Weekend Open Post | February 16th – 18th
Posted on: February 16, 2024
Big Board | Class of ’25 Quarterbacks
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 12, 2024
Continuing to roll out the Sooners class of ’25 Big Boards.
Today we will have a look at the Sooners Quarterback Board.
Currently, the Sooners have offers out to 3 quarterbacks.
ICYMI:
Quarterbacks (3)
KJ Lacey – Saraland – (Saraland, AL) – 6-1 180 – Texas Commit
Julian Lewis – Carrollton – (Carrollton, GA) – 6-1 175 – USC Commit
Kevin Sperry – Carl Albert – (Midwest City, OK) – 6-1 198 – OU Commit
Commits at this time: 1
Kevin Sperry
Number of commits OU is looking to take out of high school: 1
One thing Jeff Lebby did very well before he left for the head coaching job at Mississippi State was to restock the quarterback room that he inherited from the guy who fled west in the middle of the night.
Lebby was left with no legitimate quarterbacks when he took the job at OU as Caleb Williams was intending to enter the transfer portal and it was pretty obvious that he would not be in Norman when the season rolled around. Lebby went out and got Dillon Gabriel from the portal, Nick Evers from the high school class, Davis Beville and General Booty from the portal. Lebby did a solid job that cycle with the time crunch he had and the lack of viable backup quarterbacks for Dillon Gabriel.
He also recruited Jackson Arnold and got him locked down early with a good eval as Arnold went on to blossom into one of, if not the best quarterback in his class.
The Sooners and Lebby were caught with their pants down against TCU and Texas when Dillon Gabriel got hurt and they had no competent backup to come in and actually, you know, run the offense as a quarterback. That is another story to get into, but it’s tough to put all the blame on Lebby when you look at the disaster of a QB room he was left with by the prior regime.
With the script written for Jackson Arnold to take over as QB in the ’24 season, regardless of what Dillon Gabriel was going to do, OU pushed to take two quarterbacks in the ’24 class. Oklahoma earned the signatures of Michael Hawkins and Brendan Zurbrugg and added them to a room that was growing in talent but lacking in experience.
Lebby leaves in the offseason, Brent Venables and Seth Littrell work with Casey Thompson and his family and get him to come to Norman for his 7th and final year of eligibility and suddenly the quarterback room looks deep and talented and has a veteran presence in there to help shepherd the young guys along.
So that brings us to the ’25 class, which still has Lebby’s fingerprints on it as the Sooners received a commitment last March from Kevin Sperry who was at Prosper, Texas at the time. Sperry and his family were (and still are) the definition of ‘All-In’ as the family moved to Oklahoma where he enrolled and attends Carl Albert with about 100 other OU targets/commits (exaggeration obviously, but it is definitely a hotbed for OU commits/targets).
Sperry is a guy who did not receive much national attention during his junior season and is ranked as a solid quarterback, but not the lofty ranking that OU fans are used to from their signal callers.
Part of the ranking, in my opinion, is that ‘out of sight equals out of mind’ for the ranking services and Sperry was not in an offense last year that was designed to put up gaudy and impressive passing numbers. Sperry had a solid year, but nothing spectacular as his stat line read: 131 completions on 191 attempts for 2564 which was good for a .686 completion percentage with 31 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in 14 games. He just wasn’t called upon to do too much, but he still led his team to a state title.
I think you can expect Sperry to open some eyes throughout his senior season as Carl Albert will look much different. For instance, OU running back Xavier Robinson alone carried the ball more times (229) than Sperry threw passes last season (191) and chances are Sperry will be called upon to do more to make that offense go.
Bottom line: I don’t expect Sperry to be a 5* guy this cycle…it’s likely too late for him to make a huge splash for the network sites outside of Oklahoma as there is really nothing sexy about his recruitment and there is little narrative to push at this time. Still, I think he is a very good quarterback prospect who will physically mature throughout the next couple of years. He also is constantly in Norman so I expect him to be very familiar with the program, the scheme, the players, and the coaches which will be an advantage once he enrolls and gets on campus. This is a case of paying little attention to his ranking as he is the QB OU wanted while Lebby was here, and still wants now under Littrell.
Sourced Team Notes | Additional Leaders Emerge
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 12, 2024
Was speaking to a source last week who passed along a couple of interesting notes on the leadership situation for the Sooners.
***First, source said that Jacob Lacey is really starting to emerge as one of the overall team leaders. Source noted that while OU has very solid leadership at every level on the defense, Lacey is a guy who commands the team’s attention without even having to say much.
