Tag: Davis Beville

Each Quarterback and Running Back the Oklahoma Sooners have offered in the 2024 recruiting class

With the focus on 2023 this summer, let’s take a look at the quarterbacks and running backs the Oklahoma Sooners have offered in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

Oklahoma’s had a lot of success recruiting the quarterback and running back positions since in the school’s history. Though the style of player has changed from the dynastic eras of the Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer days, Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma Sooners were able to attract some of the best skill players the country has had to offer.

Since the turn of the century, Oklahoma’s had some of the best offensive players the game has seen, as evidenced by their four Heisman trophies, several finalists, and highly productive rushing attacks.

And now with Jeff Lebby running the show, Oklahoma’s going to continue that run of highly skilled offensive players at the Palace on the Prairie.

The Sooners have a nice group of quarterbacks to work with over the next couple of years with [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag], [autotag]Nick Evers[/autotag], [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag], and [autotag]General Booty[/autotag] on the 2022 roster and [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] coming in 2023.

At running back, Oklahoma is also looking really good with [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag]. [autotag]Marcus Major[/autotag], [autotag]Jovantae Barnes[/autotag], and [autotag]Gavin Sawchuk[/autotag] on the depth chart for 2022 with four-start running back [autotag]Kalib Hicks[/autotag] to come in 2023.

While the Sooners continue their push for the 2023 recruiting class, let’s take a look ahead to see who they’re targeting in 2024.

ESPN Scouts top 2023 QB prospects, what did they say about Sooners commit Jackson Arnold?

Scouting the 2023 quarterback class, ESPN believes Jackson Arnold has a chance to compete for a starting job as early as next year.

The Oklahoma Sooners [autotag]2023 recruiting class[/autotag] doesn’t have a ton of commitments as they head into the summer. That’ll change in the next couple of months. Even with Ashton Cozart’s flip to Oregon, the Sooners remain in great shape to have one of the best recruiting classes in the country. And that’s because they have one of the better quarterback prospects in the country, [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

Arnold is a four-star player out of Denton Guyer coming off of his first season as a starting quarterback at the varsity level. In that first season he led Guyer to the state championship game before falling short of the title. Looking to get back to the title game in 2022, Arnold has a chance to ascend recruiting rankings and earn a fifth star going into only his second season.

He was an important commitment for the 2023 class, which was left with just one player in the class after [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] moved on to USC. That didn’t thwart [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] or [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag], who got to work to add talent to a recruiting class that was just Joshua Bates at the time.

Looking ahead to 2023, Arnold is currently the No. 6 quarterback according to the 247Sports Composite rankings and the On3 Consensus rankings. ESPN has him as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback prospect in the 2023 class. ESPN’s Tom Luginbill recently took a look at each of the top quarterback prospects and provided their own scouting reports (ESPN+).

Going to be a really good player. Adequate size, well-built. Smooth stroke, ball jumps and finishes. Compact delivery. Deceptively good mobility. Has good feet and pocket mobility. Resourceful and can extend plays. Strong arm, can layer the ball. We like his feel for the game and instincts to create when things aren’t as planned. – Luginbill, ESPN

Luginbill also described Arnold as having “[autotag]Baker Mayfield[/autotag] traits — gutsy, tough and quick to pull the trigger.”

Luginbill believes Arnold is a perfect fit for Jeff Lebby’s offense, which requires the quarterback to process quickly and play mistake-free football. Though he won’t be on campus until next year, Luginbill and the ESPN staff believe that Arnold could compete to start right away in 2023.

Though the Sooners have [autotag]Nick Evers[/autotag] on the roster and transfer quarterback [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag], there’s no clear hierarchy at the quarterback position beyond [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag]. Competing for a starting job as a freshman doesn’t seem completely out of the question.

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Oklahoma Sooners add JUCO transfer QB General Booty

The Oklahoma Sooners added another quarterback to its ranks after getting a commitment from JUCO transfer General Booty.

The Oklahoma Sooners aren’t slowing down in the talent acquisition department as they prepare for the 2022 season. After getting a commitment from Pittsburgh transfer quarterback [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag] earlier in the week, the Sooners landed another quarterback in the transfer portal, this time JUCO transfer General Booty.

Booty played one season for Tyler Junior College and threw for 3,115 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. The former Allen Eagle was second in the junior college ranks in passing yards per game and fourth in passing touchdowns for Tyler, who went 7-5 in 2021 and finished second in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference.

