quigley

OU is all in on Malachi Nelson from California. He's announcing on Jul 18.

Correct. Apparently, he coveted an OU offer early, didn't get it and was upset. Now it's pretty open as OU is looking to take Dindy + either McClellan or Bledsoe.

His ability as a WR is why I think OU may go after Robinson and Bradford (LSU). The Sooners could use help at both RB and WR. Robinson checks both boxes and gives them insurance vs Raleek Brown (2022 4-5 star RB/WR OU commit), who has a similar profile, staying in CA to be close to his newborn child. Bradford is good in his own right, adds to the RB room, and his related to 2022 4-5 star Omari Abor.

For FSU, isn't the real question always, "when does Florida A&M open up the doors?"

Must be the kolaches. Right @texifornia?

Hasn't UT had a dude come in at RB and end up on the DL? You're welcome

September 18th OU-Nebraska is scheduled to be OU's big recruiting weekend. It's now an 11AM local kickoff, making it hard for recruits who play the Friday night before this game to make it to Norman in time for kickoff. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31523904/oklahoma-ad-speaks-early-kickoff-renewal-college-football-rivalry-nebraska

Hill Country food is a big draw to UT.

Austin is better than both for weather and just about everything else except for food, where H-Town is one of the most underrated cities in America (esp in the low-to-medium price range).

Doug Marrone certainly has a great resume, but I didn't know he's a great OL coach. I say this with no snark. Is he really that good? Regardless, though it's hard, you can screw up such a talented team. Let us hope they try to replicate the worst parts of Houston's 2020 offense (averaged < 20 ppg under O'Brien) and the Jaguars 2020 offense.

Jameson Williams was at Ohio St, and Burden committed to OU over the Buckeyes. Now, you could say that Williams was already disenchanted with Columbus so that's why Burden didn't commit there, but we also know that friends talk about committing to the same school a lot but it mostly doesn't happened. Burden transferred high schools this spring to a school with a strong pro-Missouri staff, apparently, so the thought at first was that Burden would flip to in-state Mizzou. Good high school players are going to be pursued by good college programs until the end, of course. OU benefited from this a couple of years ago with Haselwood, who originally committed to UGA but flipped to OU pretty late. The things that can give OU fans hope: 1. Burden liked OU enough to commit to them initially. 2. OU will have a really good offense without a dominant WR room in 2021. OU will have a good-to-great QB for the 2022 and 2023 seasons plus likely a top QB in the 2023 class (Nelson). If one of the third year OU receivers explodes this fall (Wease or Haselwood), they probably go pro. Mims and Mario Williams will be back, but there will still be plenty of balls to catch. At Bama, at least one 5-star and 5 4-star WR return in 2022. We'll see how they shake out this fall because of the massive turnover in their WR room. 3. OU retained Mario Williams, a top 5 WR in 2021 class. He's from FL, committed to OU early without visiting Norman, and stuck with the Sooners despite SEC+Clemson pushing for him. 4. Cale Gundy will find someone good to replace Burden if he goes elsewhere.

Agree. And his tape is good, not great, as a pass rusher. He makes OLs pay for their mistakes (which is good), but he doesn't demand a chip versus a decent college OT. Pro OL don't bust plays frequently enough for him to be a factor based on his production at OU. Loved him with the Sooners because he produced and was a leader, but I think Perkins went just about or even above where he should have.

His ability to play DB will be dependent on his quickness. If it doesn't work there, then move to LB, where his ability to play will be dependent on his mindset. Jamal Morris and Justin Harrington are two players at OU with similar body types. Looking at their progress may be instructive. Morris came from high school as a safety and is now a LB, where he's intriguing. Harrington came from JUCO and is still at CB. OU's got a bunch of good prospects at CB (Washington and Graham are only sophomores and Eaton and McCutchin have received praise behind them), and Harringon's second team at best. OU's DBs are definitely weakest at safety (Pat Fields should be a backup utility at S/NB), and there's an open job at NB. The thought is that OU's letting Harrington see that his playing time is limited at CB but that he'll be best served getting on the field at one of the other spots.

I'm surprised he got drafted on day 2. What position does he play in the NFL? He's too small to hold up against the run and doesn't have the quickness or power to consistently win 1 on 1 as a pass rusher. He's actually shorter and slightly lighter than the Tulsa LB Collins with much less explosion and speed. This is the pitch OU coaches use. "We got a guy into the league based on scheme and effort-based production. Think about how we can help you, person with better measureables."

You're right. Both those guys got late bumps that I didn't remember.

Is the Ohio St offer commit-able? I always wonder about that if a defensive player picks OU over another perennial playoff team. Is there new information on Moore? I don't trust the OU 247 moderators forcasts. That said, this will likely be the most balanced OU recruiting class since 2016 or so. And the mid-2010s were when OU's recruiting on offense also tanked. 2006 - 2008 was the last time OU was getting high level talent on both sides of the ball in the same class. Realistic projection based on public information (when OU's in play but not an overwhelming favorite, OR is used): DL: Derrick Brown, Abor OR Moore, Browlow OR McClellan LB: McKinzie, Lewis, Medlock DB: Williams, Rowe (NB/S/LB), Biddle, Jordan CB is light, and they need two true DTs. Otherwise, all the boxes are checked. There are no real headscratchers either. Because of family + proximity, they have a good shot at 2 legitimate* 5-stars on defense in the same year. Caleb Kelly was the last OU 5-star on defense (2016). It'll be interesting to see how many of these projections actually end up in Norman. * I said legitimate because Bookie was a 5-star but didn't have offers from other top programs.

