Danzel Williams 5-9, 190, 4. 45 RB/DB Arlington, TX
Trey Metoyer 6-3, 200, 4.45 WR Whitehouse, TX
Brandon Williams 6-1, 190, 4.4 RB Brookshire Royal, TX
Cooper Washington 6-5, 225, 4.5 DE Muleshoe, TX
New verbals:
Marquis Anderson 6-3, 280, 4.8 DT Cibolo, TX
Nathan Hughes 6-5, 260, 4.7 DE Klein, TX
Max Stevenson, 6-5, 225, 4.6 TE Klein, TX
OU's run of verbals continues with a huge addition in Marquis Anderson the number two DT in Texas. Anderson has been OU's top target at DT since UT grabbed Desmond Jackson (unclear where OU ranked Anderson v Jackson in a DT battle since Jackson really never got any attention from OU). Anderson is the ideal 3 technique DT prospect for OU and could be the next great DT for the Soones Anderson has that level of potential. Anderson is easily a top 20 talent in Teas depending upon who is doing the ranking. With the verbal of Anderson, OU with limited ships (19 range) is probably done at DT.
The previous week. OU got two more big time additions in Nathan Hughes and Max Stevenson from Klein TX. Hughes is the better known prospect easily Texas top 20. Hughes is expected to stay at DE and play at the 260 range while keeping his speed. OU beat LSU for Hughes, and at one time UT looked like a lock for the kid. UT though wavered offering a ship early (focusing on Cedric Reed), and OU focused on Hughes and grabbed a big lead. Hughes and Cooper Washington along with the DEs from last year have reloaded that position to the point where only RB is more stocked on the Sooner roster. Stevenson is an excellent pass receiver TE prospect (highlight reel looks very impressive) at 6-5, 225 with excellent speed. The mystery with Stevenson is what does it do to the verbal of Chris Barnett. Now, Barnett has been visiting other colleges while maintaining that he's still an OU verbal. OU would appear to be fairly scholarship restrained so does OU have room for 2 TE verbals while still having recruiting needs at LB, OL, and DB. It's a story to follow. OU must think Barnett is going to be an elite kid to have not pulled his offer.
Right now OU has 9 verbals on ESPN's Top 150 watchlist (about 250 overall kids) out of their total 12 verbals. And ESPN hasn't even evaluated Stevenson or Washington at all yet. Barnett is also outside the watchlist, but who knows if he will even be a Sooner at this point.
OU has elite Texas talents in
Brandon Williams RB
Marquis Anderson DT
Nathan Hughes DE
Trey Metoyer WR
Kameel Jackson WR
And instate - All American candidate QB Kendal Thompson
This class right could be ranked as high as last year's. OU has evaluated a number of players as being top tier (Wade, Lindley, Washington, Stevenson) who have barely been evaluated by the recruiting services. OU's ranking as always will depend upon how OU finishes up in recruiting. Leading to the ....
Top Eight Targets: With 12 verbals, OU probably at most can take 8 more players so the top Ten list is now 8. (top players that OU has a legitimate shot to land. This list will vary as kids verbal to OU and elsewhere and kids are added. The first top ten last year didn't have Tony Jefferson, Kenny Stills, Austin Haywood, or Brennan Clay)Verbals: Marquis Anderson, Nathan Hughes
Additions:
Subtractions: Matt Hegarty to ND
Brey Cook 6-7, 300, 5.1 OT Springdale, AR. The best OT on OU's board, and is the best OL available for OU. Cook has been OU a number of times including camping at OU last year (if there's any real trend in recruiting, OU does very well with kids who have camped the previous summer). He's still taking unofficial visits, but looks to be an OU v Pigs battle. Getting Cook would be a huge piece for the OL, and right now OL is the biggest priority in the class.
Malcolm Brown 6-1, 210, 4.5 RB Cibolo, TX. Usually Brown would be the number one kid on OU's board, but factoring OU's RB depth versus OL depth/verbals he drops to the number 2 spot. Brown is the best power RB from Texas since AD (Jermie Calhoun is the only other debatable player). Longhorn fans honestly think that Mack Brown is changing the offense this year to more I-formation under the center to seal the deal recruiting Brown. OU has just added Anderson who is friends with Malcolm Brown. If OU didn't have a great group of young RBs on campus/signed I wonder if OU might have already gotten a verbal from Brown.
