Tag: Alexander Shieldknight

Oklahoma favored to land 2025 defensive lineman out of Florida

Oklahoma Sooners favored to land underrated 2025 defensive lineman out of Florida.

After a fantastic 2024 defensive line haul that netted [autotag]David Stone[/autotag], [autotag]Jayden Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Nigel Smith[/autotag], [autotag]Danny Okoye[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Gilmore[/autotag], the Oklahoma Sooners have done a nice job adding talent upfront in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag].

With five months until the early signing period, the Sooners have commitments from [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag], [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag]. They will bolster a deep unit when they arrive in Norman. It doesn’t look like [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag] is through by any stretch of the imagination.

The Sooners have been in pursuit of Rivals four-star defensive lineman Floyd Boucard and, on Wednesday evening, earned a trio of crystal ball predictions from 247Sports recruiting insiders Tom Loy, Brian Dohm and Collin Kennedy of Sooners Illustrated.

 

Boucard is a 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive tackle prospect who has only played football for a few years. He grew up in Canada playing hockey and the agility and athleticism required is clear.

He’s a dynamic disruptor who plays both defensive tackle and defensive end in three-man fronts for Miami Central. Boucard shows off a really nice first step off the line of scrimmage and great lateral agility. He’s strong and has good play speed for the position. When asked to play in a two-gap call on defense, he does a great job staying disciplined in the system and is fantastic at shedding blocks.

Though considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports and On3, Boucard has a chance to have his ranking climb during his senior season. He has all of the ability teams are looking for from a defensive lineman and has the versatility, ability, and experience to play multiple spots at the next level.

Boucard is set to make his commitment decision on July 20 and looks to be choosing among USC, Miami and Alabama.

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Sooners defensive line target Smith Orogbo commits to Texas

Sooners 2025 four-star defensive end target commits to the Texas Longhorns.

The Oklahoma Sooners are still working to add defensive line depth for the 2025 recruiting class. Though they’ve earned commitments from interior defensive linemen [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and defensive ends [autotag]Alexander Shieldnight[/autotag] and [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], the defensive staff had been in pursuit of other players on the edge.

After missing on [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag], who chose Penn State, the Sooners turned their attention to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag]. At the time, it appeared Oklahoma might pull off a recruiting win over Texas Tech. However, it’s the Sooners’ Red River rivals who are adding the dynamic edge rusher.

On Monday, Orogbo committed to the Texas Longhorns. He’s a talented pass rusher with significant upside due to his fantastic athleticism.

The Sooners still have a dynamic defensive end duo in Shieldnight and Nickson to build the future of their defensive end group around, and they are well within the top 10 recruiting classes in the country as we enter July.

The Sooners turn their attention to securing commitments from [autotag]Cortez Mills[/autotag] and [autotag]Omarion Robinson[/autotag] along with priority offensive line targets [autotag]Michael Fasusi[/autotag], [autotag]Lamont Rogers[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Babalola[/autotag], and [autotag]Ty Haywood[/autotag].

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4-star edge C.J. Nickson commits to the Oklahoma Sooners

Four-star defensive end C.J. Nickson chooses the Oklahoma Sooners over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Oklahoma Sooners [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag] is coming together as we reach the middle of the summer, less than six months away from the early signing period.

After adding a pair of four-star wide receivers over the last week, it’s the defense’s turn. Four-star defensive end [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag] committed to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Nickson chose the Sooners over Bedlam rival Oklahoma State. He’s a legit two-sport star who plans to play basketball for Porter Moser and the men’s basketball squad.

ESPN and 247Sports consider Nickson a top-100 prospect in the 2025 class and consider the Weatherford, Oklahoma, native the No. 1 player in the state of Oklahoma.

With his ability on the hardwood, Nickson flashes elite athleticism and playmaking off the edge.

Here’s what we had to say about Nickson in April.

His length is a problem for offensive tackles and he has the quickness and agility to be a plus pass rusher at the collegiate level. He plays both ways for Weatherford, also starring at wide receiver, where he racked up 604 yards and eight touchdowns on 36 receptions in 2023. – Williams, Sooners Wire

The Sooners are building a blue-chip defensive front and the edge group Miguel Chavis is putting together added a difference-maker in Nickson.

Nickson joins a defensive line class that includes defensive tackles [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag] and defensive end [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag]. The Sooners are still working to add a four-star defensive end from North Dakota, [autotag]Kade Pietrzak[/autotag].

