Weekend Open Post | May 8th – 10th
Posted on: May 8, 2026
California Dreaming | Keeping an Eye On UCLA
– Charlie S – Posted on: May 4, 2026
The Sooners have made a splash on the West Coast in the 2027 cycle as they have received verbal pledges from four Californians.
LB Taven Epps, WR Demare Dezeurn, DT Elija Harmon and DT Sione Felila are all Golden State Sooner pledges, and at one point, OU was in line to receive the commitment of CB Juju Johnson.
With USC taking a small class this cycle, it looked like smooth sailing for the Sooners in regard to real in-state California competition, but all of a sudden, UCLA has found its pocketbook, and they are on a spending spree, which has created a lot of buzz on the West Coast.
UCLA has pulled in a bunch of commitments, including Juju Johnson and they are not done spending.
Why is this important to OU fans…well…source out that way tells me UCLA does have interest in all four of the OU commits to one degree or another. Right now, it sounds like the Bruins are starting to ramp up a push for WR Demare Dezeurn. While Dezeurn has not shown any signs of being shaky in his commitment to OU, he is a guy I am paying attention to as the Sooners are already playing a bit of defense with another WR commit as Tra’Von Hall will be taking a bunch of official visits this spring and right now, it would not surprise me if he (Hall) is not a member of this class (not saying he won’t but I would not be surprised if he is not).
As for Epps, Harmon, and Felila, we will see if UCLA can make any progress there, but I have noted from the beginning that Elija Harmon will be a guy that a lot of teams will be getting aggressive for, and I expect UCLA to make a big pitch there. Each of these guys is saying all the right things about OU and where things stand, so that is a positive.
Not trying to sound any alarms right now, but just trying to keep the community up to speed on things out west.
Stacking Defensive Linemen | Remembering the not so Good Old Days
– Super K – Posted on: May 5, 2026
Yesterday, I saw this camp clip of Sooners 2027 DE commit, Krew Jones…
That’s a junior standing nearly 6’5 weighing 230+ lbs. So quick so smooth for any size but when you’re doing that at that size, needless to say it’s a problem (for opponents)
Watching him and seeing BV and co just continue to add pass rushers, inside defensive line defenders is such a welcomed change. It got me to thinking about a conversation I had with a staffer during Lincoln’s tenure. I don’t recall if I shared this with you at the time because it’s not so much a story but an image…
It was during the OU vs LSU playoff game. As you’ll recall the wheels came off pretty quick and it was clear to Lincoln that his strategy of trying to outscore everyone wasn’t going to work.
So, in this moment of – maybe desperation – he looks over at the bench of defensive linemen and the staffer told me, the air just went right out of Lincoln. He saw he had no bullets in the chamber and it was barely into the second quarter. There was no one there to take over the game. There was barely even a rotation of competent front line defenders.
Staffer said, Lincoln didn’t quick coaching or anything but “he knew what we all knew.”
As I watched the Sooners finally get some defensive linemen drafted. As I watched other teams terrified of R Mason. As I see the next crop of guys stepping up at OU and then I watch a clip of the future having their way at camps, it reminds me of how far the Sooners are from that moment and that “look” in Lincoln’s face knowing he was thoroughly outmatched with no where to turn.
Sooner Front Reduces the Balance Sheet | Sourced
– Super K – Posted on: May 5, 2026
As you know, Sooners DB target, Juju Johnson (Long Beach, CA) committed to UCLA yesterday. The Sooners weren’t certainly in this one but…
In my previous post, I talked about the stark difference between what’s in the chamber up front at OU vs what used to be. And some of you rightly pointed out that the back end was an issue as well.
That is true but with an important caveat.
The front end at OU makes the back end a heck of a lot easier. You can ask anyone in the building and they’ll likely tell you that OU’s emphasis on the front and BV’s creativity in getting pressure means the back end doesn’t have to be a bunch of a first rounders. They don’t have to be burners or absolutely elite cover guys.
Do you want that? Sure. But you have to make choices in this era which brings me to Juju.
I had heard a while back that Juju was going to be pricey.
Will OU pay a premium for an in-state freak of an athlete like Osborne, sure. But generally, OU is not likely to be in the business of paying premiums on the back end. The marginal difference it makes within their scheme, probably doesn’t make financial sense for them.