Josh Turner 6-0, 170, 4.5 CB OKC Millwood. Top player in state battle between Turner and Thompson. Has the potential to be an elite CB, OU will fight UT among others for his signature.
Aaron Wallace 6-0, 225, 4.6 MLB Dallas Skyline, TX. Looks amazingly a lot like Curtis Lofton. Might be the best LB in Texas, debate is between Wallace and Steve Edmond. OU has been recruiting Skyline well, and is after Wallace teammate Shannon Franklin. Wallace will look at most major powers before deciding.
DeAnthony Arnett 6-0, 175, 4.5 Michigan. The top national prospect ranking seriously considering OU right now. Arnett has been dominant in combines this spring and would seem to be the ideal 3rd WR commitment for OU. Big Ten and USC is also involved.
OL target number two? Okay I don't have a clear number two OL target after Brey Cook for OU. There's the Kansas kid Jordan Phillips and the Texas OL prospect LeRaven Clark. Both kids have huge upsides but are not elite OL recruits right now (of course Russell Okung/Trent Williams were hardly top flight OL recruits). OU may try and get involved with some national elite OL kids, but there are no clear names that have moved from wish list to legit targets.
Avery Walls 5-11, 185, 4.5 Georgia. OU offered Walls early, but now the entire SEC is heavily recruiting the kid. If Walls is still talking about visiting this summer, then new DB coach Willie Martinez' connections to Georgia might help.
Franklin Shannon 6-2, 200, 4.5 DB Dallas Skyline. Wallace's teammate who is probably the top strong safety in Texas. He could also be a great OLB hybrid (Keenan Clayton role) in the OU defense.
Just outside the top 8
Tobias Singleton 6-2, 185, 4.4 WR Miss
Tevin Mitchell 6-1, 175, 4.4 CB Mansfield, TX
Charles Jackson Jackson 5-10, 180, 4.4 CB Klein, TX
Danzel Williams 5-9, 190, 4. 45 RB/DB Arlington, TX
Trey Metoyer 6-3, 200, 4.45 WR Whitehouse, TX
New verbal
Brandon Williams 6-1, 190, 4.4 RB Brookshire Royal, TX
Cooper Washington 6-5, 225, 4.5 DE Muleshoe, TX
OU has gotten a verbal from Texas top ten talent Brandon Williams. Williams has been overshadowed by Aaron Green, Malcolm Brown, and Herschel Sims, but other than Brown might be as talented as anyone. Also, Williams brings a different skill set than OU signees Brennan Clay/Roy Finch. To be honest, I really thought Green/Sims were too similar to Finch/Clay. Williams though is bigger and faster. The Williams news was kind of out of nowhere, he did visit for the OU Spring Game while verbaled to Baylor. His verbal to Baylor though had not seemed very strong, as bigger programs made it clear to Williams that he was elite.Still, the verbal has forced OU to move on from Herschel Sims/Bradley Marquez/and probably Aaron Green as well. Williams has already accepted an invitation to play in ESPN’s Under Armour All American game.
OU’s other new verbal is from Cooper Washington. Washington has been on OU’s recruiting radar and has been near the offer list for DE all spring. Now, Muleshoe is so far in west Texas it’s practically New Mexico. In following recruiting for over 15 years, I cannot recall a single Big 12 caliber prospect from Muleshoe. Being a tall rangy defensive end from a tiny Texas town, the obvious comparisons to Auston English/Dan Cody are going to be made with Washington. However, while OU was projecting English at DE (he was mainly a HS RB), Washington highlight reel is all DE. He shows great explosion off the ball, excellent closing speed, and he’s doing a very good job in run support as well. Now the obvious questions of competition level are going to come up, but OU under Bob has had a history of big time players coming from small schools in OK/Tex. All you can really askis does Washington dominate on film? From the brief Rivals highlights, he certainly does. Hopefully, Cooper will attend OU’s summer camp sessions so that the recruiting folks can get a look at him in a different setting against better competition.
