Weekend Open Post | February 23rd – 25th
Posted on: February 23, 2024
Quick Note on Sandlin
– Super K – Posted on: February 20, 2024
Under Lincoln, some of the personnel guys played really critical roles. As far as I can gather from my sources, that doesn’t seem to be the case under Brent.
I never got the sense that Sandlin played a critical role probably in part because under BV it’s the position coaches that do the heavy lifting and the set up.
So, while I suppose this move is news, it really isn’t in my opinion. I just don’t see it impacting recruiting. The assistants do their own evals and they go get the players and let’s be real, they do a good job of it. And, they have it rolling right now.
Big Board | Class of ’25 Safety
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 20, 2024
Continuing to roll out the Sooners class of ’25 Big Boards.
Today we will have a look at the Sooners Safety Board.
Currently, the Sooners have offers out to 16 Safeties.
ICYMI:
Safety (16)
Martels Carter – Paducah Tilghman – (Paducah, KY)
Kendall Daniels – Maury – (Norfolk, VA) – 6-3 187
Anquon Fegans – Thompson – (Oxford, AL) – 6-0 190
Jaedon Harmon – Rome – (Rome, GA) – 6-1 205
Jadyn Hudson – Pittsburg -(Pittsburg, CA) – 6-1 180
CJ Jimcoily – Lipscomb Academy – (Nashville, TN) – 6-3 200
Colin Peacock – Gunter – (Gunter, TX) – 6-1 195
DJ Pickett – Zephyrhills – (Zephyrhills, FL) – 6-3 170
Tyren Polley – Duncanville – (Duncanville, TX) – 5-11 180
Sael Reyes – DeSoto – (East Saint Louis, IL) – 6-0 190
Omarion Robinson – Parkview Magnet – (Little Rock, AR) – 6-0 170
Robert Santiago – De La Salle – (Walnut Creek, CA) – 6-2 175
Hylton Stubbs – Mandarin – (Jacksonville, FL) – 6-2 175
Jonah Williams – Ball – (Galveston, TX) – 6-3 200
Marcus Wimberly – Bauxite – (Bauxite, AR) – 6-1 183
Eric Winters – Enterprise – (Enterprise, AL) – 6-2 195
Keon Young – Lakeland – (Auburndale, FL) – 6-0 171
Commits at this time: 0
Number of commits OU is looking to take out of high school: 2
Billy Bowman returning to the Sooners for the ’24 season was a pleasant (mild) surprise for OU safety coach Brandon Hall and Brent Venables. Bowman is the only pure safety who will exhaust his eligibility following the ’24 season so the number of high school prospects coveted by OU will be limited to a total of two at this time (as always, attrition can change that).
Bowman, Peyton Bowen, and Robert Spears Jenning should be your focal points at safety during the ’24 season so long as they stay healthy. Behind the primary three, you have a mix of youth along with some veterans who could help if the need arises in redshirt freshman Erik McCarty, potentially 6th year senior Justin Harrington (who can play safety), and senior Kendel Dolby (who can play anywhere in the secondary) to go along with inexperienced true freshmen Michael Boganowski, Reggie Powers, Jaydan Hardy, and Mykel Patterson McDonald.
Some of the players mentioned above will play Cheetah as their primary position (or spend a lot of time there) and be cross-training throughout camp and the season (See Boganowski, Michael, as a prime example) while it is likely that guys like Bowen and Dolby will play both safety and Cheetah and I would be surprised if Justin Harrington (as long as he gets his waiver granted) ever plays safety.
As we have reported previously, at this time, on February 20th, the clear priority targets in the class of ’25 at safety are Jonah Williams and Omarion Robinson.
OU feels like they are in a good position for both Williams and Robinson, but they are continuing to recruit other prospects such as Marcus Wimberly and CJ Jimcoily as contingency plans.
Super K has been out to Galveston to see Jonah Williams and we agree that OU is in a good spot there, but it will come down to if Williams is truly intent on taking some additional visits this spring or if he is ready to shut it down and pledge to the Sooners. OU is being very aggressive with him on both the football and baseball front and “Two Sport U” may have their next athlete on the clock.
Robinson is a guy that likes OU a lot, but other programs will continue to try to pull him their way and this one could be a bit trickier to read the longer it goes. I expect him to make his way back to Norman this spring and if things go well, you could start to see some serious momentum heading towards the Sooners.
Bottom line: It’s pretty straightforward…OU is waiting for some additional confirmation about their standing with Williams and Robinson before they put the press on any other target. They are in good shape for both and should they be able to close on them, that wraps up your safety class.
Sourced Team Notes
– Super K – Posted on: February 21, 2024
Spoke to a source. A few off-season sourced notes here to wet your whistle…
***Was told the WR room is stacked but despite that, Deion Burks is still separating himself. Rave reviews about him coming in.
***Was told, again, the OL concerns are unfounded. I continue to hear good things on the OL.
***Also, was told a young guy that is standing out (have already mentioned a few in previous posts) is Isaiah Autry. It’s just off-season right now but was told the staff likes the way he moves.
***On the young DL, was told it’s too early to say. Source said the potential appears there but with that particular position, it’s just too hard to tell until there is actual violence.
***Also, was told that overall they are seeing yet another jump in talent and development. You’ll recall the staff felt that way last year and we saw the results on the field. It seems they feel the same this year and that is to be expected given this is year three for Brent. Have to say, would’ve been nice if Lebby would’ve given Arnold more live throwing snaps last season.
