Weekend Open Post | January 24th – 26th
Posted on: January 24, 2025
Working Visitor List | January 25th Junior Day
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 21, 2025
The Sooners will be hosting their first junior day event this weekend for the class of 2026 and beyond.
Below you will find our working list of visitors that OU is expecting to host for the event.
As always, the list can and will change and just because a recruit’s name may not be included at this time, it does not mean they will not be in attendance and some of the names listed may have a change of plans.
OU Commits
QB Jaden O’Neal – Long Beach, CA – OU Commit
TE Ryder Mix – Frisco, TX – OU Commit
OU Offers
RB Kaydin Jones – Jenks, OK
WR Jabari Brady – Fort Lauderdale, FL
WR Aljour Miles – Kaufman, TX
WR Daniel Odom – Bellflower, CA
WR Jayden Warren – Rosharon, TX
OL Noah Best – Midlothian, TX
OL Pupungatoa Katoa – Euless, TX
OL Pulelei’ite Primus – Midland, TX
DL Tavian Branch – Taylor, PA.
DL Kamhariyan Johnson – Muscle Shoals, AL
EDGE Kevin Ford Jr. – Duncanville, TX
LB Cincere Johnson – Cleveland, OH
DB Kaiden Hall – Milton, FL
DB Braeden Presley – Bixby, OK
Look Ahead | 2025 Interior Defensive Line Room
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 21, 2025
With the 2024 season in the books and most of the winter portal work done, it is time to look ahead to the 2025 season.
I will go through the position rooms one by one and note who left, who remains, and who is coming in.
Obviously, the spring transfer portal window can and will have an impact on some of the rooms, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Previous looks ahead:
Today we look at the Interior Defensive Line room.
Who is out:
DaJon Terry – 6’3 330 – 75.0 PFF rating – 317 snaps
Ashton Sanders (portal) – 6’1 297 – 3 years of eligibility – 79.2 PFF rating – 28 snaps
Davon Sears (portal) – 6’2 297 – 1 year of eligibility – 75.5 PFF rating – 31 snaps
Who returns:
David Stone – 6’3 296 – 3 years of eligibility – 75.7 PFF rating – 94 snaps
Damonic Williams – 6’1 312 – 1 year of eligibility – 73.1 PFF rating – 416 snaps
Gracen Halton – 6’2 285 – 1 year of eligibility – 75.3 PFF rating – 403 snaps
Jayden Jackson – 6’2 312 – 3 years of eligibility – 69.0 PFF rating – 387 snaps
Markus Strong – 6’3 299 – 3 years of eligibility – 85.1 PFF rating – 4 snaps
Nigel Smith – 6’4 275 – 4 years of eligibility – 59.1 PFF rating – 2 snaps
Who is coming in:
Trenton Wilson – 6’3 270 – 4 years of eligibility
Outlook:
The interior defensive line room was pretty clearly the most impressive and most effective room across the board for the Sooners during the 2024 season.
Todd Bates lost one really big piece of that room as DaJon Terry has exhausted his eligibility and he will head off to try his luck at the next level.
The Sooners made it a priority to retain the services of Damonic Williams and Gracen Halton during the offseason and they were successful in their efforts to entice them to remain in Norman for one more year.
OU also had to play defense when it came to retaining their young talent in Jayden Jackson and David Stone who had multiple teams make strong NIL overtures to them. Once again the Sooners were successful in their efforts to retain these guys, but do not be fooled, other programs will continue to whisper sweet nothings in their ears. OU will remain vigilant and they look to have a very strong nucleus as they head into 2025.
The Sooners lost young Ashton Sanders w(who flashed at times) and Davon Sears (who was a depth piece) to the portal. Sanders was looking for someplace where he could get on the field sooner and UCLA provided that opportunity. As far as I know, Sears is still in the portal and should OU decide they would like him back, I am sure he would be open to it.