Chris Barnett is listed as a verbal but there’s all kinds of stories about him looking around and taking other visits. Barnett has massive potential at TE, but if he takes visits OU will drop him as a commitment, and will start to offer other TEs again. It would be a shame to lose Barnett because he’s potentially a Gresham type talent at TE, but OU has to be clear with recruits about their verbal commitments. Barnett’s also had some weird off the field news as well with a transfer to Euless Trinity this offseason, and then he left Euless due to some vaguely hinted school problems. Barnett is probably headed back to his old High School Maceo Smith.I guess there’s a chance that OU could take two TEs. The TE position is vital to OU’s offense in terms of being able to run and pass out of the same personnel in the no huddle. In addition, Wilson/Patton are starting to move TEs to OL. So perhaps OU will take another big frame TE to complement Barnett with the possibility that the kid could end up at OL.
Top Ten Targets: (top players that OU has a legitimate shot to land. This list will vary as kids verbal to OU and elsewhere and kids are added. The first top ten last year didn’t have Tony Jefferson, Kenny Stills, Austin Haywood, or Brennan Clay)
1.Brey Cook 6-7, 300, 5.1 OT Springdale, AR. The best OT on OU’s board, and is the best OL available for OU. Cook has been OU a number of times including camping at OU last year (if there’s any real trend in recruiting, OU does very well with kids who have camped the previous summer). He’s still taking unofficial visits, but looks to be an OU v Pigs battle. Getting Cook would be a huge piece for the OL, and right now OL is the biggest priority in the class.
2.Malcolm Brown 6-1, 210, 4.5 RB Cibolo, TX. Usually Brown would be the number one kid on OU’s board, but factoring OU’s RB depth OL he drops to the number 2 spot. Brown is the best power RB from Texas since AD (Jermie Calhoun is the only other debatable player). Longhorn fans honestly think that Mack Brown is changing the offense this year to more I-formation under the center to seal the deal recruiting Brown.
3.Josh Turner6-0, 170, 4.5 CB OKC Millwood. Top player in state battle between Turner and Thompson. Has the potential to be an elite CB, OU will fight UT among others for his signature.
4.Marquis Anderson 6-3, 270, 4.8 DT Cibolo, TX. Only behind Desmond Jackson in terms of DT rankings in Texas. Has the speed/burst to be a 3 technique DT for OU. OU appears to be in the lead. UTappears focused on Quincy Russell instead at DT.
5.Aaron Wallace 6-0, 225, 4.6 MLBDallas Skyline, TX. Looks amazingly a lot like Curtis Lofton. Might be the best LB in Texas, debate is between Wallace and Steve Edmond. OU has been recruiting Skyline well, and is after Wallace teammate Franklin Shannon.Wallace will look at most major powers before deciding.
6.DeAnthony Arnett 6-0, 175, 4.5 Michigan. The top ranked national prospect seriously considering OU right now. Arnett has been dominate in combines this spring and would seem to be the ideal 3rd WR commitment for OU. Big Ten and USC is also involved.
7.Avery Walls 5-11, 185, 4.5 Georgia. OU offered Walls early, but now the entire SEC is heavily recruiting the kid. If Walls still talking about visiting this summer. New DB coach Willie Martinez’ connections to Georgia might help.
8.Matt Hegarty 6-5, 270, 5.0 OT New Mexico. Hegarty camped at OU last summer and was very impressive. Hegarty although interested in OU is looking at Stanford, USC, ND among others. OU is still in the picture, but not leading like many had hoped.
9.Nathan Hughes 6-5, 260, 4.75 DE Klein, TX. Hughes is arguably the top DE in Texas (only player in the discussion is Cedric Reed, and Hughes is faster). UT focused on Reed and got a verbal. Hughes seems to really like OU along with LSU.
10.Franklin Shannon 6-2, 200, 4.5 DB Dallas Skyline. Wallace’s teammate who is probably the top strong safety in Texas. He could also be a great OLB hybrid (Keenan Clayton role) in the OU defense.
