Tag: 2022 four-star defensive lineman

Sooners receive Crystal Ball prediction for 4-star DL Derrick LeBlanc with commitment coming this week

With his commitment scheduled for this week, the Sooners received another crystal ball prediction for 2023 4-star DL Derrick LeBlanc.

The month of July might need to be renamed after Brent Venables after all the recruiting success the Sooners have had since the calendar turned. Oklahoma added another commitment on Monday in four-star cornerback Jasiah Wagoner, a top five player out of the state of Washington. Wagoner is the eighth commitment in the month of July and the 13th commitment since June 1.

Earlier in the day, before Wagoner committed, there was more positive news for the Sooners as Steve Wiltfong, National Recruiting Director for 247Sports issued a crystal ball prediction favoring the Sooners in the recruitment of Derrick LeBlanc.

LeBlanc, a four-star defensive lineman out of Florida, intends to make his decision on July 28. His final three include Oklahoma, Florida, and Penn State, and it looks like the Sooners have the inside track to add the top 100 prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Here’s what 247Sports Cooper Petagna had to say about LeBlanc:

Versatile defensive line prospect that can play in multiple defensive fronts with excellent length and physical traits. Needs to continue to develop as a pass-rusher and refine his technique at the point of attack but has the natural ability to develop into a potential all-conference prospect at the next level. Will need two years to develop before playing into his ceiling at the next level. – Petagna, 247Sports

Derrick LeBlanc’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

  • On3 recruiting prediction machine gives Florida a 93.1% chance of landing LeBlanc projection
  • Crystal Ball predictions from 247Sports have Derrick LeBlanc heading to the Sooners.

Film

Hudl

Oklahoma Sooners 2022 target Gracen Halton decommits from Oregon

This past weekend, the Oklahoma Sooners hosted their first major recruiting event in the Brent Venables era. There were several players present across recruiting classes and the Oklahoma Sooners have used that to their advantage, apparently making a …

This past weekend, the Oklahoma Sooners hosted their first major recruiting event in the Brent Venables era. There were several players present across recruiting classes and the Oklahoma Sooners have used that to their advantage, apparently making a strong impression on four-star edge prospect Gracen Halton.

Halton, who was committed to the Oregon Ducks received a Crystal Ball projection from OUInsider at 247Sports Parker Thune on Monday. Now just a couple of days later, Halton has decommitted from the Ducks.

Within minutes of his decommittment, further projections from On3 Sports and Rivals indicate that Halton will likely be joining the Oklahoma Sooners. SoonerScoops’ Josh McCuiston and On3’s Justin Hopkins have the Oklahoma Sooners clearly in the sights of the four-star prospect out of San Diego, California.

Halton is a four-star prospect across the major recruiting services and could figure into the Oklahoma Sooners defensive line rotation similarly to Isaiah Thomas. An edge player who has the size to play on the interior on pass rush downs.

With the decommitment from Oregon, now all we await is an official announcement of his future playing destination. With National Signing Day coming on Feb. 2nd, we’ll hear something official in the next week.

Gracen Halton’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
ESPN 4 264 18 24
Rivals 4 – 19 17
247Sports 4 244 21 32
247 Composite 4 263 23 32
On3 Recruiting 4 – 22 37
On3 Composite 4 251 19 30

Vitals

Hometown San Diego, CA
Projected Position DL
Height 270
Weight 6-2

Recruitment

  • Offered on Dec. 30, 2021
  • Visit on Jan. 22, 2022

Notable Offers

  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon (decommitted – 1/26/2022)

Film

See more Gracen Halton highlights at HUDL 

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What Quency Wiggins could bring to LSU

A look at the newest LSU defensive lineman Quency Wiggins

The LSU Tigers landed four-star defensive lineman Quency Wiggins from Madison Prep. Wiggins is the No. 7 ranked prospect in Louisiana, ranked 15th of all defensive linemen, and 92nd overall prospect.

