Tag: Jaden Davis

Miami DB Jaden Davis honored to be selected by Cardinals at pick No. 226

The Cardinals honored former safety Pat Tillman in the 2024 NFL draft.

The Arizona Cardinals made a noble and honorable decision when they went on the clock with the No. 226 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Cardinals paid tribute to Cardinal legend Pat Tillman, who was chosen with the same pick in 1998. Arizona chose former University of Miami defensive back Jaden Davis.

This was a move not lost on Davis who said it was important to him that the Cardinals did this and he was excited to be honored in that way.

As a player, Davis is a bit undersized but plays very physical. He’s an exceptional tackler and takes pride in his run support. He could see time on special teams and work as one of the team’s inside cornerbacks in sub packages.

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Cardinals use 7th-round pick to select Miami CB Jaden Davis

The Cardinals used their final draft pick to select Jaden Davis, who played four seasons at Oklahoma and one at Miami.

The Arizona Cardinals have wrapped up their 12-player  2024 NFL draft class with a seventh-round selection. Using pick No. 226, they selected Miami cornerback Jaden Davis.

Davis was ranked No. 60 among cornerbacks by Dane Brugler.

His 5-foot-10 and 187 pounds. He was not invited to the combine but completed his athletic testing at his pro day. He ran the 40 in 4.44 seconds with a fantastic 1.49-second 10-yard split. His three-cone was a subpar 7.46 seconds. He has a 119-inch broad jump and 35.5-inch vertical leap.

He spent four seasons at Oklahoma and got his degree before transferring to Miami last year, where he played outside cornerback, played a lot in the slot and also got a full game playing safety.

His only career interception came as a freshman. He had 14 career pass breakups, four of which came for Miami last season.

He feels he brings versatility and smarts.

And that wraps up the draft class. He is the third cornerback the Cardinals selected in the draft.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners first official depth chart of 2023

5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners first official depth chart of the 2023 season.

If there’s one thing that signals we are genuinely back for college football, it’s the release of the official depth charts for colleges across the country. .

Earlier Tuesday morning, Oklahoma’s official football account released the depth chart, helping paint a clearer picture of how this year’s team will be deployed. Several names who played sparingly last year or didn’t play at Oklahoma are now in starting roles for the Sooners.

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All offseason, Brent Venables stressed competitive depth as one of the biggest changes from last offseason to this offseason. It clearly shows up on paper as the depth chart has 21 different “OR” situations.

In many ways, the game against Arkansas State is a tryout for many players to solidify or leap someone at their respective positions. Below, we share our five takeaways from the first official depth chart.

247Sports includes trio of Sooners among top 100 impact freshmen

247Sports believes these freshmen defenders are primed to make an impact in 2023 for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class could be legendary for Brent Venables’ tenure as Oklahoma’s head coach. In many ways, that class could lay the foundation for what the Sooners will be and look like with Venables at the helm.

It’s the best Oklahoma class on paper in years. Defensively, it’s undoubtedly the best defensive class the Sooners have had in quite some time. The 2024 class could top it defensively, but we won’t count those chickens before they hatch.

What we can count on, though, is that 247Sports agrees and believes that Oklahoma has some talented freshmen that can be playmakers from the start.  247 tabbed 100 freshmen they believe will be impact players in 2023. Three Sooners were included on the list, and each of them was on the defensive side of the ball. The names included safety Peyton Bowen, EDGE Adepoju Adebawore, and cornerback Jasiah Wagoner.

Bowen, No. 57 overall and the No. 3 safety in their final rankings has already made an impression in his first spring in Norman. He had one of the craziest recruitments in recent memory, but once he landed on campus, he made plays and culminated his first spring with an interception of starting QB Dillon Gabriel in the spring game. Brent Venables couldn’t speak highly enough of Bowen in the early part of his tenure.

