Tag: Gabe Brooks

Nation’s No. 1 running back prospect Taylor Tatum chooses Oklahoma over USC Trojans

Oklahoma lands 15th commit in 2024 recruiting class as elite running back Taylor Tatum commits to the Sooners over the USC Trojans.

The Oklahoma Sooners and running backs coach DeMarco Murray picked up another big-time recruiting win, earning the commitment of Taylor Tatum. Tatum is the No. 1 running back in the nation and a composite five-star prospect, according to 247Sports. Tatum committed to Oklahoma on Friday morning over Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans.

With his commitment, Tatum becomes the highest-rated recruit in Murray’s coaching career. The Sooners have been involved in a highly contested recruitment that has spanned well over a year. While Oklahoma wasn’t always considered the leader throughout, Murray and the Sooners staff remained steady in their pursuit of Tatum as he played out the process.

Oklahoma entered the race last summer by offering him in June. Tatum had a highly productive junior season where he was named Texas District 7-5A D-I Overall MVP, rushing for 1,891 yards and 33 TDs on 8.33 yards per carry. He also caught three touchdowns to help his Longview squad to a 14-1 record and the Texas 5A D-I state semifinals.

With his junior season behind him, Tatum’s recruitment took off. On April 24, he announced a top seven list of Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas.

Around that time, Michigan already had several predictions in its favor.

Eventually, the recruitment whittled itself down to the Sooners, Trojans and Wolverines. Official visits to Oklahoma, Michigan and USC came and went. All three schools sold Tatum on playing football and baseball. A significant factor in his recruitment was his ability to play both sports. He patrols the outfield or can slide down and play second base.

As the calendar turned to July, Oklahoma and USC stood tall as the final two.

Oklahoma surged in his recruitment, and predictions from insiders at 247Sports, On3 and Rivals overwhelmingly favored the Sooners. But it was the Sooners that closed it out. In doing so, Murray and Skip Johnson landed one of the best three-sport stars in the country. In addition to football and baseball, Tatum also stars for his track squad, winning district and area meets in the 200 meters.

By landing Tatum, Murray gets a three-down back capable of hitting the home run and one unafraid of getting behind his pads and fighting for the dirty yards. In contrast, Skip Johnson gets a dynamic athlete capable of roaming the outfield like former Sooners quarterback [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag].

Gabe Brooks of 247Sports had this to say in his evaluation of Tatum.

Enters senior campaign as an elite running back prospect in the 2024 cycle. Catalog of physical tools and play style should fit myriad offensive schemes. Projects to the high-major level as an eventual impact starter with a long-term ceiling as a possible NFL Draft early-round candidate. – Brooks, 247Sports

Now that Oklahoma has landed Tatum, the Sooners have passed rivals Texas and Nebraska in recruiting for 2024. Oklahoma sits 16th in the nation in team recruiting rankings.

Tatum’s commitment also makes him the highest-rated recruit for Oklahoma’s class, overtaking a spot held by four-star wide receiver Zion Kearney.

The work is not done for Murray. Next up in the 2024 recruiting cycle is four-star running back Caden Durham. Durham is set to commit on Aug. 25, choosing among Oklahoma, LSU and Texas A&M.

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What are the Oklahoma Sooners getting with new four-star QB commit Jackson Arnold?

After landing the commitment of Jackson Arnold, we decided to take a look at what the Sooners were getting from the four-star QB.

After a week that saw two predictions sending him to Oklahoma, 2023 four-star quarterback Jackson Arnold did just that Monday by committing to Oklahoma.

Arnold is the top QB in the state of Texas for the 2023 class and has a lot of potential. He gives the Sooners some major recruiting momentum as they look to close out their 2022 class and go full steam ahead with the 2023 class.

The question is: What are the Sooners getting in their newest signal-caller? Let’s take a look at what the recruiting industry says about him.

Arnold stands about right at 6-foot-2 and somewhere hovering at or around 200 pounds. He’s by no means the best athlete on the field but he certainly has plenty of athleticism to make throws out the pocket and off-platform. He can use his feet to get the job done if necessary.

Below is an example of it as Arnold is forced to relocate with the pocket collapsing. Instead of panicking, he calmly slides to his right, resets his base, and delivers a strike to his target for a touchdown.

Arnold was highly productive against some of the elite high school competition in the country while playing at the 6A level in Texas. A shade under 4,000 passing yards, 34 passing touchdowns, only 5 interceptions and he also ran 208 times for 659 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He’s already committed to playing in the Under Armour All-American game next year as well.

This was his first season as a full-time starter as he sat behind current Texas A&M QB Eli Stowers his first few years. An entire offseason and a college decision behind him should really help Arnold as he can continue focusing on his individual game, recruiting his future teammates, and doing whatever he can to help his team get over the state championship game hurdle.

Ultimately, Arnold is the exact type of QB that Lebby favors in his veer and shoot system. The dual-threat ability is paramount even if Arnold isn’t Kyler Murray as a runner. The ability to keep the defense off-kilter because of the quarterback’s ability to throw or run the ball just opens up so many options. Having a quarterback with excellent deep-ball accuracy as Lebby loves to take shots down the field is key. Arnold has been commended for his deep ball accuracy per Gabe Brooks of 247Sports.

Presumed starter for the 2022 season, Dillon Gabriel, isn’t the biggest or most athletic guy but he can use his feet and is able to make whatever throw Lebby asks of him. Arnold looks to be in a similar mold in that regard.

The Sooners landed a good one and continued to build their QB room, which is now in a much better place than it was a few months ago. They can take a deep sigh of relief as their future at the QB position is more stable than it was before the day started.

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A few Notre Dame signee’s impressing at All-American Bowl

The future is bring for these two incoming Irish players

The All-American Bowl was played this weekend and it isn’t always about how the player performs during the game, it is an all-star game where many don’t get the opportunity to make an impact like they normally would.

To me, it’s the practices that are important, it’s the reps against players who will be the next starts of college football. With that said, it does seem like a few future Notre Dame players turned some heads during the practice portion.

According to a report from 247Sports Gabe Brooks, offensive lineman Billy Schrauth and wide receiver Tobias Merriweather were standouts during practice. They didn’t make Brooks’ top list, but getting an honorable mention is still impressive.

Unfortunately, there was a former Irish commit, wide receiver CJ Williams was one of Brooks’ standouts, as he committed to USC during the game. This now makes it an even bigger loss as Williams commits to a rival program.