Tag: Joe Jon Finley

Oklahoma Sooners land another in-state product in a surprise commitment

Oklahoma got some good news in a surprise commitment from in-state 2025 product.

The [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners 2025 recruiting[/autotag] is absolutely on fire right now. The Sooners didn’t land just one but two players on Thursday night.

Marcus James from Carl Albert in Oklahoma City, Okla. was the one everyone knew was coming as he scheduled his announcement for 6:30 p.m. CT that day. But shortly after, his teammate, 2025 3-star athlete [autotag]Trynae Washington[/autotag], also committed to the Sooners.

Washington is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound do-it-all player for Carl Albert. He plays both wide receiver and safety. Washington told OUInsider (subscription required) in an exclusive interview the plan was for him to play tight end and wide receiver at Oklahoma.

Washington is the fourth Carl Albert player to commit to Oklahoma this calendar year, joining [autotag]Marcus James[/autotag], three-star 2024 running back [autotag]Xavier Robinson[/autotag] and four-star 2025 quarterback [autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag]. But they aren’t done, as Washington admits he has his eyes set on teammate, 2025 defensive back [autotag]Trystan Haynes[/autotag] to join the crew.

As for what sold Washington on Oklahoma, he told OUInsider, “They are a big family, and make sure that you feel welcome there. The atmosphere there is great as well, the coaches getting involved just as much as the players. They were reaching out to me and trying to get me more involved, more than other colleges were.”

The Sooners didn’t land their first 2024 commit until March of this year when Jeremiah Newcombe broke the ice. As of right now the Sooners already have seven 2025 commits, with some more potentially on their way soon.

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Sooners picked to flip 2025 4-Star in-state tight end

Oklahoma are making waves in a talent in-state kid who is committed to Notre Dame.

While most people are still focused on the 2024 class, the [autotag]Oklahoma Sooners[/autotag] continue to make moves in 2025. Right now the Sooners have four commitments but that could be five if [autotag]Jaden Nickens[/autotag] commits on Saturday.

After four-star tight end, [autotag]Davon Mitchell[/autotag] reclassified to 2024, the Sooners are working to find their 2025 tight end. That has led them back to familiar territory.

The Sooners have not given up on the [autotag]Notre Dame Fighting Irish[/autotag] commit and Washington, Oklahoma native, [autotag]Nate Roberts[/autotag]. Roberts is a big-time tight end target standing at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds.

He ranks No. 61 nationally and second at his position after finishing his sophomore season with 33 receptions for 705 yards and 11 TDs. He averaged an incredible 21.4 yards per catch. Roberts helped Washington to a 15-0 record and an Oklahoma 2A state championship.

His older brother Jake Roberts was a tight end at North Texas Mean Green but transferred to play for the Baylor Bears this season. One thing going in Oklahoma’s favor, 2025 Oklahoma quarterback commit Kevin Sperry has been throwing to Roberts this summer which sparked the flip rumors.

Those rumors only escalated when SoonerScoop’s Josh McCuistion flipped his pick from the Irish to the Sooners. If [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] can pull that off, you are looking at two elite tight end prospects in back-to-back classes.

There is still some work to be done obviously. Flipping a commit is not an easy task. But it’s one this staff has had success with.

Combine that with the kid being an in-state prospect and the Sooners are sitting in a good spot to get his commitment.

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Offseason Stock Up, Stock Down for the Oklahoma Sooners

Taking stock of certain aspects of Oklahoma’s football team after a long offseason. Who is trending up and down?

The offseason is coming to a close, and the 2023 football season is right around the corner. When the pads go on, teams take the intensity up a notch as they dig deeper to prepare for the season.

Oklahoma’s offseason has been pretty quiet, all things considered. Conference realignment isn’t dominating headlines for Oklahoma. Its focus is on being the best Oklahoma team it can be in its final Big 12 season.

Each week during the season, we take stock of where the Sooners are as a team and which way individuals within the program are trending. Here’s an offseason look at the stock report.

Oklahoma Sooners favored to land 2025 four-star tight end

OUInsider’s Parker Thune issued a Rivals FutureCast favoring the Oklahoma Sooners for 2025 four-star Tight End DaSaahn Brame.

“Sooners under the Stars” has wrapped as we get ready for the “Party at the Palace” to begin. One of the visitors at the first event of the week was four-star tight end, DaSaahn Brame.

The Derby, Kan. native is a big target standing at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds. He ranks as a composite top 250 guy and ninth overall at his position. After Davon Mitchell reclassified to the 2024 class, it looks like the Sooners are all in on their 2025 guy.

On Thursday, OUInsider’s Parker Thune put in a prediction favoring the Sooners in Brame’s recruitment.

The Sooners continue to work towards a stacked tight end room. If Joe JoneFinley can pull in the commitment of the blue chip tight end out of Kansas, it would mark the fourth four-star player at the position to join the Sooners since 2022.

It would not come as a surprise if the Sooners didn’t have six or seven commitments in the 2025 class before the 2024 class has officially signed.

Right now, it looks like the Sooners will be battling with the in-state Kansas State Wildcats for Brame’s commitment.

