One of the many trends of the early stages of the Brent Venables era is the desire to add long athletes to the defensive front. In particular, he and defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis are looking for athletes to play off the edge. Adding Kevonte Henry and R Mason Thomas in the 2022 recruiting class got them started and they look like they’ve done it again in 2023.
One of the highest-rated players in their 2023 recruiting class, Adepoju Adebawore, fits that bill. Adebawore recently received five-star recognition ahead of his senior season. He’s a consensus top 100 player and top 10 edge player in the class.
Similarly to Bruce Feldman’s college football “freaks list” over at The Athletic, Andrew Ivins of 247Sports put together his top 50 athletic “freaks” in the 2023 recruiting cycle. Adebawore comes in at No. 5 in the class.
A lot of people reading this list probably wish they had Adepoju “P.J.” Adebawore’s diet as there was a time when he was eating six peanut butter jelly sandwiches a day in hopes of just consuming enough calories to gain weight. The 6-foot-4.5, 225-pound Adebawore is not only blessed with 10-inch hands and a near 85-inch wingspan, but he has an elite testing profile to go along with those features: 4.8 in the 40-yard dash, 4.3 in the short shuttle, 7.3 in the L drill and over 34 inches in the vertical jump. – Ivins, 247Sports
Adebawore will need to add more bulk when he gets on campus, but the Sooners strength and conditioning program will help that. In the meantime, he’s got all the tools to be an elite edge at the college level for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Another player high on the list is uncommitted Sooenrs’ target, Malachi Coleman. Coleman, who plays wide receivers and is one of the best prospects in Nebraska, projects as an elite receiver at the collegiate level. His size and athleticism will create mismatches in the passing game, and if he’s able to add bulk without losing his speed and athleticism, he will be a terror for opposing defenses. Coleman comes in at No. 9 on the list.
At 6-foot-5, 190 pounds, Coleman is essentially a ball of clay, especially when one takes into consideration his track profile (10.46 in the 100-meter dash, 21.31 in the 200-meter dash and 45-6 in the triple jump) and two-way production (561 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior to go along with 57 tackles and seven sacks). Coleman’s basketball highlights are worth a peep, too. Makes sense as he reports a 41.5-inch vert. The local Cornhuskers are viewed as the team to beat for Coleman, who attends Lincoln East. The three-time USATF All-American also has Michigan, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Georgia, USC and Oregon on his short list of favorites with an Oct. 15th commitment date on the calendar. – Ivins, 247Sports
The Sooners are still in hot pursuit of a commitment from Malachi Coleman but will have to contend with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Coleman won’t commit until October, so Oklahoma has time to make a strong impression.
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