Tag: Jackson Arnold

Sooners QB recruit Jackson Arnold wins Elite 11 MVP

Oklahoma Sooners commit Jackson Arnold named MVP of the Elite 11 Finals.

The first commit of the [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] era is still going strong at the Elite 11 Finals. [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] has been having a solid few months, recently earning his fifth star from 247Sports and has just been named Elite 11’s 2022 MVP.

Arnold had some stiff competition with former OU commit Malachi Nelson, Dante Moore, Miami’s Jaden Rashada and others competing against him.

Texas commit Arch Manning did not make an appearance.

Arnold is the first five-star QB (247Sports Composite) of the post-Lincoln Riley era. After Riley left, lots of people were saying that OU would never get a big name recruit again. While Nick Evers is a nice get, Arnold might be a step or two ahead of him physically.

Oklahoma has a history of their recruits performing well at Elite 11. Both Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler balled out during their time there.

Besides the brief “we want Caleb” controversy, OU hasn’t been a school like an Ohio State with multiple QB1s in the same QB room at the sime time. With Evers and Arnold coming to Norman in 2022 and 2023 respectively, that can change very quickly.

Of course, the Sooners will be have Dillon Gabriel at QB1 for 2022. Gabriel has experience in Jeff Lebby’s offense, but it will be interesting to see if Evers gets any snaps this year, and if he does, when he will get them.

Though only considered a four-star at the time of his commitment, Jackson Arnold’s been on an upward trajectory this spring. I’m just his first season starting on varsity for Denton Guyer, Arnold helped his team get to the state championship game.

Heading into his senior season, it’s very realistic that by the end of the year Arnold’s a consensus five-star quarterback. Heading into the Elite 11 with less fanfare than some of his counterparts, Arnold stole the show, providing a glimpse of what’s coming to Norman down the road.

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Sooners 2023 commit Jackson Arnold among top performers at Elite 11 Finals

Competing against the top quarterbacks from across the country, Jackson Arnold was among the top performers at the Elite 11 finals per On3.

When Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby arrived, they hit the ground running on the recruiting trail, shoring up the 2022 recruiting class and getting started on 2023. The big get for the 2023 class was Jackson Arnold, who was the first new commit in the class of the Brent Venables era.

Arnold joined Joshua Bates, who had committed under Lincoln Riley, with the Sooners as they looked to rebuild the 2023 recruiting class. Though they may not have made as much of a splash as Texas lately, the dominos are steadily falling with commitments from Keyon Brown and Kalib Hicks on the offensive side of the ball in recent weeks.

Jackson Arnold, who helped Denton Guyer reach the Texas state championship game in his first season as a starter, has seen his status among 2023 quarterbacks grow over the last several months, recently earning his fifth star in the 247Sports composite rankings. And that status is being backed up this week at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles where Arnold was considered one of the top performers of day one according to On3’s Charles Power.

Arnold was ranked second behind Iowa State commit J.J. Kohl, but here’s what Power had to say about Jackson Arnold’s day.

[autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]‘s quick release and zip on the football was certainly among the best we saw on Tuesday evening. The ball jumps out of the Oklahoma commit’s hand. Arnold was a standout at a station that required the quarterbacks to roll out of the pocket and throw out-breaking routes across their body on the goal line. He also excelled in driving the ball to the boundary on high-difficulty throws. – Power, On3 Sports

Power continued:

The Denton (Texas) Guyer standout has a strong base that he uses to generate force on his passes. His power and quick throwing motion allow for a second life on some of his passes, with the ball continuing to pick up speed as it approaches the receiver. – Power, On3 Sports

Arnold has the ability to make all the throws you want him to on the football field. He does a great job combining arm strength, a quick release, and great accuracy.

While at the event, Jackson Arnold spent some time with Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports and had this to say about Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables.

“I love Coach Venables. He’s a super high-energy coach. I think he’s a great fit for Oklahoma and for what Oklahoma needs,” Arnold told Wiltfong. “And I absolutely love the family-like environment he’s creating too. He wants us to be not only great players but great people as well.”

He may not have garnered the same attention that an Arch Manning or Malachi Nelson has, yet, but by the end of his final season at Denton Guyer, he’ll be considered in the same light as the top quarterbacks in the 2023 recruiting class.

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Oklahoma Sooners 7th in ESPN’s updated future rankings

Though the Oklahoma Sooners saw a ton of turnover after 2021, the future is still bright as ESPN ranked them 7th in their future rankings.

