Category: Football

Oklahoma Sooners make top 10 for 2024 4-Star OT Daniel Calhoun

The Oklahoma Sooners make the top 10 2024 4-star offensive tackle Daniel Calhoun.

The 2024 recruiting cycle is in full swing, and the Oklahoma Sooners got some positive news in the recruitment of a blue-chip offensive tackle.

Oklahoma lands inside the top 10 for 2024 four-star offensive tackle Daniel Calhoun. The Sooners were included along with Alabama, Florida State, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Ohio State, and LSU. Calhoun also has a host of offers from notable Power Five programs like Michigan, Michigan State, Arkansas, Auburn, Miami, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M.

Calhoun may feel like a longshot at the moment for the Oklahoma Sooners, but we’ve seen this coaching staff pull off some big-time recruiting wins over the last year, so nothing’s over till it’s over. It will be a challenge to go into Georgia and land a top 50 player.

However, with Bill Bedenbaugh’s penchant for developing NFL offensive linemen, don’t count out the Sooners just yet.

Daniel Calhoun’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

Film

Hudl

Spartans are latest power five program to offer 2026 California ATH Tay Lockett

Michigan State football has extended a scholarship offer to a 2026 athlete that is getting plenty of attention on the recruiting trail

Michigan State football has extended a scholarship offer to a 2026 athlete that is getting plenty of attention on the recruiting trail.

Tay Lockett of San Diego announced on Tuesday that he’s received a scholarship offer from the Spartans. He plays for University City High and is listed at 6-foot-0 and 165 pounds.

Lockett is yet to be ranked on 247Sports but surely will be in time. Michigan State is the 18th school to extend him an offer, according to 247Sports. Other big-time schools that have already shown interest in Lockett includes Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State, Maryland, Ole Miss, Penn State and USC.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

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USC sits in the top five of transfer portal rankings

Experts agree that #USC is once again a top-five transfer portal program … and we still have the spring portal window to come. There will be more pickups.

College football recruiting and transfer portal analyst Mike Farrell has USC in the top five of his latest transfer portal rankings. This is a fluid situation, given that we are coming up on the end of one portal window but still have another portal window in May, after spring ball. Right now, though, USC is widely regarded as being a top-five portal program, with Florida State being the No. 1 portal team in the country according to Farrell and most analysts.

USC’s transfer portal class should be viewed through the prism of how well the Trojans met certain needs. They scored huge pickups at linebacker with Mason Cobb, and on the defensive line with Anthony Lucas. Receiver Dorian Singer will replace Jordan Addison, and MarShawn Lloyd will replace Travis Dye. Those are four highly valuable transfers which don’t include reinforcements on the offensive line, such as Jarrett Kingston of Washington State. It’s a deep class which met a lot of needs for USC. In order to become an even better transfer portal class, USC needs a few more pickups on defense, with at least one on the defensive line for sure, and either an offensive lineman or a defensive back as well.

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Florida’s top 2023 recruit files for release from letter of intent

The Jaden Rashada saga continues its craziness.

The [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag] saga continues for Florida football but this time might mark the end of their courtship. On Tuesday, the five-star quarterback out of California officially submitted his paperwork with the NCAA requesting to be released from his letter of intent.

The journey has been a wild one from the start dating back to last June. At one point, the 6-foot-4-inch, 175-pound signal caller committed to the Miami Hurricanes despite the Gators being the heavy favorites to land him. Ultimately, the Orange and Blue prevailed but it turns out it would not last.

According to The Orlando Sentinel’s sources, Florida’s school-promoted NIL operation the Gator Collective wrote a check for $13 million despite not having enough funds to cover the bill. To make matters worse, the deep-pocketed boosters refused to help cover the expense of what is considered an absurd amount of money for a player who is not even the best in the nation at his position.

The young quarterback is reportedly back at home in the Golden State and had still yet to enroll in classes at the University of Florida as of Friday evening.

While it is tempting to place the blame on Rashada, the fault truly lies in the reinless NIL paradigm that is currently in place, which is more like the wild west than a well-maintained machine. The fact that a member of the Gator Collective could go rogue and throw out an exorbitant offer it could not back up is a perfect example of how this system is broken.

Rashada is a four-star prospect ranked No. 56 overall and No. 7 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 consensus has him at Nos. 65 and 7, respectively. He is rated a five-star according to 247Sports.

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Oklahoma offensive lineman Marcus Alexander enters the transfer portal as a grad transfer

Offensive lineman Marcus Alexander hits the transfer portal as a grad transfer.

Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman Marcus Alexander announced via social media yesterday that he will enter the portal as a graduate transfer.

A member of the 2019 recruiting class, Alexander is a former three-star prospect with two years of legibility remaining.

“I want to thank you for all of the support over the past four years,” Alexander shared in a statement on social media. “Wearing the Crimson and Cream has truly been a dream. To my coaches, teammates, and OU Athletics staff, thank you for your guidance and support during my time here at Oklahoma. The connections and friendships I have made here will last a lifetime. With all things considered, I have decided to enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility left.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Alexander played in just one game in his four years with the Sooners, getting 19 snaps at left guard in week two of the 2020 season against Missouri State.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Former USC commit Jake Garcia enters transfer portal

This former USC commit’s career didn’t pan out the way he hoped for in Miami with Mario Cristobal. Now he’s on the move again.

Miami quarterback and former four star Jake Garcia has entered the transfer portal.

Garcia started one game for the Hurricanes this season, a 14-12 four-overtime victory at Virginia. Garcia finished 15-for-31 for 125 yards in that game. For the season, he completed 59.1% of his passes in eight games, throwing five touchdown passes and four interceptions.