They play a ton of zone and they need fairly athletic guys who are very smart and play with good technique. If you can have a bunch of Patrick Peterson’s you take it but the juice has to be worth the squeeze and BV, unlike say someone like Gary Patterson, still builds thing front to back with an emphasis on disruption and pressure.
Recruiting | Sooners Extend New Wide Receiver Offer
– Charlie S – Posted on: May 6, 2026
Yesterday, the Sooners threw their hat in the ring with an offer to 2027 wide receiver Taurean Rawlins (6’0 175) out of Atlanta, Georgia.
Rawlins is a dynamic athlete who has flown under the radar in this cycle until recently, when he has seen his recruitment blow up with offers from Ohio State, Miami, Indiana, Florida State and Nebraska, among others, since the spring eval period opened in April.
After speaking with a source, I’m not sure OU will have a huge impact on his recruitment. I’m not counting them out yet, but the source noted that with all the options he is picking up and with the track record and geography of some of those other programs taken into account, the Sooners are fighting an uphill battle.
The bigger picture for me is that OU is making some new evals and offers and they are not blind to the fact that there could be some movement in their class with Tra’Von Hall taking visits and other schools ramping up their pursuit of Demare Dezeurn as well.
I don’t think you have seen the last of the OU offers at wide receiver going out at this point.
OU Needs A Better Version Of Mateer In Order To Take the Next Step
– Charlie S – Posted on: May 6, 2026
John Mateer probably doesn’t need to become a completely different quarterback for Oklahoma to become a national title contender in 2026. He needs to become a cleaner, more efficient version of the player he already is.
The biggest thing is this: OU doesn’t need 2024 Washington State “hero ball” Mateer. They need a quarterback who consistently keeps the offense on schedule against elite SEC defenses.
Before the thumb injury, Mateer looked like exactly that. Oklahoma was averaging around 300 passing yards per game early in the season, and the ball was being pushed vertically with confidence. Ben Arbuckle even noted that the offense was operating much more aggressively before the injury.
After the surgery, the offense clearly changed. The yards per attempt dropped significantly, the downfield passing shrank, and the RPO game became more condensed and hesitant.
So yes, the broken thumb absolutely mattered.
But it wasn’t only the thumb.
Mateer himself admitted after the Texas game that “his eyes” betrayed him more than the injury. That lines up with what showed up on film throughout the second half of the year:
*late RPO pulls
*predetermined throws
*drifting into pressure
*forcing glance routes against rotated safeties
*missing backside leverage reads
Those are processing issues as much as physical limitations.
The encouraging part for OU is that those are usually fixable problems for an experienced quarterback entering another season in the same system.
A healthy offseason matters because the thumb injury essentially interrupted his developmental curve right when the offense was finding rhythm. He returned only 17 days after surgery, which is honestly absurd for a quarterback relying on grip strength and touch.
But the next step is mental acceleration.
For OU to truly contend for a championship, Mateer probably needs to improve in four areas:
1* Faster post-snap identification: He has to identify safety rotation and leverage quicker so he can get off bad RPO looks before the mesh point becomes dangerous.
2* Fewer negative plays: Championship-level quarterbacks don’t have to be perfect, but they avoid drive-killers. The interceptions and sacks became too frequent when defenses forced him into long-yardage situations.
3* Better rhythm passing: Too many snaps became “create mode.” OU needs more easy completions built off timing and structure.
4* Situational discipline: Second-and-5 can’t turn into third-and-11 because the quarterback chased an explosive play that wasn’t there.
The good news for Oklahoma is that the coaching staff additions suggest they already understand this.
Kevin Wilson and Jason Witten are major clues about where this offense may evolve.
Arbuckle’s system will always have heavy RPO DNA. That’s foundational to what he does. But OU probably doesn’t want to live in pure spread conflict-ball every snap against SEC defenses that are bigger, longer, and more disguise-heavy than what Washington State saw weekly.
That’s where Bill Bedenbaugh, Wilson, and Witten become important.
You can already see the likely direction:
*more condensed formations
*more under-center or pistol looks
*heavier tight end involvement
*more true play-action
*fewer “every play is a quarterback decision” situations
*more protection-based vertical shots
Jason Witten especially could become a huge factor here. Tight ends are often the antidote to over-reliance on RPOs because they allow you to create easier answers versus pressure and coverage rotation.