Change can be tough. The Oklahoma Sooners saw a lot of change in a short time in November and December. While it created many questions about the program’s future, new head coach Brent Venables provided a steady hand at the wheel to restore confidence in Oklahoma.

That’s why, despite all of the turnover, Oklahoma remains in high regard across the country and is considered a contender in the Big 12 and for a playoff spot. The Sooners will face challenges from Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas (as they do seemingly every year), but after the Sooners’ work in the transfer portal and in their 2022 recruiting class, folks are confident Oklahoma will be competing for the conference title at the end of the season.

Every offseason, ESPN takes a look at where each team stands in regard to the present and the future. After being ranked No. 4 in the 2021 version of these rankings, the Sooners fell to No. 7 in 2022. Let’s take a look at what Adam Rittenberg had to say about the Sooners’ rankings.

How Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold will always be linked to Arch Manning and what it means for OU-Texas

Despite Texas landing Five-star Arch Manning, the Sooners should be very relaxed considering they have one in Jackson Arnold.

Oklahoma’s staff is across the country in various places looking for future members of the Crimson & Cream. While they are doing that, the entire college football world reacts to one of recruiting’s biggest recruiting storylines of the last several years as number one prospect in the class of 2023, quarterback Arch Manning, committed to the University of Texas to play college football.

The college football universe was shocked as the commitment came with little fanfare. No flashy well shot cinematic video, no super vibrant graphic. Instead, just a plain old tweet announcing his commitment to Texas. This news would maybe reverbate a little differently if the Sooners hadn’t secured their 2023 quarterback months ago in five-star talent Jackson Arnold.

Oklahoma was in on the Manning sweepstakes years ago when Lincoln Riley was the head man in charge. Ultimately, at the time, Riley found his guy in consensus top five recruit Malachi Nelson, who was a Sooners commit this time last year before following Riley to USC.

The Sooners hired Brent Venables and he hired Jeff Lebby to run his offense and after a month on the job, Lebby secured his QB of the future in Arnold. Lebby spent time recruiting Arnold prior to taking the OU job.

Arnold is a tremendous talent in his own right and shortly after receiving an Oklahoma offer pulled the trigger and became the leader for Oklahoma’s 2023 class. He threw for a shade under 4,000 passing yards and threw 34 passing touchdowns to just five interceptions. He also ran 208 times for 659 yards and 12 touchdowns. All of these numbers came against 6A Texas competition which is top tier competition that only few states can rival.

Arnold won’t arrive until next year but he and Arch Manning could share the field in the Cotton Bowl multiple times over the next three or four years.

On the outside, the recruiting world will naturally assume Manning is a tier above but we’ll never know until these two young stars suit up and play for their respective sides. While fans of the burnt orange rejoice (with good reason), Oklahoma must continue to build and surround their own five-star QB with the talent. So that when these two grace the field on that October Saturday in Dallas, the quarterback from the state of Texas that picked Oklahoma shines brightest.

Oklahoma’s found their guy in Jackson Arnold and the Longhorns have theirs in Arch Manning. For right now, both represent the futures of these programs as they head into new eras under new leadership. Only time will tell who comes out on top wearing that iconic Golden Hat.

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Oklahoma Sooners offer LSU commit DB Ryan Yaites from Denton Guyer

The Oklahoma Sooners offered defensive back and 2023 LSU commit Ryan Yaites out of Denton Guyer High School i Texas.

The Oklahoma Sooners missed out on safety Tyler Turner, who committed to Oregon this week, but that won’t slow down [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and his defensive staff. Leaving nothing to chance, the Sooners have offered four-star defensive back [autotag]Ryan Yaites[/autotag] from Denton Guyer High School in Texas.

Yaites has been committed to LSU since the middle of April, but that won’t keep Venables and [autotag]Brandon Hall[/autotag] from pursuing the Texas product. Another thing to note is that Yaites is the high school teammate of Oklahoma’s five-star quarterback commit [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag].

ESPN, 247Sports Composite, and On3’s Consensus all consider Yaites a four-star defensive back prospect and he ranks as one of the top 100 players in the talent-rich state of Texas.

Yaites is a versatile defensive back prospect that lined up primarily as an outside cornerback for Guyer. He’s a bump-and-run corner that does a great job using his length and athleticism to challenge receivers at the catch point. Even when the WR has made the catch, Yaites shows a strong ability to rip the ball out to cause the incompletion. He’s a very good tackler who consistently wraps up and drives the ball carrier to the ground. In the run or screen game, he shows great discipline to set the edge and not let the ball carrier get to the boundary. Great eye discipline and ability to read the play allows him to go from cover player to run defender quickly, which helps him make plays in the run game.