Garcia threw for 950 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions over parts of two seasons with Miami.

The former USC Trojan commit has been around the block. Garcia has been well traveled in his career so far. He attended five high schools in four years. His career included at stop in his native California at Long Beach Poly, where he backed up future Ole Miss star and Carolina Panther Matt Corral.

Then he transferred to Narbonne and La Habra (California) High School and starred there for two seasons before finishing his career in Georgia at Grayson and Valdosta so he could play his senior season during the COVID-19-season of 2020-21.

Jake Garcia’s potential landing spots include: Nebraska, Fresno State, Purdue, Michigan State, App State, TCU, Auburn and Virgina Tech to name a few.

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Georgia WR Ladd McConkey returning for another season

What does the Georgia football wide receiver room look like for 2023?

Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Ladd McConkey is returning to Athens for another season. McConkey, a redshirt sophomore, was the only Georgia wide receiver to finish with over 350 receiving yards in 2022. Three of Georgia’s four leading receivers were tight ends or running backs.

McConkey caught 58 passes for 762 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022. McConkey’s two-point conversion against Ohio State is a big reason why Georgia was able to repeat as national champions.

Ladd McConkey suffered a knee injury against LSU in the SEC championship, but battled through the injury in the College Football Playoff.

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Ladd McConkey’s return gives Georgia more experience in the wide receiver room for the 2023 college football season. McConkey’s familiarity with Todd Monken’s offensive system is invaluable.

Georgia added Mississippi State receiver Rara Thomas and Missouri receiver Dominic Lovett via the portal earlier this offseason. The Georgia wide receiver room is likely losing veteran receiver Dominick Blaylock, who recently entered the transfer portal. Senior receiver Kearis Jackson entered the 2023 NFL draft.

Georgia relies more heavily on tight ends than most other college football programs. Georgia returns leading receiver Brock Bowers for 2023.

Additionally, the Bulldogs are expected to return Arian Smith, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, Dillon Bell, and more at the wide receiver position. Adonai Mitchell could declare for the NFL draft because he played his senior year of high school in 2019.

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This one hurts: Former USC WR Kyle Ford transfers to crosstown rival UCLA

Kyle Ford made clutch plays for USC against UCLA. Now he’s a Bruin? Not many transfers truly sting, but this one does.

Former USC four-star wide receiver Kyle Ford committed to UCLA football on Tuesday night, he announced on Twitter. Ford was with the Trojans for four seasons before entering the NCAA transfer portal on Jan. 12, and he has two years of collegiate eligibility remaining.

In his freshman season in 2019, Ford recorded just one reception for 20 receiving yards and one touchdown.

After not taking the field during the 2020 season due to injury, Ford returned even better in 2021. He finished his third collegiate season recording 19 receptions for 252 receiving yards and two touchdowns over eight games.

This past season, Kyle Ford saw the most playing time of his collegiate career. Through 12 games, he recorded 20 receptions for 365 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

“It’s crazy because growing up, I was always a USC fan and never would have dreamed about playing for UCLA but I love the fit,” Ford said to Greg Biggins of 247Sports. “I’m really excited and I’m in the best shape of my life right now so I can’t wait to get going.”

Cal transfer J. Michael Sturdivant and Kyle Ford are the headline-generating additions to UCLA from the portal, while four-star class of 2023 signees Jeremiah McClure and Grant Gray will add to the depth chart for Chip Kelly and the Bruins next season.

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Notre Dame’s all-time leading receivers (yardage)

How high would Mayer have made it had he played four years? Crazy to think about

Notre Dame has had some greats when it comes to receivers and tight ends and never was that more present than of at all times, the end of the Charlie Weis era when Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, and Kyle Rudolph were all tearing up the track for the Fighting Irish.

Unfortunately, that didn’t result in the number of wins anyone near South Bend would have wanted, even if the offenses were fun to watch at times.

Michael Mayer is the latest to join this list, which includes every Notre Dame player to ever haul in 1,000 or more receiving yards.  For a tight end it’s almost scary to think how high he could have ended up had he not opted for the NFL draft, it makes all the sense in the world for him to declare.

In the history of Notre Dame football 38 different players have reached the 1,000 career receiving yards mark.  Here are those 38 players to have accomplished the feat since 1956:

How Ducks’ safety room looks with Evan Williams transfer, return of Jamal Hill, Steve Stephens IV

With Jamal Hill and Steve Stephens coming back in 2023, plus Evan Williams’ transfer, how does the depth at Oregon’s safety position look?

One of the bigger question marks on the Oregon Ducks’ roster going into the 2023 offseason was on the defense, particularly when it came to the secondary. We knew that Bennett Williams was going to be taking off without any more eligibility remaining, but there were guys like Jamal Hill, Steve Stephens, and Bryan Addison, all of whom had decisions to make on whether or not they wanted to return in 2023 or not.

On Tuesday afternoon, we got a much clearer look at what the safety position will look like going into the fall.

The Oregonian’s James Crepea reported just after noon that both Hill and Stephens would be returning for another year in Eugene. This will be Hill’s fifth season with the Ducks, and Stephens’ sixth.

That news only further boosts the position which already got a positive development earlier in the month with Fresno State safety Evan Williams announcing that he would transfer to Oregon as well.

So with those three anchoring the back end of the secondary in 2023, who will be the other players to look for rotating throughout spring football and into the early part of the season? While the roster is still in flux with potential transfer between now and fall camp, here’s where the depth of the Ducks’ safety position currently stands.