You could argue safety is one of Oklahoma’s deepest positions with both Billy Bowman and Key Lawrence back, along with Texas Tech transfer Reggie Pearson. But good luck keeping Bowen off the field. Fans got a glimpse of his talents in the spring game when he intercepted Dillon Gabriel on a deep shot. Bowen is going to be in the two deep at safety and can also play some nickel. He’ll see plenty of reps this year, helping a Sooners pass defense that needs to take a major step. – Chris Hummer, 247Sports

Hummer believes Oklahoma’s safety group is better than last year’s and reasonably deep, but Bowen is known as a deep safety playmaker. Bowen’s athleticism and processing speed will make it hard for the coaching staff to keep him off the field. He’s gotten reps at both safety positions, nickel, and Cheetah throughout spring practice.

Joining him in the secondary is cornerback Jasiah Wagoner. Wagoner, a native of Washington, created a lot of spring buzz with his play inside and outside. He’s feisty, and while he’s only 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds but plays like he’s 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Oklahoma is in the business of finding steady play at cornerback opposite senior leader Woodi Washington. Wagoner may be someone that can provide that. Wagoner was the No. 31 CB in his class.

Speaking of players who could help a shaky pass defense, Wagoner is another to watch after a strong spring practice run. The Spanaway (Wash.) Lake product earned his share of first-team reps, and he’s well positioned to play important snaps for OU after Jaden Davis transferred and D.J. Graham switched to the offensive side of the ball. The 5-foot-11, 171-pound Wagoner has also drawn high praise from the Sooners staff publicly. – Hummer, 247Sports

And last but certainly not least, EDGE Adepoju Adebawore is the third Sooner freshman on the list. Adebawore looks physically ready to make an impact, but he’s just scratching the surface of what he can be. He has an NFL pedigree. His older brother was selected in the 2023 NFL draft after tearing up the NFL scouting combine with his athletic testing.

Adebawore is a player who could push for significant pass-rushing snaps throughout the season due to his insane athletic profile. Oklahoma’s pass rush was a huge reason their defense was terrible last season. Middle-of-the-road passing teams were able to do what they wanted against the Sooners’ defense. Adebawore could help with that from the outset. As the No. 9 overall player and No. 2 EDGE in the 2023 class, big things are expected from Adebawore.

One of the true athletic freaks from the 2023 class, Adebawore pairs his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame with an 85-inch wingspan, 10-inch hands and a verified 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash — and 34 inches in the vertical jump. He’s an athletic marvel and someone who will only get freakier as he adds weight. As it is, Adebawore is fast and twitchy enough to make an immediate impact. Oklahoma needs him to do so, too. The Sooners struggled to generate pressure without blitzing last year (a usual staple of Brent Venables’ defenses), and Adebawore and a few transfers should help address that issue. – Hummer, 247Sports

Oklahoma’s season hinges on the defense’s ability to improve. If that happens, it is hard to imagine a scenario where Oklahoma doesn’t at least win nine games. Bowen, Wagoner, and Adebawore have a chance to make an impact this season and be cornerstones to Oklahoma’s defensive resurgence.

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Oklahoma Sooners offer JUCO CB Demetrius Freeney

Oklahoma is still looking to fill out its defensive back unit as they offered JUCO corner transfer Demetrius Freeney Jr.

Oklahoma is enjoying its last bit of time off before the grind of the season starts. Summer workouts begin in June, and fall camp will come soon after. A relatively quiet spring saw Oklahoma welcome a slew of early freshmen enrollees and a host of transfers is now behind them. However, player acquisition never ends.

This spring saw a changing of the guard in the defensive back room. Several players transferred out and Oklahoma brought in a blue-chip class of secondary players. Brent Venables has been working to reshape his defensive back group since taking over.

Most of the departures were holdovers from the Alex Grinch “Speed D” era. And that transition is near completion, but with a young group, there’s still room to improve. So it’s no surprise that they offered JUCO cornerback Demetrius Freeney Jr. out of the College of San Mateo.

Freeney stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 185 pounds. He flashes in press coverage while also playing off and displays good awareness in zone. In his Hudl highlights, Freeney showed the ability to pass off his man in coverage and keep his eyes on the quarterback. That ability translated to an interception return for a touchdown.

HUDL

Woodi Washington is locked in as one starter for Oklahoma. But with Jaden Davis departure to Miami, there’s an opportunity for someone to take over as the second and third cornerback.

There could be a path for some snaps if Freeney commits and makes an impression in summer ball. But if not, he would have at least three more years to make a splash.