***Source provided an example of a recent workout where the drill was not going well and the players were perhaps not quite as sharp for whatever reason and it was sloppy. Apparently, Lacey took it upon himself to stop the entire drill, have a few words with the whole group that was working at the time, and asked Schmidty to ‘Just start the count over, we’re gonna do this right’.
***On the offensive side of the ball, source noted that the two Jakes (Sexton and Taylor) are starting to get other members of the offensive line involved with leading the rest of the offense. Source said that Bedenbaugh and Littrell have really focused on the offensive line becoming more vocal and visible as leaders in their messaging to the team and it sounds like Sexton continues to be at the front of the herd and Taylor is right there with him. Makes sense as they are the two holdovers who have been in Norman the longest and we know Sexton also has the respect of the rest of the offense coming into winter camp anyway.
***One final note to wrap things up…the defensive freshmen…yeah, they are turning some heads. Still lots of talk about Stone, Jackson, Smith, Okoye, Powers and Boganowski, but another name that is being talked about a lot is EDGE Wyatt Gilmore. Source mentioned that Gilmore is a guy who is very physically mature for a freshman and noted he has ‘man strength’ already. Now, I am not sure exactly what qualifies as ‘man strength’ to this source, but it’s never a bad thing to hear about impressive feats of strength in winter training. Anyway, source went on to say that if Gilmore stays healthy, they believe he has a chance to miss a redshirt and make an impact as the season goes on.
Smooth out the Inconsistency
– Super K – Posted on: February 13, 2024
Based on some conversations I’ve had, I get the sense that part of the theme for this off-season and going into the fall is going to be something I feel will go a long when in addressing some of the question marks fans have about the program…
Smoothing out the inconsistencies.
I know that’s always an emphasis but I get the sense it will be a bigger one with OU.
It’s been an issue that has plagued Brent a bit sense he got here. Even in year one, despite the roster issues, he had chances to win a lot of games they lost. They just need to be a little more consistent at times.
There are often too many erratic swings in their performance.
Even in the bowl game against Arizona. We’d see a quarter of atrocious defensive play and then a quarter of fantastic defensive play.
The offense did the same thing not only in the Arizona game but throughout the season.
I think this is the priority and if Brent resolves this issue then I think the Sooners have a very good 2024 season.
I also think it will help calm some fan nerves because my sense is that’s where some of the anxiety is coming from. The staff seems to understand that.
2025 DB Update | Marcus Wimberly
– Super K – Posted on: February 13, 2024
As you know, Charlie mentioned that 2025 DB, Marcus Wimberly (Bauxite, AR) will be back in Norman on April 9th.
You may have seen Wimberly is starting to pick up predictions to OU.
Here’s what I can tell you…
Sooners are in as good of a position as they want to be.
We are currently waiting to hear back on just how good of a position they want to be in. Clearly there is interest from the Sooners but we want to confirm that he’s definitely a take.
5-Star DB Jonah Williams | Update
– Super K – Posted on: February 15, 2024
Stop by Galveston Ball High School earlier this week to see Sooners 2025 5-star DB target, Jonah Williams.
A few initial notes that I want to pass along…
***I think the Sooners are in a pretty good spot. The relationship between Jonah and BV and B Hall appears to be pretty tight.
***He’s a two sport guy so he also likes the OU baseball program.
***Jonah still has some visits to take this spring which I’ll get into later. The Sooners will be one of those visits.
***I do not think he’s quite ready to make a decision. It’s looking more like something will happen post spring visits.
***He is a very good fit for OU as a player and in terms of culture. Solid solid young man. I think he can tell the cultural fit is there, as well.
***By the way, I was thinking on this again, yesterday, it’s amazing how BV and co so regularly put OU in real striking distance with such highly sought after defensive prospects. We’ve been covering OU for a while now and the PTSD from the previous defensive regimes (which includes late Bob Stoops era) is perhaps still with me. I’m still amazed that BV is so competitive with these top defensive players.
Sourced Recruiting Note | Safety Position
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 15, 2024
Just wanted to pass along a sourced note we picked up this week in regard to recruiting the safety position in the ’25 class.
As you know, earlier this week, Super K posted an update on Marcus Wimberly HERE.
In that note K wrote:
“Here’s what I can tell you…
Sooners are in as good of a position as they want to be.
We are currently waiting to hear back on just how good of a position they want to be in. Clearly there is interest from the Sooners but we want to confirm that he’s definitely a take.”
Source indicates that the Sooners are very much focused on Jonah Williams and Omarion Robinson, and they believe they are in a good position with both of them at this time.