If the Sooners were able to flip Ryan Yaites from LSU, it would be a huge win and another fantastic defensive prospect to add to [autotag]Kaleb Spencer[/autotag], [autotag]Erik McCarty[/autotag], and [autotag]Kade McIntyre[/autotag].

Ryan Yaites’ Recruiting Profile

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Arch Manning to Texas: Does this signal an early move to the SEC?

With Arch Manning heading to Austin in 2023, is the move to the SEC coming sooner than later for Oklahoma and Texas?

The Crown Prince of the Football Royal Family and No. 1 2023 recruit Arch Manning shocked the sports world on Thursday when the five-star quarterback committed to the University of Texas. The football world wasn’t without a Manning for long.

Manning will join Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers in Steve Sarkisian’s QB room in Austin in 2023. Manning and Ewers are two of three players to receive a perfect composite score from 247Sports since they started ranking prospects in 2000. The other one also went to Texas; Vince Young.

This is a huge get for Steve Sarkisian and a Texas program looking to finally get some momentum as they prepare to move to the SEC.

Speaking of the SEC, it’s fair to wonder if Arch Manning knows something the rest of us do not. Is the Oklahoma-Texas move to the SEC coming earlier than 2025?

While the NIL money Ewers and Manning are getting will be massive in Austin, Manning didn’t come to the Longhorns to play in the Big 12. Archie, Peyton, and Eli Manning all played in the SEC. Even Arch’s father Cooper was committed to playing at Ole Miss before a spinal condition ended his career.

Ewers has two years left before he’s draft-eligible. Manning will be draft eligible in 2026. The plan for Texas probably looks something like this:

2022: Ewers

2023: Ewers with Manning as QB2

2024: Manning

2025: Manning

Even if the Longhorns and Sooners stay in the Big 12 until 2025, this gives Manning one year of SEC experience, but I still think the plan is to leave after BYU, Houston, UCF and Cincinnati join in July of 2023.

Ewers and Manning will be going up against Dillon Gabriel, Nick Evers and Jackson Arnold in the Red River Shootouts to come.

Congrats, Texas fans. You’ve assembled quite the QB room this season and the future.

Don’t mess it up.

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Oklahoma Sooners land commitment from 2023 4-star RB Kalib Hicks

The Oklahoma Sooners picked up another 2023 commitment, this time from four-star running back Kalib Hicks out of Denton Ryan.

The ball is rolling for the Oklahoma Sooners with the 2023 recruiting class. They’ve recently picked up commitments from Keyon Brown and Kade McIntyre and have added another with four-star running back, Kalib Hicks.

Coming out of Denton Ryan, Hicks is currently the only running back committed to the 2023 class. He joins three-star center Joshua Bates, five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold, and four-star wide receiver Keyon Brown on the offensive side of the ball as Jeff Lebby looks to put his stamp on the recruiting class.

In 2021, Hicks rushed for 1,448 yards and 18 touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry for state champion Denton Ryan. In 2020, he carried the ball 119 times for 851 yards and seven touchdowns for an average of 7.15 yards per carry.

According to the 247Sports Composite rating, Hicks is the No. 24 running back in the country and the No. 63 player in the state of Texas. On3 has him as the No. 69 player in Texas and the No. 29 running back.

His recruitment with the Sooners was a quick one. The Sooners offered a scholarship back in May and Hicks took an official visit on June 11. Just a few days later, he was committed to the Sooners.

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Sooners continue search for QB for 2024 class and extend offer to four-star Michael Van Buren

The Sooners extended an offer to 2024 QB Michael Van Buren from Baltimore, Maryland.

The Oklahoma Sooners made it known when Brent Venables was hired things were going to be different.

In many facets, that has undoubtedly been the case. When Venables hired Jeff Lebby as his offensive coordinator, Lebby made it known certain things will be done differently offensively as well. On the recruiting front, the Sooners would be recruiting a QB for every class which is a stark contrast from Lincoln Riley’s one QB every other year strategy.

With that said, coupled with the fact that five-star QB prospect Jackson Arnold is committed for the 2023 class, the Sooners are already on the hunt for their next signal caller as the 2024 class begins to come into focus. While hosting their OU camp, the Sooners brought in the likes of Michael Van Buren from Baltimore, Maryland. Van Buren is a four-star QB in the 2024 class and is a 247Sports Composite top 140 recruit.