Freeney Jr. has received offers from Indiana, Houston, Colorado, Louisville, and San Jose State in addition to Oklahoma’s offer. He’s set up official visits with Lousiville, Houston, Colorado, and Oklahoma.

Oklahoma will host him on May 25. It’s too early to tell how this goes, but it may be something to monitor going forward if Freeney enjoys his visit to Norman.

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Where former Oklahoma Sooners landed after entering the transfer portal

Where did former Oklahoma Sooners end up after entering the transfer portal?

The Oklahoma Sooners have been working to remake the roster in the image of Brent Venables and his new defensive assistants. With the success they’ve had in the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes, some transfer portal turnover was to be expected.

The transfer haul in the 2022-2023 portal cycle provided more talent and depth on the roster as the Sooners head into their final year in the Big 12. As 2022 showed, the talent on the roster simply wasn’t good enough to win close games in Big 12 play.

So Venables and his staff attacked the transfer portal to add a wealth of talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

We know who the arrivals are in the transfer portal. Dasan McCullough, Walter Rouse, Rondell Bothroyd and Reggie Pearson will be significant contributors for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.

Oklahoma lost a few talented players in the portal, but mostly guys that were having a hard time breaking into the rotation under Venables. Here’s who departed in the portal and where they landed:

Oklahoma safety Damond Harmon enters the transfer portal

Oklahoma safety Damond Harmon intends to transfer. Harmon was a former four-star recruit in the class of 2021.

Oklahoma’s defensive back takes another hit as the Sooners lose their second defensive back to transfer portal this week. According to Brandon Drumm and Parker Thune of OUInsider safety Damond Harmon has decided to enter the transfer portal following Oklahoma’s spring game.

Harmon, a former four-star recruit becomes the eighth signee of Oklahoma’s 2021 class to depart for other opportunities. Harmon made his most notable splash as a player in two starts last year after playing primarily special teams as a freshman in 2021.

For his career, Harmon amassed 22 tackles in 23 career games. Harmon’s departure is a case of where he was on the depth chart.

Billy Bowman, Reggie Pearson, Key Lawrence, and Robert Spears-Jennings all seemed to have supplanted him on the two deep and it seemed unlikely for Harmon to supplant either this upcoming season. The addition and rapid rise of Peyton Bowen complicated his path to playing time as well.

Harmon broke thru last year as a consistent rotational member at safety before a concussion, and other players returning from injury, pushed him back down the depth chart.

Harmon was listed as the No. 26 cornerback and No. 304 overall prospect in the 2021 class and picked Oklahoma over schools like Michigan and Florida.

Harmon, Jamarrien Burt, and Jaden Davis have all entered the transfer portal in the past two weeks. Oklahoma only figures to bring just one high school defensive back in four-star safety Daeh McCullough this summer.

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5 things we’re watching for at Oklahoma’s spring game

Oklahoma has its spring game this weekend, and we’ve got five things we’ll be looking at for Oklahoma’s spring debut of team 129.

Team 129 in Oklahoma’s illustrious football history takes the field publically for the first time on Saturday afternoon. It’s a game and weekend that means a lot to the team, staff, fanbase, and recruits.

Oklahoma comes into this spring off the heels of its worst season in over 20 years. The Sooners were a rough watch at times. Despite that, they still found themselves in a bowl game against a talented Florida State team.

Oklahoma lost the likes of [autotag]Brayden Willis[/autotag], [autotag]Eric Gray[/autotag], [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag], [autotag]Wanya Morris[/autotag], [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag], [autotag]Jalen Redmond[/autotag], and [autotag]DaShaun White[/autotag] to the NFL Draft process.

The Sooners saw players transfer out but also welcomed in a number of players from their top-five recruiting class. The Sooners attacked the portal with some serious intensity bringing in impact transfers on both sides of the ball.

It’s now time for the world to at least get a glimpse of some of these new Sooners while getting a chance to see how the returning players improved from last year.

Here are our top five storylines heading into the spring game.

Oklahoma cornerback Jaden Davis enters the transfer portal

Oklahoma Sooners cornerback Jaden Davis enters the transfer portal.