With 18 commitments in the cycle, the Sooners have the No. 5 recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

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Oklahoma Sooners 4-star target Max Granville commits to Penn State

Oklahoma misses out on 2025 four-star linebacker Max Granville, who commits to Penn State.

After a weekend of official visits for the ChampU BBQ, it looked like the Oklahoma Sooners had gained some serious momentum in the recruitment of 2025 four-star edge rusher [autotag]Max Granville[/autotag].

Steve Wiltfong of On3 issued a prediction favoring the Sooners on Sunday. While everything looked to be going OU’s way, the tide turned on Monday as the Penn State Nittany Lions earned Granville’s commitment with a late push.

In Granville, the Nittany Lions add one of the best pure pass rushers in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag]. His quickness off the line of scrimmage and array of pass rush moves are going to create problems for Big Ten schools.

For Oklahoma, they’ll continue their pursuit of in-state four-star prospect [autotag]C.J. Nickson[/autotag], who has long been projected to land with the Sooners. Oklahoma also likely pivots to [autotag]Smith Orogbo[/autotag], a four-star edge, and the No. 26 prospect, according to On3.

Who’s next to join [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners at defensive end? That will be something to watch in the coming months.

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Sooners now the trending favorite for 2025 4-star defensive lineman

The Oklahoma Sooners received On3 Predictions from Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons for four-star defensive lineman Trent Wilson.

The Oklahoma Sooners are looking to build upon one of their best defensive line recruiting classes of the modern era in the 2024 cycle. Oklahoma already has commitments from [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag] and look to be the trending favorite for a blue-chip prospect, [autotag]Trent Wilson[/autotag].

Steve Wiltfong, now of On3, and Chad Simmons each issued an On3 prediction favoring the Sooners in Wilson’s recruitment. The Sooners now have a sizeable lead over Penn State and Maryland in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

Wilson, who hails from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, has 17 offers from Big Ten and SEC schools.

The Sooners offered Wilson at the end of January but [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag] has apparently moved the needle in a short time.

Here’s what I had to say about Wilson back in January. At the end of January, Wilson released a top eight that included the Florida State Seminoles, Penn State Nittany Lions, Maryland Terrapins, Florida Gators, Texas A&M Aggies, Tennessee Volunteers, and the Ohio State Buckeyes along with the Sooners.

Wilson, who plays as the three-technique defensive tackle, or between the guard and tackle in their defensive alignment, plays with good quickness and power. He uses a good first step to dart the gap between opposing offensive linemen to get to the quarterback or bring down the running back in the backfield. – Williams, Sooners Wire

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After two predictions, Sooners are gaining momentum with four-star DT Kole Briehler

Oklahoma Sooners received two projections to land 2025 defensive tackle Kole Briehler.

Aside from the warmer weather and the fact we inch closer to the Oklahoma spring game, March is a pivotal month in the college football calendar. Players who have been recruited, gone on visits and received offers are inching ever closer to deciding where to play their college ball.

There’s been a flurry of top school lists as most of the upcoming senior class is slowly whittling their recruitment.

We’re also likely to see increased projections and predictions from recruiting insiders as pictures become clearer.

For the Sooners, that’s precisely the case. Oklahoma is looking like the team to beat for Rivals four-star defensive lineman [autotag]Kole Briehler[/autotag] out of New Jersey.

Briehler is a tough football player with plenty of size and a frame that could add more to allow him to be a mainstay in the teeth of the Sooners’ defense.

Briehler has adequate play strength for a high school student, and it shows on his tape already. He has enough size to play defensive tackle in four-man alignments and defensive end in three-man fronts.

Up front in the [autotag]2025 recruiting class[/autotag], Oklahoma has earned pledges from defensive tackle [autotag]Ka’Mori Moore[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Shieldknight[/autotag].

At this point it looks like the Sooners are the trending favorite for the New Jersey defensive tackle from the Hun School, the same school that 2023 offensive lineman [autotag]Logan Howland[/autotag] hails from.

Early Monday morning, Richard Schnyderite and Parker Thune of Rivals dropped in a futurecast for Briehler to land with the Sooners.

No decision is imminent, but Briehler has already visited Norman. He also visited Michigan and has a trip to Ohio State on deck in a few weeks. The Sooners are in a good spot, but this race is far from over.

Kole Briehler’s Recruiting Profile

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