missed out on kids that almost never would have been a possibility in years past. So if you’re going to add yet another in-state school like Houston that, in theory, (potentially) becomes a more attractive option, then it simply makes things that much harder for OU to pull talent out of Texas. – (TFB)

– Treyveon Williams: And before you casually dismiss what we were just saying above, check out the tweet above from Jordan Elliott and that No. 4 team as well as this tweet from 2016 RB and OU offer Treyveon Williams.

So My Boy Ed Oliver Commited To University Of Houston !! Uhhh Ohhh Domino Effect?? #ImStayingHome #H-TownTakeover

— Trayveon Williams (@TrayveonW) May 22, 2015

Admittedly, it’s the smallest of sample sizes but it also illustrates the points we were making above. Certainly no reason to sound the alarms just yet, but it’s just something to keep in mind. – (TFB)

– UPDATE (Fri., 9:37 am): Rivals’ Auburn site is reporting that Michigan grad transfer, Blake Countess, will take an official visit to Oklahoma May 29-31.