Oklahoma has had a rough go of it with some of their targets of late, this time getting a little more bad news with Dylan Edwards’ commitment to Kansas State. While it’s important to note that the Sooners can’t ultimately sign everyone, missing out on some still stings.
Edwards joins a list of Wilkin Formby, Tyler Turner, and Reid Mikeska as players Oklahoma was targeting and missed out on in the last few days.
The four-star running back was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Kansas in 2021. He totaled 3,214 all-purpose yards and 40 total touchdowns while averaging almost 13 yards a carry last year. The Sooners offered Edwards on January 29th and shortly after receiving the offer told Kansas City Star reporter Kellis Robinett that “Oklahoma has been a dream of mine.”
While that may have been true somewhere along the way, there was a disconnect between both sides as the Sooners didn’t land Edwards who opted to stay in-state and play for the Kansas State. With the Wildcats he will most likely draw comparisons to current running back Deuce Vaughn and KSU legend Darren Sproles. Edwards, like Sproles and Vaughn, is a small, shifty, dynamic, and fast running back.
Oklahoma landed multiple predictions to land Edwards in the days and weeks following the initial offer and continued to apply pressure. They made the top 10 list for Edwards along with Kansas State, Nebraska, Washington, Jackson State, Oregon and a few others. Ultimately, after his official visit on June 3rd for the Champ U BBQ, and a few weeks to deliberate the in-state school won out.
The Sooners have four-star Kalib Hicks and will be looking to fill one more spot at running back for this 2023 class. As it stands with names like Tre Wisner and Dylan Edwards out the picture, Daylan Smothers becomes one of the priority targets for the Sooners.
Smothers has taken his official to Oklahoma and enjoyed himself quite a bit. A Florida State official is up next for him but the Sooners are closer in this race than they were with Edwards, giving them a much better shot here to land the four-star dynamo from North Carolina.
Five-star can’t miss prospect Richard Young is very much a take if he decides to be a Sooner. While that is a long-shot, the Sooners should continue to hang around and recruit him. Crazier things have happened like Louisville landing five-star running back Reuben Owens this week.
The state of Kansas will continue to be a place the Sooners attack on the recruiting trail as head coach Brent Venables played and coached at Kansas State himself and has maintained excellent relationships throughout the state.
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