You may notice that I included Nigel Smith in the interior defensive line room. I did that based on some sourcing which I have noted that indicates Nigel will be (and has begun) to work more with Todd Bates and the IDL guys. I will not call this a completed transition at this point, but I believe all parties involved see this is the way to get the most out of Nigel’s potential. I will also list him with the EDGE room when I post that look ahead, but I think by the time fall camp rolls around, Nigel will be one of Bates’ boys full-time. We will see.
Trenton Wilson was a big win on the recruiting trail for Bates and company. Wilson is one of the better IDL guys in his class and OU managed to pick up a guy who I believe will be a future 2 or 3-year starter in a pretty down year nationally for IDL. Really nice addition.
Moving forward, we know the Sooners will continue to scour the portal for another addition. OU has had success in the spring portal cycle with IDL guys like Damonic Williams and DaJon Terry in the past and I have little reason to believe that Todd Bates will not find and acquire what he is looking for in the spring.
Look Ahead | 2025 EDGE Room
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 22, 2025
With the 2024 season in the books and most of the winter portal work done, it is time to look ahead to the 2025 season.
I will go through the position rooms one by one and note who left, who remains, and who is coming in.
Obviously, the spring transfer portal window can and will have an impact on some of the rooms, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Previous looks ahead:
Today we look at the EDGE room.
Who is out:
Ethan Downs – 6’4 263 – 78.3 PFF rating – 496 snaps
Caiden Woullard – 6’4 264 – 76.1 PFF rating – 200 snaps
Trace Ford – 6’2 252 – 70.9 PFF rating – 321 snaps
Who returns:
R Mason Thomas – 6’2 243 – 1 year of eligibility – 72.5 PFF rating – 530 snaps
PJ Adebawore – 6’4 253 – 2 years of eligibility – 58.5 PFF rating – 119 snaps
Taylor Wein – 6’4 – 265 – 3 years of eligibility – 59.2 PFF rating – 34 snaps
Danny Okoye – 6’3 245 – 4 years of eligibility – 30.8 PFF rating – 9 snaps
Wyatt Gilmore – 6’4 250 – 4 years of eligibility – 68.6 PFF rating – 2 snaps
Nigel Smith – 6’4 275 – 4 years of eligibility – 59.1 PFF rating – 2 snaps
Who is coming in:
Marvin Jones Jr – 6’5 255 0 1 year of eligibility – 61.6 PFF rating – 387 snaps
CJ Nickson – 6’5 220 – 4 years of eligibility
Alex Shieldnight – 6’3 235 – 4 years of eligibility
Outlook:
The talent in the Oklahoma EDGE room going into the 2025 season is undeniable. You have a boatload of high-end talent with size, speed, and length.
OU had a massive win in the player retention game this offseason when they were able to lock in R Mason Thomas for one more year. RMT was one of the most dynamic EDGE players in the country last season and he was also a guy who showed up when it mattered most as he took over games late on multiple occasions.
The Sooners do lose three guys who brought a lot of experience and steadiness to the defense in Ethan Downs, Trace Ford and Caiden Woullard. Downs in particular will be missed as he really developed into a steady and dependable EDGE setter against the run and he had a motor that would not quit. Woullard and Ford also had solid years for the Sooners last season and OU will have a lot of snaps to replace with those guys moving on.
PJ Adebawore enters his 3rd year in Norman and he battled injuries for much of last season. It’s really a case of now or never in regard to Adebawore living up to his 5-star tag coming into college and the Sooners are hoping a healthy Adebawore makes that jump that many expect him to make.
The Sooners dipped into the transfer portal for Marvin Jones Jr who has spent time at Georgia and Florida State. Jones had his best season last year for the Seminoles and the Sooners are hoping that this year he reaches his full potential and has a big year in Norman.
After RMT, Adebawore, and Jones, I think one guy who may be ready to make a move is Taylor Wein. He started to pick up some snaps late in the year last season and he is a big body who moves quite well. If the game slows down a bit for him, he could be a really nice fill in for Downs and Woullard. Also, don’t sleep on Wyatt Gilmore making an impact.
