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After losing their prized 2023 quarterback of the future when Malachi Nelson flipped his commitment from Oklahoma to USC to follow Lincoln Riley, there was a lot of angst about the future of the QB position in Norman.
The Sooners didn’t have a head coach or offensive coordinator either so things were up in the air. There was, and still is the trepidation about whether impact true freshman quarterback Caleb Williams would stay or go since Riley has left for sunny southern California.
The question remains about Caleb Williams’ future but over the last two weeks, things have stabilized in Norman. A new head coach is in the building and for the first time in six years, the Sooners will have a new play-caller not named Lincoln Riley.
Jeff Lebby, the up-and-coming offensive coordinator who led multiple top-five offenses while at Ole Miss came back to his alma mater to lead the Sooners offense. His first order of business? Secure a commitment from 2022 QB Nick Evers.
Evers had been recruited by Lebby at Ole Miss and although Evers originally committed to Florida, his relationship with Lebby stood firm and helped open the doorway to him becoming a Sooner.
But what are the Sooners getting with Nick Evers?
Evers is a true dual-threat quarterback much like Caleb Williams. However, his skills may not look the same as Caleb Williams.
Evers stands tall at 6-foot-3 and has the frame to add about 10 pounds if needed. While being a bit taller than some of the other Oklahoma quarterbacks of late, Evers runs with long strides on the field to the point it doesn’t look like he’s running all that fast.
He’s quite proficient running with the ball, totaling 894 yards rushing the last two years of high school. His arm is lively and he’s not afraid to throw over the middle of the field. If you’re going to do that you need accuracy, some velocity, and some major confidence to do so. And Evers has all three.
Evers is far from a finished product and will need some seasoning in this offense and processing at much faster speeds. The best thing going for him is the fact that Lebby’s offense is similar in ways to what his high school offense looked like but obviously highly more nuanced. It should help on a concept level and the more reps he gets at practice in this system the better off he’ll be.
There’s some serious upside in Nick Evers and while he’s not the five-star QB recruit the Sooners had grown accustomed to, he’s plenty talented to make a major name for himself in Norman, Oklahoma.
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