***I will say that while most have questions about the OL, I really don’t think that’s going to be an issue. The question I have right now is what will the DL look like. There is a lot of unproven talent in there. Not saying it’s anything to worry about right now. Just saying, that’s the position we will be asking about a lot in the spring to see who emerges.
Big Board | Class of ’25 EDGE
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 22, 2024
Continuing to roll out the Sooners class of ’25 Big Boards.
Today we will have a look at the Sooners EDGE Board.
Currently, the Sooners have offers out to 1o EDGE players.
ICYMI:
EDGE (11)
Bryce Davis – Grimsley – (Greensboro, NC) – 6-2.5 245
Mariyon Dye – Elkhart Central – (Elkhart, IN) – 6-6 235
Isaiah Gibson – Warner Robins – (Warner Robins, GA) – 6-4 245
Jakaleb Faulk – Highland Home – (Highland Home, AL) – 6-3.5 225 – Auburn Commit
Max Granville – Fort Bend Christian Academy – (Sugar Land, TX) – 6-3 220
Darren Ikinnagbon – Hillside – (Hillside, NJ) – 6-5 240
Gabe Kaminski – Nazareth Academy – (La Grange Park, IL) – 6-3 215
Smith Orogbo – Alief Hastings – (Houston, TX) – 6-5 215
Kade Pietrzak – Sheyenne – (West Fargo, ND) – 6-5 240
Alexander Shieldnight – Wagoner – (Wagoner, OK) – 6-3 220 – OU Commit
Jayden Woods – Mill Valley – (Shawnee, KS) – 6-3 228
ATH: CJ Nickson – Weatherford – (Weatherford, OK) – 6-5 216
Commits at this time: 1
Alex Shieldnight
Number of commits OU is looking to take out of high school: 3
Sooners EDGE coach Miguel Chavis has done a really solid (some would say spectacular) job of populating his room with tremendous athletes. There is no shortage of talent in the Oklahoma EDGE room, however to this point of his tenure, Chavis’ room has not produced much in the way of ‘shock and awe’ on the playing field.
On the field in ’24 OU will once again deploy a bunch of talented players from the EDGE position, the question will be, who will see a jump in production and who fits the scheme the best? If the Sooners primarily use an odd front, you don’t have a ton of guys who are suited to be three down EDGE players currently.
OU returns Ethan Downs, R Mason Thomas, PJ Adebawore, and Trace Ford and they added Caiden Woullard from the transfer portal to the roster as guys who have some experience. They also have Taylor Wein who is coming off a freshman redshirt. Downs, Woullard, and Ford will all exhaust their eligibility following the ’24 season.
OU brought in a stout freshman class in Danny Okoye, Nigel Smith, and Wyatt Gilmore and even better, they all enrolled early so they will go through spring with the program.
Looking at all those names above…yeah there is a lot of talent. Now it will be about coaching them up and developing that group. Clock is ticking and OU needs to have a breakout year there, but thats another article for another time.
As for the ’25 class, Oklahoma holds one commitment in Alex Shieldnight and they are in a nice spot for several other priority targets.
In a perfect world, Oklahoma will close on two of Max Granville (who we continue to reprt that they lead for) CJ Nickson, and Smith Orogbo. Orogbo has already visited Norman and he had some nice reviews of his visit, and we do expect him to make an official visit to OU down the line. Nickson is not listed in the EDGE offer list as he has an ATH tag, but that is where OU is primarily recruiting him and I believe OU is in a very good position there at this time (may just be a matter of time in fact).
Bottom line: With Shieldnight in the fold, OU can be a bit patient (if they have to) with Granville, Nickson and Orogbo and I am sure if they start feeling an sense of unease with where they stand with those guys, they will be able to turn up the heat on some of the other targets. The way I see it right now, I would wager that the class ends up with Shieldnight, Nickson and Granville in it…which would be another tremendous class for Chavis and Venables.
Max Granville | Decision Timeline
– Super K – Posted on: February 22, 2024
As you’ll recall, I recently noted that 2025 DE, Max Granville (Fort Bend Christian) had been considering whether he wants to commit soon or hold off and take some spring visits.
I also noted that we like where the Sooners are right now.
I did check in with Max and it looks like he has decided to hold off.
He said, “I decided to wait it out and most likely take my OVs this summer and then make a decision.”
Again, you should be somewhat used to this by now. With BV’s no visit policy, the Sooners are often going to land a lot of their commitments closer to the summer.
Talking Point | Changes Coming to the Calendar?
– Charlie S – Posted on: February 22, 2024
Per a report from the Athletic, the NCAA is strongly considering pushing ‘early signing day’ forward to early December and in front of conference championship weekend.
The signing period would take place prior to the transfer portal opening. The transfer portal opens up after the college football playoff committee selects the teams for the playoffs.
Also, the powers that be are also considering an actual ‘early’ signing period in June or August.
This all sounds eerily similar to me…almost like I have been suggesting it for a couple years now!
If these new periods are put into action, the calendar does ease up a little for coaching staffs as they would be able to focus on one thing at a time…at least off the field.
I am a big fan of the summer signing period and I actually think that would be something OU would be big supporters of as they like to do most of their heavy lifting in the spring/summer as far as recruiting goes and they aren’t super enthused to have to focus on recruiting heavily during the season (as evidenced by the large majority of their ‘big events’ being held in the spring and summer).
I like that the NCAA is doing this, but it is still too little too late to save them IMO as the SEC and B1G are destined to be moving out in a rather short time frame.
But hey, at least for one year, the coaching staffs will have a little breather.