The last Sooners QB from the DMV area currently plays for the USC Trojans, but Van Buren is a talented individual in his own right.

He can throw into tight windows, throw off platform and throw on the run as well. Although he was a part-time starter in 2021, Van Buren’s talent speaks for itself and he’s beginning to see his recruitment take off in a major way.

He’s a great prospect for Lebby’s offense and could be a major help on the recruiting trail for the Sooners along the East Coast as quarterbacks tend to have recruits gravitate towards them once committed.

Van Buren also boasts a connection to the current Sooner Jalil Farooq as Farooq graduated from St. France’s which is where Van Buren currently attends.

Michael Van Buren’s Recruiting Profile

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Sooners 2023 QB commit Jackson Arnold earns five-star rating in 247Sports Composite rankings

He’s been rising up the recruiting rankings all spring and now the Oklahoma Sooners 2023 quarterback commit Jackson Arnold has earned his fifth star.

When the coaching turnover of last winter led to the gutting of Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class, the Sooners landed a big-time commitment from Denton Guyer quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]. Arnold, who had just started his first year on varsity, helped Guyer reach the state championship game.

Arnold was one of the first offers made by [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] for the 2023 class and he represents the first 2023 commitment under Oklahoma’s new regime.

Jackson Arnold joined Locked On Sooners this week to discuss what his recruitment was like. It was Arnold that reached out after [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] left and Malachi Nelson decommited. Arnold’s recruiting coordinator at Denton Guyer connected with [autotag]Cale Gundy[/autotag] to express the then-junior quarterback’s interest in Oklahoma and once Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby came on board, they made an offer. Just over a month later, the Oklahoma Sooners had the centerpiece of their 2023 recruiting class in Jackson Arnold.

That Jackson Arnold was a pivotal commitment is a massive understatement. And the talent that has had Jeff Lebby excited about Arnold since the two first started talking more than a year ago is getting noticed more and more. Today, it was revealed that Jackson Arnold earned a fifth star in the 247Sports Composite rankings. While not a consensus five-star yet, he’s risen up recruiting rankings across each of the major services we track here on Sooners Wire.

In the 247Sports rankings, Arnold rose from the No. 47 overall player to No. 35. In the 247Sports Composite, Arnold saw a massive 41 spot jump from No. 72 to No. 31 overall. Over at On3, he went from No. 140 to No. 56 and saw a 58 spot jump in On3’s Consensus Rankings. Rivals moved him up 132 spots to No. 38 overall. ESPN has been in on Arnold all along, ranking him at No. 39, which is just a three-spot jump since our last update.

Though he hasn’t received a five-star rating from the other recruiting services, with the way he’s climbed the rankings, it’s entirely possible that he’s a five-star quarterback by the time the 2022 season ends.

Jackson Arnold’s Recruiting Profile

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Oklahoma Sooners gain commitment from 2023 4-star WR Keyon Brown

The Oklahoma Sooners added another commitment to their 2023 recruiting class in 4-star wide receiver Keyon Brown.

The Oklahoma Sooners kicked June off with a bang, hosting [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ first camp for high school athletes as the Sooners’ head coach. They’re hosting players from across the country for the ChampU Family BBQ this weekend and their efforts are already paying dividends.

The Sooners received a commitment from four-star wide receiver Keyon Brown out of Tallahassee, Fla.

According to Bob Przybylo of SoonerScoop.com, Brown was one of the players in attendance for Venables’ camp and stood out as one of the top performers.

Safe to say Brown impressed the coaching staff with his work in Norman this week. An offer and a commitment just days later and the Sooners have a wide receiver to add to their 2023 recruiting class.

The four-star wide receiver is the fifth commitment for the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He joins [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], [autotag]Joshua Bates[/autotag], [autotag]Erik McCarty[/autotag], and [autotag]Kaleb Spencer[/autotag].

Brown’s commitment comes just a couple of weeks after [autotag]Ashton Cozart[/autotag] flipped his pledge to the Oregon Ducks. The Sooners replaced one towering wide receiver in Cozart with another one in Brown.

The Florida product stands 6-3 and weighs in at 188 pounds according to 247Sports. Brown’s size and ability help give him the opportunity to be a standout on the outside for the Sooners.

Keyon Brown’s Recruiting Profile