Danzel Williams 5-9, 190, 4. 45 RB/DB Arlington, TX
Trey Metoyer 6-3, 200, 4.45 WR Whitehouse, TX
It was a good week for the Sooners with two more verbals. One was a surprise, the other one was expected by most folks.
It's an amazing year in Texas for RB., ridiculous might honestly be the proper word. I've mentioned the names previously Malcolm Brown, Aaron Green, Brandon Williams, Herschel Sims, Bradley Marquez, etc. Notice I didn't mention Danzel Williams. Well OU got a verbal from Danzel earlier in the week after offering him at their junior day. Now, I'll admit that I was surprised by the offer to Danzel. OU has limited ships (17 to 19) and I thought that OU would only take one RB. Guess I was wrong. First off give Danzel credit, he really wanted to be a Sooner, and didn't let his OU offer sit there long. So after all the message board angst over what this verbal meant, folks started looking at footage of Williams and his stats from last year. Williams had over 1200 yards rushing, and 8 YPC. That's big time productivity. From his footage, Danzel shows good speed/moves and amazing balance, he's consistently breaking tackles and getting extra yards. In addition, Danzel shows nice skills as a WR out of the backfield and from the slot. In addition, Danzel has nice highlights at DB as well.
Follow this link for some free video highlights of Danzel. Again the number one thing that stands out is his balance, the kid just does not go down from the first hit.
The second verbal is OU's best verbal to date. Trey Metoyer. At this point until certain rankings drop him due to verbaling to OU, Metoyer is the consensus number one WR in Texas, top five player in Texas. Metoyer has already been invited to play in the US Army All American game (Kendal Thompson is already a Under Armour game invitee). Metoyer has had awesome productivity the last two season averaging over 70 receptions for 1100 yards and 14 TDs. His highlight reel shows an amazingly polished WR from both a route standpoint and pass catching technique. On WR screens , he's never going down on the first tackle and consistently makes cuts to increase the yardage gained. There are some concerns about his top end speed, but he certainly looks fast enough. The comparisons to former 1st round draft picks Texas WRs are easy to make. He plays like Crabtree or Bryant. Combined with Kameel Jackson, Metoyer arguably gives OU the best 1-2 WR combo from Texas. (I'm just waiting for Jackson to skyrocket with a great senior year. He's tearing up the combine circuit after his injury last year). Coach Norvell did a great job recruiting Metoyer. The relationship he's built over the last year made a huge difference in OU getting the talented WR. Hopefully, this will end the continual bashing of Norvell's recruiting ability by a portion of Sooner fans. Last two years, he's gotten Justin McCay, Kenny Stills, and now Metoyer and Jackson. In addition, Norvell clearly knew what he was doing offering Jaz Reynolds.
Here's a great highlight reel of Metoyer posted on Youtube
OU's probably finished with their junior days, but will very likely try and get a number of prospects scheduled for visits to Norman during spring practice or for the spring game. UT is up to 18 with the recent verbal of Quandre Diggs (brother of Quentin Jammer), I'd imagine that UT will be at 20 verbals by the end of March.
OU's going to continue to try and recruit nationally, and after spring practice is over look for the Sooner coaches to hit the road and expect a slew of more offers to go out, or for OU to scout in person their chances with a number of high profile national kids. Expect OU to head back to the San Diego area, hit Kansas/Missouri hard again, and I expect OU to put out more offers in Georgia/Florida to utilize new DB Coach Willie Martinez's connections. Expect Norvell to visit Michigan WR DeAnthony Arnett who has expressed a high level of interest in OU, and would be the ideal slot WR finish to OU's WR class. There's always a wildcard or two in national recruiting, and OU's massive presence during the primetime NFL draft in April is not going to hurt the program's status at all. Right now if I had to guess, WR angst is about to replaced by a previous favorite recruiting worry, OL recruiting. UT's has hurt OU to a degree with their OL recruiting (mainly taking Greenlea). OU has a big time target in Arkansas OT Brey Cook, but it's hard to say OU leads. OU hasn't offered Dylan Dismuke (6-6, 285 OL from Duncan, OK) yet, but has offered Garrett Gladd (6-4, 280 OG/OC Sallisaw, OK). New Mexico OT Matt Hegarty has OU on a long list of schools, it's hard to say if OU is even in the top five. Beyond those kids, OU OL offers have been pretty limited. It's a little puzzling since OU is projected to take 4 to 5 OL again. Now initially I had been indicating that UT hurt OU recruiting with the verbal of Desmond Jackson and while Jackson is the top 3 technique DT in Texas, OU has had at least 2 prospects appear at that position. First is Marquis Anderson from Cibolo, TX (San Antonio). Anderson at 6-3, 270, 4.8 is right behind Jackson in terms of DT ranking in Texas. Second is Kris Harley from Indianapolis. Harley is 6-2, 270, 4.8 and in his Rivals highights shows that amazing quick first step upfield that OU requires at the 3 technique position (Harley had over 90 tackles and 19 TFL as a junior).
