Tag: Jackson Arnold

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback commit Jackson Arnold earns 5-star status from 247Sports

Oklahoma Sooners 2023 commit Jackson Arnold continues to see his stock rise ahead of his senior season, earning 5-star status from 247Sports

With just one season of high school football under his belt, it was inevitable that Denton Guyer quarterback and 2023 commit Jackson Arnold would earn five-star status at some point between his commitment and national signing day.

In 247Sports latest update, Arnold, who helped lead Denton Guyer to the Texas 6A state championship game in 2021, received his fifth star.

He was a standout at the Elite 11 camp out in California a couple of weeks ago, earning the Elite 11 MVP award for his efforts.

Arnold is one of five quarterbacks with a five-star rating in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He joins Texas commit Arch Manning, USC commit Malachi Nelson, Tennessee commit Nicholas Iamleava, and Oregon commit Dante Moore as the five-star quarterbacks in the 2023 cycle.

Back in the first week of June, Arnold was given a five-star rating in the 247Sports composite database. signaling the growing status of the Sooners’ first commit of the Brent Venables era.

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Updated look at where the Sooners stand among Big 12 teams in 247Sports team recruiting rankings

The Oklahoma Sooners have had a fantastic month and a half since the calendar turned to June and have climbed just outside of the top 10.

The Oklahoma Sooners have added 11 commitments in the last month and a half to make a significant jump in the 247Sports composite team recruiting rankings.

They’ve made the biggest move up the rankings since June 30, landing commitments from four-star players like Cayden Green, Jaquaize Pettaway, Samuel Omosigho, Adepoju Adebawore, and Daylan Smothers. Add them to a recruiting class that includes five-star quarterback Jackson Arnold and four-star running back Kalib Hicks, and this group has a chance to improve even further beyond their No. 11 class in the country.

While the Texas Longhorns lead the way in the Big 12, the Sooners have closed the gap with their incredible couple of weeks in the month of July.

Let’s take a look at how the Big 12 stacks up in the latest team recruiting rankings from 247Sports.

Oklahoma recruiting is on the right track and there’s more on the way

After many said Oklahoma was in trouble, the Sooners have shot up the recruiting rankings with lots of time left in the cycle

At the end of June, the Oklahoma Sooners were ranked 35th in 247Sports team recruiting rankings and many people thought the sky was falling. The Sooners were doomed. It was as if we had learned nothing from the Lincoln Riley departure and the following recruit-exodus: It’s not so easy to kill the Sooners.

On June 30, I even wrote an article telling everyone to relax. “Rankings mean absolutely nothing in June,” I said.

Just a week and a half later, Oklahoma’s on the verge of a top 10 recruiting class. The Sooners are now 11th in 247Sports’ recruiting rankings for the class of 2023 and are in the running for several more high-end recruits. The only Big 12 team the Sooners trail in recruiting for 2023 is the Longhorns.

What does this mean?

[autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag]’s departure hit the Sooners just as hard on the recruiting trail as it did on the field. Riley was a great recruiter, and USC will no doubt benefit from that.

Something that Riley excels at is his usage of social media in this modern age of college football. That seemed like something OU was going to miss. However, the new staff appears to have picked up where Riley left off on social media, and the commits themselves are helping out.

Here’s what Sooners QB commit [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] had to say when [autotag]Adepoju Adebawore[/autotag] committed:

 

Players who are undecided are absolutely swayed by what others in their class decide. Oklahoma has already gotten past the hard part: getting the first few recruits.

OU will continue to scoop up these young men. It will be interesting to see both where OU ends up falling in the final rankings and what Brent Venables’ staff ends up molding these recruits into.

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Oklahoma adds one of nation’s most electric playmakers as four-star WR Jaquaize Pettaway commits

Oklahoma Sooners pick up big-time commitment from Top 50 player in the 2023 class, wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway.

Oklahoma’s quest to make fools out of people who questioned their recruiting prowess is officially full steam ahead. As the month of July continues on the Sooners have landed their 11th commitment in the 2023 class and their third prospect in less than 10 days.

Jaquaize Pettaway, a four-star wide receiver from Houston, Texas bypassed a chance to go play on the Forty Acres in Austin on Wednesday.

It was a Red River battle to the end but ultimately the Sooners won out as Pettaway joins the Sooners 2023 recruiting class. He stands at 5-foot-11 and clocks in under 180 pounds but he’s as dynamic and explosive a player in the nation. With legit short area quickness, a lightning bolt first step, and top-end sprinter speed, Pettaway is a certified speed merchant.

Cale Gundy continues to be as steady as they come at recruiting top flight offensive playmakers from the state of Texas. He can add Pettaway to a list of players that includes Adrian Peterson, Marvin Mims, Theo Wease, CeeDee Lamb, Rodney Anderson, and Austin Stogner.

Pettaway looks to be an easy candidate for day one snaps considering he offers something currently no one else in the remainder of the Sooners’ 2023 class does and that’s elite speed.

He can return punts and kicks and has scored on multiple returns in his high school career and he can take jailbreak, bubble screens, and jet handoffs for big plays. Those are simple and easy ways to get an explosive player like him the ball that may not know the full nuances of a college offense just yet.

With Pettaway’s commitment, Oklahoma now has two top 50 recruits with five-star QB and Elite 11 MVP Jackson Arnold being the other. Pettaway now joins Floridian Keyon Brown as the Sooners’ lone wide receiver commits.

There’s still room for one maybe two more wide receivers in this class for Oklahoma and having someone like Pettaway who offers game-changing speed is very noteworthy. There’s no reason to belive that Pettaway with an excellent senior year and a good postseason showing in All-Star settings couldn’t challenge for a fifth star either.

Nonetheless, the talented wide receiver is a Sooner and will get an opportunity to make plays in the open field under Jeff Lebby’s lightning fast offense.

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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.

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

Projections

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