Historically, forty to fifty percent of Sooner recruits never contribute so I wouldn't mind if OU did something like this annually also.

OU's needed a guy who's both fast and can catch. Rambo dropped too many balls, and Wease and Haselwood don't appear have the speed. Appears to be a good get.

I visited a couple of Hog boards and the partisans are quite salty about him jetting. It's a good sign, but I don't know if grievance and bombast is the norm for them.

Obviously no, but there isn't a one-to-one relationship. OU's was light on quality WR prior to Bridges fiasco. Even if Woods comes in an provides a quality consistent option, OU still needs a couple more guys to come through. One of the freshmen, Mario Williams has been getting a lot of buzz. Hazelwood and Wease will be coming off injuries. Eight WR going into a season is a minimum because you need to have a couple on the field at any time at least, plus injuries. You'd like four of them to be "good." Mims, Mario Wms?, Woods?, Hazelwood?, Wease?, that's 5. After that, there's a drop off in quantifiable ability. Stoops is the only guy with any catches. OU's HB/TE will be formidable (Stogner, Willis, Hall), but there's a concern with depth here too with Conyers leaving and Henderson moving to RB. Anyway, don't be surprised if OU goes into the portal for another WR.

My level of optimism for transfers is inversely correlated to the degree of disappointment of the fans at the school their leaving. His numbers aren't amazing, and I'm not ready to watch 2020 Arkansas football or visit Arkansas websites. Does anyone know if Razorback fans mad about this?

Liked for miserabilia

I detailed the washout of the 2018 and the weird cycle of WR recruiting at OU earlier and agree with the data presented in the recent posts. Understanding the lousy state of the 2018 class, I think OU's done a reasonable job of patching the holes, except at WR. The burnouts from 2018 were concentrated in the WR, DL, and DB. The DL and DB are in the best shape it's been in a decade. The real issue with WR group at this point is the washout of consecutive classes. None of the 5-stars from the 2019 class have been even good. Bridges is out, Haselwood has been hurt a lot, and Wease has been ineffective and may tranfer. None of them is particularly quick or fast actually. I disagree with with characterization that OU's hasn't done well with transfers if you consider injuries. Grading system: 0-no impact/didn't play, 1-subpar performance, 2-average, 3-good 2018 OL Sway - 0 2019 RB Stevenson - 3 OL Felix - 0 OL Proctor - 1, but he played a lot so it tells you something was wrong QB Hurts - 3 2020 DL Winfrey - 3 DB Harrington - 0, TBD - apparently he's still tall, quick and fast so may end up starting for OU at nickel or safety this year DL Ellison - 2, he was better than many (really most) of the DT's OU's had on the field over the last several OL Murray - 2, he was better than Robinson when he played WR Obialo - 0 WR Howard - 1, really good for UCLA; injured as soon as he got to Norman; would take every time OU recruited Morris and Lawrence hard, and the coaches likely think they can get more out of them than the TN coaches. Sermon > Gray >> Pledger (Breece Hall over all of them)

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't think AZ last play was good either (I called running 1-4 "crappy" above and they didn't even set that up). We don't know how much of what they did was the players not getting to where they need to be. If the AZ coach did run 1-4, maybe it was because she knows her team ball watchs in these situations so hero ball is their best option. Regardless, there were open players all over the floor, McDonald (who I admire) didn't find them. This happens to NBA players. It was a great game.

Stanford had blown Arizona out twice. The Wildcats' goal was to junk up the game, which was their only shot. The refs let them play, the Wildcats' defense was outstanding. This. I think the plan was to go 4 flat along the baseline and let McDonald play hero ball from top of the key, which is pretty crappy, but maybe the coach knows her team can't execute complex sets quickly in 6 secs under that pressure? Whatever coach planned, it worked. McDonald had 3.5 players guarding her and with open players in the strong and offside corners. If she hits the strong side corner (easy for McDonald who'd made tough jump passes throughout the game), it's a layup as time expires. It's hard to keep composure in that setting, as Stanford showed on their last possession. Stanford's coach drew up a play with big - big screen across the blocks to get Jones free. Jones was Stanford's best offensive option throughout the game so it was a good play (except for leaving a F in the corner who could've dropped down to contest the pass or shot). Jones was open and showed on the block, the guard who was to make the entry pass missed her inexplicably and tried to pass to their Fr center at top of the key which predictably led to a turnover. Good play on the wipeboard, but Stanford wasn't even close to being able to execute it. There are a lot of crappy coaches. I know. I've been one. But one thing to remember, is that coaches also have to think about how effectively their players can execute in such pressure. Asking 20 yo to do this in pressure packed situations is hard. McDonald is a baller. She's my daughter's favorite player and she wanted to out and shoot immediately after the game. And yeah, McDonald carried that team so any shot she takes is so ok at that point (still shoulda hit the corner). Great game.