Adding Booty to the ranks gives Jeff Lebby seven quarterbacks as they head into the summer. [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] is the unquestioned starter and Davis Beville is the presumptive favorite to win the backup quarterback job. Then Oklahoma has true freshman [autotag]Nick Evers[/autotag], [autotag]General Booty[/autotag], [autotag]Micah Bowens[/autotag], [autotag]Ben Harris[/autotag], and [autotag]Ralph Rucker[/autotag].

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Oklahoma Sooners get commitment from Missouri transfer wide receiver Javian “J.J.” Hester

The Oklahoma Sooners added to their wide receiver room with the addition of Missouri transfer Javian Hester.

The transfer portal continues to give to the Oklahoma Sooners late in the spring as they prepare for the 2022 college football season. After getting a commitment from Pittsburgh quarterback [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag] earlier this week, the Sooners landed Missouri transfer wide receiver Javian Hester late Wednesday night.

Hester, a former four-star player from the 2020 recruiting cycle, hails from Tulsa where he attended Booker T. Washington High School before going to the Tigers.

He was the No. 3 player in the state of Oklahoma that year and the No. 53 wide receiver according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

After redshirting in 2020, Hester played in seven games in 2021 accounting for 12 receptions, 225 yards, and two touchdowns. He averaged 18.8 yards per reception and 1.76 yards per route run for Missouri last season according to Pro Football Focus. He averaged 6.6 yards after the catch per reception and an average depth of target of 14.7, which was the third-best number for the Tigers last season.

He played primarily in the slot for the Tigers last year with 70% of his snaps coming from the inside. That ability to play on the inside at 6-foot-3 provides the Sooners a big body to play in the middle of the field and allows [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] some flexibility to move [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag] back outside where he thrived in 2020 or another big body to play on the outside opposite of [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag].

The depth at wide receiver was already pretty strong, but Javian “J.J.” Hester provides even more options to the wide receiver room for the Sooners to work with.

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Oklahoma Sooners land Pittsburgh transfer quarterback Davis Beville

Oklahoma Sooners land transfer QB Davis Beville from Pittsburgh. Beville played in nine games in three seasons.

Entering spring ball, the Oklahoma Sooners had just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster in [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and true freshman [autotag]Nick Evers[/autotag]. The prevailing thought was that the Sooners needed to add a player with some experience to back up Gabriel in the event of an injury.

They’ve done just that with the addition of Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Davis Beville. Beville visited the Sooners over the weekend and was even seen on camera chatting it up with head coach Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby in Norman.

It was confirmed it was [autotag]Davis Beville[/autotag] and the visit went well enough for Beville to officially commit via his Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

Beville, a 6-foot-6 passer from Greenville, South Carolina, appeared in nine games across three seasons with the Pittsburgh Panthers. He spent most of his college career backing up Heisman finalist and first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett.

In his career, he’s only attempted 32 passes, but that’s more than any other scholarship quarterback or walk-on Oklahoma had on the roster. He’s a veteran player who will be a great addition to the quarterback room and locker room.

The Sooners needed a backup quarterback in the worst way. None of the other Sooners quarterbacks played horrendously in the spring game. Still, it’s crystal clear Jeff Lebby and Brent Venables evaluated the spring and felt that they needed a player with experience on the quarterback depth chart.

Football is a play-by-play sport, and one play is all it takes for the Sooners to lose starter Dillon Gabriel.

The Sooners won’t have to worry about that and will enter the summer with another arm at their disposal as they begin to prepare for the start of the 2022 season.

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Tale of the Tape: Starting Quarterbacks – Ian Book vs. Joey Yellen

Whether Ian Book is the better quarterback going into Notre Dame’s matchup with Pittsburgh remains to be seen.

Whether Ian Book is the better quarterback going into Notre Dame’s matchup with Pittsburgh remains to be seen. What we know is that time to prove that his mainly unremarkable numbers through his first four games were an anomaly could be running out. While Book has proven capable of carrying the ball himself, planned or otherwise, the gap in his running and throwing abilities appears to be shrinking. Irish fans keep waiting for him to tear up a defense through the air, which he hasn’t done yet.Though Kenny Pickett could be available after missing their last game against Florida State, the Panthers are expected to start Joey Yellen, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Arizona State. Yellen still is feeling his way into his new surroundings, and it shows. There’s really nothing to write home about with him, which is unfair given the situation he and the Panthers are in, but it’s the reality. The question is whether Pat Narduzzi will pull the plug on Yellen early and decide to summon Davis Beville or a partially healthy Pickett.