Nigel Smith is a guy who I have listed at both IDL and EDGE. I think as the spring and summer roll on, he will likely see less and less time with the EDGE guys and more time with Todd Bates and crew, but until that becomes official, he still could have an opportunity in the EDGE room.
Bottom line, this room has a lot of potential. It is filled with guys like Danny Okoye who have unlimited ceilings, but like Okoye, many in the room are very raw and need to be developed.
Miguel Chavis has his work cut out for him in developing the younger guys, but he enters the year with one bonafide stud in R Mason Thomas and two other guys who have incredibly high ceilings who will likely be featured in PJ Adebawore and Marvin Jones Jr.
Look Ahead | 2025 Linebacker Room
– Charlie S – Posted on: January 23, 2025
With the 2024 season in the books and most of the winter portal work done, it is time to look ahead to the 2025 season.
I will go through the position rooms one by one and note who left, who remains, and who is coming in.
Obviously, the spring transfer portal window can and will have an impact on some of the rooms, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Previous looks ahead:
Today we look at the Linebacker room.
Who is out:
Danny Stutsman – 6’4 243 – 76.0 PFF rating – 709 snaps
Lewis Carter (portal) – 6’0 224 – 2 years of eligibility – 77.9 PFF rating – 126 snaps
Dasan McCullough (portal) – 6’5 235 – 1 year of eligibility – 62.9 PFF rating – 160 snaps
Phil Picciotti (portal) – 6’3 245 – 3-4 years of eligibility
Who returns:
Kip Lewis – 6’1 215 – 2 years of eligibility – 68.7 PFF rating – 470 snaps
Kobie McKinzie – 6’2 242 – 2 years of eligibility – 63.3 PFF rating – 337 snaps
Jaren Kanak – 6’2 232 – 1 year of eligibility – 66.3 PFF rating – 92 snaps
Sammy Omosigho – 6’2 229 – 2 years of eligibility – 77.8 PFF rating – 301 snaps
James Nesta – 6’3 220 – 4 years of eligibility – 57.0 PFF rating – 6 snaps
Taylor Heim – 6’6 216 – 3 years of eligibility
Who is coming in:
Kendal Daniels – 6’4 235 – 1 year of eligibility – 65.1 PFF rating – 715 snaps
Marcus James – 6’3 210 – 4 years of eligibility – Summer enrollee
Outlook:
It is always a blow to a room when you lose an All-American like Danny Stutsman and that cannot be overlooked as the Sooners enter the 2025 season.
However, if there is one room, currently, that can take a hit like that, it is the linebacker room at OU as they have some very talented and experienced players to try to fill the void with.
Kip Lewis, Kobie McKinzie, and Sammy Omosigho appear to be, on paper, the group that you would roll out there for game one snap one at MIKE, WILL, and Sam/Cheetah.
Jaren Kanak is also an experienced guy with a lot of talent that the Sooners are hoping things click for.
OU also brought in another fantastic athlete in Kendal Daniels who will spend the last year of his collegiate eligibility in Norman. Daniels is a guy who could/will compete for playing time at the inside linebacker spots as well as Cheetah. I would not be surprised to see him win a starting spot during fall camp at one position or another and if he doesn’t, he will likely be among the first off the bench.
The loss of Lewis Carter is one that stings as he is a fantastic athlete and had a bright future in Norman, but he didn’t have a clear path to significant playing time this year and that appears to be what he is looking for.
Dasan McCullough was really a man without a position and it was likely best for both parties that he moved on, but we will always have the RRS goal line stand to remember him by.
One thing you hope to see is Heim and Nesta progressing to the point where they start to get meaningful reps
Once again, the Sooners should be very good at linebacker next year. The one concern is the lack of young impactful guys for the 2026 season and beyond…but lets cross that bridge when we get there.
Overall, I expect the OU linebacker room to be very good next year.