The second transfer window is underway, and Oklahoma has lost another player to the portal. Senior cornerback [autotag]Jaden Davis[/autotag] announced via social media that he’s entering the transfer portal.

In his announcement, Davis said, “Thank you Sooner Nation for everything. I’ll be entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining.”

Davis started 21 games in his Oklahoma career, according to Pro Football Focus, including nine games in 2022. He fell out of favor late in the season with the emergence of [autotag]C.J. Coldon[/autotag].

The Oklahoma Sooners have added a lot of cornerback talent in an attempt to rebuild their secondary in [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]’ second year in Norman. With the additions of [autotag]Jayden Rowe[/autotag] and [autotag]Gentry Williams[/autotag] in 2022 and [autotag]Makari Vickers[/autotag], [autotag]Kendel Dolby[/autotag] and Jasiah Wagoner in 2023, the Sooners brought in a number of players that were signed by this coaching staff.

This transfer portal season has been one of attrition to the Grinch defense. A number of players have departed that weren’t really factoring into the defensive rotation.

Though Davis had become a veteran member of the secondary, practice reports were high on Wagoner, Dolby and Vickers in their first offseason with the Sooners.

‘We’ll be an improved group’: Sooners defensive backfield improved from a year ago

Head Coach Brent Venables believes his defensive backs will be better than they were a year ago.

Brent Venables and his staff committed to ensuring the results of the 2022 season would not be replicated in 2023.

He and the Sooners’ staff were hyperactive in the transfer portal, and they closed their 2023 recruiting class on a significant high note by securing the services of five-star safety Peyton Bowen.

As the Sooners look ahead to spring practice, the time for evaluation and understanding just what type of roster the Sooners will have is here. When speaking with the media last week, Venables made it clear one specific group is primed for a better year.

The defensive backfield.

“So I think we’ll be an improved group,” Venables said about the defensive backfield. “And we lost a bunch of guys. I think we know that … I’m not sure we didn’t lose a lot of production in the secondary, but we, we lost a bunch of bodies.”

Brent Venables believes between the players returning and those that joined the team as midyear enrollees, the Oklahoma Sooners have a better group of defensive backs than they did a year ago.

[autotag]Kendall Dennis[/autotag] (USF), [autotag]Bryson Washington[/autotag] (New Mexico) and [autotag]Joshua Eaton[/autotag] (Texas State) transferred out after the 2022 season. It’s notable none landed with a Power Five squad.

[autotag]CJ Coldon[/autotag] is the biggest loss the Sooners suffered in the secondary after a strong second half of the season. [autotag]Justin Broiles[/autotag] hopes to continue his playing career at the NFL level.

Dennis, Washington and Eaton didn’t play enough for their departures to matter much. Their transfers allow Oklahoma to examine what they have in the players brought in over the past two cycles.

Gentry Williams snagged an interception in his first collegiate game. He didn’t see the field much as a true freshman, but the Sooners love his size, athletic ability, and his competitiveness.

Robert Spears-Jennings is another 2022 signee that could make an impact this season. His play speed and physicality were on display last season despite limited snaps.

Kani Walker was brought in before the season from Louisville. Like Williams, Walker has the physical tools the Sooners are looking for in their outside corners.

[autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag], a transfer from Texas Tech, is a heavy hitter with plenty of collegiate experience. That physicality and experience will help bring an edge to the Sooners defensive backfield.

Most notably, [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] also joins the defensive back room. The most highly coveted secondary recruit for Oklahoma in quite a while, Bowen is expected to be a great one.

[autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag], [autotag]Woodi Washington[/autotag], [autotag]Damond Harmon[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Davis[/autotag], [autotag]Justin Harrington[/autotag] and [autotag]Key Lawrence[/autotag] return after playing meaningful snaps for the Sooners last season. They’ll get another offseason in the Sooners’ defensive system, and should have a better understanding of the expectations in the defense.

The hope is because of the improved talent, there will be better production and depth on the secondary depth chart when it drops just before the season.

It remains to be seen how this will actually play out over the course of the season. However, it’s hard to argue with Venables’ assessment. The players who played the most last year are back and should understand the scheme better, which will lead to better performances on the field.

All that’s left is for those returning players to prove their head coach right.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.