1. Year of the Running Back: OU just signed perhaps the best RB class in the country in Roy Finch and Brennan Clay, so RB wasn't exactly a huge need for the Sooners in recruiting. However, this year's RB class especially in Texas is just absurd. There are at least 2 RBs in Texas who last year would have been the number one RB in Texas last year., and several more who would have been right behind Seastrunk. And OU can only really take one of these guys at RB. Can UT take two? It’s a interesting combination of OU/UT having limited ships, and elite prospects. Also, there's a good chance like elite QBs that a school is only going to get one of them. Here are the five best in Texas.
OU held their first junior day for Texas and out of state prospects, and while OU didn't get 13 verbals the weekend led to several new commitments for OU.
UT Junior Day 1 is over. While they could be some activity tomorrow as kids go home for the most part the event is over. Their next Junior day is being played for after OU's event on the 20th.
So here's the recap.
13 Verbals:
9 with no real impact on OU at all
1 verbal OU really wanted, and OU might have trouble finding a comparable talent in Texas or in state- DT Desmond Jackson. Right now it does not appear to be a great year for DTs.
3 verbals that probably had OU offers or OU would have invited for their Texas focused Junior day. I think that OU can find equal or better talent in Texas, in state, or in region.
QB David Ash 6-3, 215, 4.6 OU Neutral (as much fun as Army of Darkness riffs would be for Sooner fans, OU was not interested in Ash at all)
WR Jaxon Shipley 6-1, 180, 4.5 OU Neutral (Jaxon joining Case McCoy as the next pair of "roommates QB/WR with a special connection")
WR Miles Onyegbule 6-4, 200, 4.5 OU Offer (Generally considered to be the 2nd best WR in Texas behind Trey Metoyer who is not at UT's Junior Recruiting Weekend, a win for OU. And OU already has WR Kameel Jackson verbaled who OU clearly thinks is a Top 3 type WR talent in Texas.)
FB Joe Bergeron OU Neutral
OL Josh Cochran 6-6, 270, OU Neutral
OL Taylor Doyle 6-5, 270 OU Neutral
LB Chet Moss 6-2, 225 OU Neutral (Anything that pushes Steve Edmond away from UT is a positive)
DT Desmond Jackson 6-2, 270 OU Offer (This is the first real hit. Best DT in Texas and it's a down year for DTs in Texas)
CB Leroy Scott 5-10, 180, OU Offer (Good CB prospect, but OU has Josh Turner to target in state. Very similar players)
ATH Mykkele Thompson 6-0, 168 OU Neutral (Rivals is calling him a WR. That's 3 at that position. I'd guess UT is full)
TE MJ McFarland 6-5, 235, 4.7 OU Neutral (An actual real TE for UT. OU seems focused on Chris Barnett 6-6, 240, 4. 7 from Dallas more)
It just seems like signing day was last week (and it was), but already we are hitting two important weekends for OU's 2011 recruiting class.
Let's recap first. OU has two verbals for a class that looks to be in the 17 to 19 range depending upon NFL defections (Travis Lewis, Ryan Broyles) and other attrition. Recruiting priorities are DT, OL, WR, CB
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The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 