Wiggins finished his second year of high school football, and he helped lead Madison Prep to a 3A football and basketball championships in 2020-21. The 6’6″ 275 lb defensive lineman compiled 56 tackles, 26 TFLs, 13 sacks, four pass deflections, and three forced fumbles in his senior year.

Wiggins has good size and reach that should translate on the college level. However, the defensive lineman often saw double and triple teams all season. Wiggins is well equipped to handle double and triple teams with his size and strength. At his size, you would not think Wiggins is very athletic, but that is not the case; he can mobe an outstanding athlete.

The new recruit has shown a good football IQ; Wiggins can diagnose plays as they develop. At Madison Prep, Wiggins played both ends and tackle on the defensive line. At LSU, he probably will play end but could slide down to tackle if needed.

The Tigers will be getting a defensive lineman with a tremendous upside that someday could be a high draft pick. It will be up to Wiggins to take the teachings from the LSU defensive staff and apply it on the field.

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Recruiting roundup: Checking out the 2022 recruiting class and other notes

Where do the Oklahoma Sooners stand with certain players in the 2022 recruiting class?

The Oklahoma Sooners are riding a lot of momentum as the calendar has flipped to November. They are undefeated, ranked in the top eight of every major ranking, and can currently boast a top 10 recruiting class.

While the on-field product has been good and still has the potential to be great this season, great programs don’t just neglect the other part of the team. Recruiting is the lifeblood of college sports. Especially college football despite what Florida head coach Dan Mullen might suggest.

It’s a 365 days a year job and it never stops.

Despite some hiccups, the Sooners are closing in on another top 10 class for the 2022 recruiting cycle. We would seriously be talking about a top 3 class had they not lost a top 10 national recruit in Luther Burden earlier this year. They also lost Jordan Hudson and Talyn Shettron as well.

However, the Sooners picked up the slack in terms of sheer star power and talent by their October run landing two of this senior’s class best talents in Gabriel Brownlow Dindy and Gentry Williams according to the USA Today Sports High School Composite Player Rankings.

With an early signing day of December 15th, the Oklahoma Sooners can put pen to paper and close the deal for good by having many guys sign and send in their National Letters of Intent.

As it currently stands, Oklahoma’s well on its way to locking down their 2022 class as no one currently looks like a surprise flip to somewhere else at the moment with a month to go.

However, there are a few recruits who could still jump on board namely guys like Jovontae Barnes, Hero Kanu, Marvin Jones Jr., Azareyeh Thomas, and Chris McClellan.

Jovontae Barnes, a running back from Las Vegas is set to visit Oklahoma for the Iowa State game. He plans to silently commit and announce his decision at one of the winter All-Star games in January. The Sooners are in an excellent spot here if you’ve followed our coverage over the months.

Hero Kanu, a defensive lineman originally from Germany, but playing football in California, is another huge possibility for the Sooners here. Judging things right now, this seems like it may be down to Oklahoma and Ohio State, which may be a theme for Oklahoma over the next few months on the recruiting trail.

Marvin Jones Jr. plays with 2023 Sooners commit Brandon Inniss. The chance is there for them to play in college as well. Jamar Cain is on the prowl and is positioning Oklahoma to be right in the thick of it over the coming months in a battle with Alabama and Florida State for the highly talented edge rusher.

Azareyeh Thomas popped onto the scene after a visit a few weeks ago and Oklahoma is trending well enough to have garnered multiple crystal ball predictions on 247’s site. Thomas is listed as an athlete but looks to be playing safety if he plays for the Sooners.

Most, if not all of these guys will be names to monitor in the coming months as letters of intent begin to get signed and as players end their high school seasons, allowing them to focus solely on their recruiting journeys as their senior football seasons come to an end.

Recruiting Update: Sooners gaining ground with top recruits

A look at the Sooners and updates on their pursuit of two homegrown talents and an out-of-state talent with strong Oklahoma ties.

The Oklahoma Sooners have not had an easy go of it this season but they’ve found ways to win games and still impress recruits. The Sooners on-field product hasn’t been the most aesthetically pleasing to watch but it’s getting results. Underneath those results, they are still finding ways to impress possible Sooners.