Kevin Wilson has also historically preferred offenses that can run real dropback concepts and layered play-action, not just pure conflict reads.
And honestly, OU probably needs that shift.
Not because RPOs are bad, but because elite playoff defenses eventually force quarterbacks to win after the snap with structure, anticipation, and protection adjustments, and not just leverage reads.
The ideal 2026 version of OU’s offense is probably not “less Arbuckle.” It’s Arbuckle with more NFL-style answers layered in by Wilson, Witten, and Bedenbaugh.
If that happens, Mateer doesn’t need to become Caleb Williams or Baker Mayfield-level individually dominant.
He just needs to become:
1* healthier
2* quicker mentally
3* more efficient against rotation
4* more disciplined within structure
If he does that, Oklahoma absolutely has the roster and coaching infrastructure to be in the national championship conversation.
It’s not Just About the Money
– Super K – Posted on: May 7, 2026
I don’t mean this post to contradict things I’ve previously said about the financial aspect of recruiting being an absolutely critical part of the process. The money matters.
But money is fungible. So, often times what wins is at the margins. The margins are what used to matter…scheme, culture, the school, the connection to the coaches and most importantly, the NFL (which is a proxy for money).
A friend of mine who is a former coach and manages a players at Ohio State told me that said talented WR took less money to go to Ohio State. He said the development and the legacy of putting out WR made a half million dollar difference to the player.
This is why OU beginning to put defenders in the league matters so much. But it has to continue to increase and move to higher and higher parts of the draft…
Take the wide receiver and cornerback positions. The Sooners simply do not have recruiting advantages there. I’ve spoken to folks inside the building about this and they’ll readily admit it. The Sooners haven’t had much success in a while putting cornerbacks in the league. And while OU has a rich tradition of WR development and NFL production, there has been quite the drought lately.
This puts a lot of pressure on the piggy bank. In fact, in some cases, I’ve been told that other teams with more recent development are getting away with paying less than OU.
Recruiting still matters. The things that used to matter still matter and the teams who don’t get lazy and simply rely on money, are going to have more success over time.
I’ve spoken to different coaches and GMs around the country to get understand how different programs think about talent acquisition and retention and it’s clear to me that some folks are way ahead of some others in terms of how they think of this topic in terms of strategy.
Some folks are really behind. They’re allowing this new reality to dictate to them. They aren’t playing chess, they’re being played. But in my estimation talent acquisition and your strategy as it relates to that are more important than ever. You need really high IQ thinkers to work through the permutations and you still need to make the hard decisions about your coaching staff and development.
You need money to win but it’s a necessary but not sufficient condition to winning.
Changing Nature of Late Offers
– Charlie S – Posted on: May 7, 2026
The Sooners have sent out a flurry of recent offers, which, by most accounts, would be considered ‘late offers’ at this point in the cycle.
Once upon a time, a late offer to high-profile kids was generally a courtesy offer and more recently, it could even be viewed as playing for the next recruitment should that player choose to portal in a year or two.
With OU sitting at 21 verbal commits in the 2027 class, they are playing from a position of power, and the effects could be two-fold.
Just this past week or so, the Sooners have sent out offers to a couple corners (Bryce Williams out of Fort Lauderdale, and Brandon Sherrard out of Pearland, Texas) as well as an OL (Corey Laga out of Illinois), along with a running back (TJ Lewis out of Illinois) and the receiver (Taurean Rawlins out of Georgia) who we mentioned previously.
While OU is playing from behind timeline-wise on these guys, they likely have an idea of the NIL deals they are up against, so they know if they dangle something in the ballpark, chances are they will at least get an invite into the discussion. From there, you never know what can happen.
Secondly…every kid that they throw their hat in the ring for with a late offer, they are ostensibly upping the ante for other programs. Programs that were in earlier and slotting these guys in at a certain price range may be forced to adjust their offers and therefore take funding away from other places on their team.
If OU gets a legit crack at signing some of these guys, that’s great…if they simply raise the price for other programs, that’s a benefit as well.
It’s all part of the new chess matches that are taking place.