So, it will be a bit of a balancing act here as OU will likely want to know their fate with Robinson and Williams before they push their chips in elsewhere as right now, we are told OU is looking for two safety prospects in this cycle.
The good news is, it doesn’t look like any bridges are close to being burned with any other targets at this time as there does not appear to be a guy who is in a rush to pull the trigger.
Expect OU to continue casting a wide net and build communication and relationships elsewhere, but there will need to be some patience exercised until a couple of dominoes fall one way or another.
Big Board | Class of ’25 Tight Ends
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 14, 2024
Continuing to roll out the Sooners class of ’25 Big Boards.
Today we will have a look at the Sooners Tight End Board.
Currently, the Sooners have offers out to 7 tight ends.
ICYMI:
Tight End (7)
Ethan Barbour – Alpharetta (Alpharetta, GA) – 6-3 235
Da’Saahn Brame – Derby (Derby, KS) – 6-6 235Nate Roberts
Linkon Cure – Goodland (Goodland, KS) – 6-6 220
Chase Loftin – Millard South (Omaha, NE) – 6-6 215
Nate Roberts – Washington (Washington, OK) – 6-4 235
Bear Tenney – Lehi (Lehi, UT) – 6’4.5 225
Jack Van Dorselaer – Southlake Carroll (Southlake, TX) – 6-5 230
Commits at this time: 0/maybe 1
ATH Trynae Washington – Carl Albert – (Oklahoma City, OK) – 6-3 205 – OU Commit – Possibly a TE
Number of commits OU is looking to take out of high school: 1 possibly 2 if Washington is a TE
in the 2024 class, Joe Jon Finley got his guy in Davon Mitchell. Mitchell was a huge add for the Sooners who are still looking for a tight end rotation that fits their needs and desires after having a rather pedestrian year of production last season.
In 2022, Brayden Willis had a nice year but once he and Daniel Parker left following the season, the Sooners were forced to hit the portal where they picked up Austin Stogner and Blake Smith. Stogner was viewed as the featured tight end last year as Smith was a walk on and more of a blocker while the younger guys couldn’t get and stay healthy.
Kaden Helms and Jason Llewellyn were non factors and freshman Kade McIntyre was injured very early in the season. At many points during the season, the room consisted of Stogner and walk on converted basketball player Josh Fanuiel.
Llewellyn transferred out and the Sooners picked up two nice pieces in the portal in Bauer Sharp and Jake Roberts to add to Mitchell, McIntyre, Fanuiel and possibly Helms. On paper, this looks like a nice room for the ’24 season.
That brings us to the class of ’25 and the hierarchy of the offers is clear. There are three main targets, headlined by in-state product Nate Roberts…who happens to be the brother of recent portal addition Jake Roberts. OU already has one athlete committed who may find himself in the Tight End room in Trynae Washington.
Oklahoma also has Da’Saahn Brahme and Linkon Cure high on their wish list but Roberts is at the top of his list and no matter what happens with the other two, if he decides to choose OU at the end of the day, the Sooners will take him, no questions asked.
Oklahoma is also in consistent communication with Chase Loftin and you can expect the Sooners to get an official visit from him, but I do not get the sense they are pushing for him quite as aggressively at this time as they are the others. Now, that can always change and if OU gets serious about him, they have a very good chance of being at or near the top of his list.
While OU has prioritized Brahme and Cure, neither of them will be an easy battle ad I don’t believe OU leads for either of them at thus time as there are a number of teams who also have them as priorities and have their full attention.
Then you have Roberts, who at one point was committed to Notre Dame. Upon his commitment from the Fighting Irish, it felt like a matter of time until he pledged to Oklahoma, but Ohio State and a few others have made a big impression on him and there are some out there who are really feeling like Ohio State leads.
The Buckeyes may in fact lead for Roberts at this time, but there is a long way to go until signing day and I still am not walking away from my own personal thoughts in regard to OU eventually landing the coveted tight end. To me this one feels a lot like the David Stone recruitment and in the end, right now, I see the same ending for Roberts and OU.
Bottom line at this time: Someone will still have to convince me that Nate Roberts does not sign with the Sooners at the end of the day in order for me to believe it. I am basing this a lot on circumstantial evidence and common sense along with some OU sources feeling good about where they stand with him. I don’t expect Roberts to drag things on too long, feels like he is a guy who could take some officials and then make an announcement in the summer. I will add, even if he doesn’t choose OU initially, I would not count Oklahoma out when push comes to shove and the ink has to hit the paper. If it does not come together as I envision with Roberts, I would keep an eye on Loftin as being the guy in this class.