The Sooners recruiting has hardly taken a dip although their current product as a whole does not remotely resemble what they’ve been known for. However, recruiting goes on and the only way to remain relevant and near the top of college football as long as they have is to continue recruiting at a high level.

As it stands, the Sooners have the 12th ranked recruiting class in the country for 2022. They’ve hosted some significant targets on their recruiting big board over the last few weeks with names like four-star corner Gentry Williams, four-star defensive lineman Chris McClellan and five-star defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy. The Sooners have landed some excellent players in the 2022 class but a bonafide top seven recruiting class became increasingly hard when they lost commitments from their three receiver commits in Jordan Hudson (now committed to SMU), Talyn Shettron (now committed to Oklahoma State to play with his brother) and Luther Burden (likely a future UGA or Missouri commit.)

Those commitments over the summer took the steam out of a class that was shaping up to be elite. Good things come to those who wait and those who close in recruiting. The Sooners are closing in on the likes of Williams, McClellan, and Dindy as the fall rolls on.

Gentry Williams, a homegrown Oklahoma talent has had the Sooners and the USC Trojans jockeying back and for the most part due to his relationship with cornerback and interim head coach Donte Williams. USC’s future is very uncertain and that level of stability has not gone unnoticed as new crystal balls at 247Sports  have forecasted Williams to Oklahoma and a Rivals’ future cast has the Sooners as the landing spot now.

Another in-state star Chris McClellan was in town for the West Virginia game. The Sooners have been fighting off Florida and Ohio State the heaviest for his services. In the last week, he’s received a few crystal balls to classify him as an Oklahoma lean as it stands.

Last but certainly not least, another player with organic ties to the state of Oklahoma, five-star Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy. His parents are Oklahoma Sooners alums and the connection has been there since the beginning for Oklahoma.

They enter this final stretch in a heated battle with Texas A&M who employs his father as well. They are not to be counted out but a crystal ball from Steve Wiltfong (director of football recruiting for 247Sports) is absolutely nothing to scoff at. Dindy plans to make a decision soon as he has plans to be an early enrollee.

Just playing a bit of a guessing game but commitments from these would be more than enough to take Oklahoma from 12th into the top 10 of the 2022 rankings. That is not taking into account any receivers Oklahoma may try to flip or the possibility of running back Jovontae Barnes or Marvin Jones Jr who the Sooners are also in hot pursuit of.

The Sooners despite their troubles keeping three excellent receivers in the fold are well positioned to finish with at minimum a top ten recruiting class. As long they remember, recruiting is always about how you finish and not always how you start.

Sooner Trifecta: Oklahoma lands third commitment of the day with Derrick Moore of Maryland

Oklahoma Sooners land third commitment of the day with Derrick Moore of Baltimore, Maryland.

The Oklahoma Sooners are having quite the 4th of July on the recruiting front. Over a two-day period, Lincoln Riley landed three commits with Jacob Sexton, Robert Spears-Jennings, and Xavion Brice. They weren’t done as four-star defensive lineman out of Maryland, Derrick Moore also committed to play for the Sooners.

Moore was down to three schools choosing to go with Alex Grinch’s defense over the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. All signs were pointing straight to Norman, Oklahoma, prior to his announcement to play college football for the Crimson and Cream. The strongside defensive end was the No. 1 overall player in the state according to 247Sports rankings.

I guess now we know why Lincoln Riley dropped the four eyeball emoji tweet ahead on Saturday.

After losing two recruits recently, the Sooners are now in double-digits with a total of 12 commits in their 2022 recruiting class. Not too shabby to pull two players in the trenches on a holiday weekend. Oklahoma is starting to gain momentum after dropping to No. 22 recently in 247Sports composite team rankings. OU is now inside the top 10 in the updated team rankings.

Derrick Moore’s Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 48 1 10
Rivals 4 165 3 14
ESPN 4 25 1 4
247 Composite 4 71 3 12

Vitals

Hometown Baltimore, Maryland
Projected Position Defensive Line
Height 6-4
Weight 260

Film

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