Brame comes from an athletic background and is a Kansas State legacy. His dad, Da’Von, played linebacker at Kansas State, and his mom, Nicky, played women’s basketball for the Wildcats as well.

Brame displays the ability to be a threat as both a receiver and as a blocker, holding up well in the running game. In the modern era of college football, tight ends aren’t often called upon to block as much. Brame is an impact player in every facet of the game.

In Jeff Lebby’s system, it’s important for the tight end to contribute in both the running game and the passing game. With his size and athletic ability, he’ll be an impact player at the collegiate level.

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Trio of Sooners assistants named to 247Sports All-Big 12 first-team coaching staff

Three Sooners assistants were named to both 247Sports All-Big 12 first and second team coaching staffs.

The Oklahoma Sooners are less than seven weeks away from the start of the 2023 college football season. It’s a team that’s expected to improve from their 6-7 season after having one of the worst defenses in the country in 2022.

There’s a belief that this coaching staff can turn things around. The only question is how quickly can they. The staff has shown a proclivity for recruiting in Norman. While the results aren’t where everyone wants them, this coaching staff has proven their ability throughout their careers. Several assistants were named to 247Sports All-Big 12 team, including three first-teamers.

Here’s how 247Sports grades their assistants.

The All-Big 12 staff comprises the highest-graded coaches in the Coach Rating Index. The CRI is “a massive grading system with over 30,000 individual unit profiles and over 250,000 annual coaching result reports. If a coach was designated in an on-field role in that period in either the FBS or FCS levels, he is in the database with a career number rating and accompanying career star rating.”

  • All coaches must have at least four years of coaching experience at the position.
  • Two defensive back coaches on each team
  • Grades must only include on-field results and not their value as a recruiter, which is a separate grade. – Brandon Marcello – 247Sports
Here’s a look at the coaches recognized by 247Sports.

Sooners land commitment from talented tight end Davon Mitchell

Oklahoma picks up a commitment from talented tight end Davon Mitchell. Mitchell is reclassifying to join the 2024 class.

A massive recruiting domino has fallen for the Oklahoma Sooners. Five-star tight end Davon Mitchell committed to the Oklahoma Sooners at a ceremony at Los Alamitos High School on Saturday afternoon.

Mitchell chose Oklahoma over Alabama and Miami after a competitive recruitment, with the Sooners and Hurricanes being the primary combatants in the late stages.

Mitchell’s recruitment with Oklahoma started last summer when Joe Jon Finley offered the talented prospect while he was still at Allen High School. Mitchell transferred out like his former quarterback, future teammate and close friend Michael Hawkins. The idea of playing with Hawkins in college has always been a motivating factor for both. While Mitchell was a class behind Hawkins, the premiere tight end prospect now gets to realize his dream of playing with his close friend. Mitchell announced he’s reclassifying to graduate this year, which would make him part of the Sooners’ 2024 recruiting class.

Hawkins committed in April and has been doing his part to entice the dynamic tight end to hop on board. Mitchell visited Oklahoma for the [autotag]ChampU BBQ[/autotag], where [autotag]DeMarco Murray[/autotag] introduced Mitchell to future hall of famer Jason Witten.

Miami and Alabama pushed hard and did their best to make it a three-team race. However, the relationships with the OU staff and other prospects made it too hard to pass up on the Crimson and Cream.

Mitchell offers Oklahoma a tight-end talent that could be as dynamic as Jermaine Gresham was for Oklahoma. He can run, has a great frame and length, and can work with his hand in the ground as a blocker. He can line up as an in-line tight end or split out wide to take advantage of smaller defenders. Mitchell is tough to bring down with the ball in his hands and uses his size to run through would-be tacklers.

As it stands, Mitchell was the No. 16 player in 247Sports’ composite rankings for 2025. He’s a five-star player and was the No. 1 player in California for 2025. He also is the second-ranked tight end nationally. He’ll likely land in the high four-star range with a chance at five-star status after he slots into OU’s 2024 class

This recruiting win is easily the biggest of Joe Jon Finley’s career. The job isn’t finished, though, as developing Mitchell and helping him realize his high ceiling is next.

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Oklahoma needs a breakout season from Austin Stogner at tight end in 2023

The Sooners return Austin Stogner at tight end, and Oklahoma needs him to experience a Brayden Willis-like breakout in 2023.

The tight end position at Oklahoma has just as many, if not more, question marks than the wide receiver position. It’s been a productive position over the years, but there’s not a lot of production to bank on heading into 2023.

The Sooners lose [autotag]Brayden Willi[/autotag]s, who was the second-leading receiver on the team and one of the best players in 2022. He was selected in the seventh round by the San Francisco 49ers.

His leadership made him an invaluable player for the Oklahoma Sooners. Willis has a career year last season. He hadn’t previously eclipsed 200 yards receiving before going for over 500 in 2022.

It was his performance in 2022 that earned him a draftable grade. In addition to what he brings on the field, his leadership on and off will be missed.

On a positive note, Oklahoma sees a familiar face return in [autotag]Austin Stogner[/autotag]. Without Stogner, tight end would be in a load of trouble.

Stogner brings experience, but his production hasn’t matched his talent yet. His best season was his sophomore year at Oklahoma when he had 422 yards and three touchdowns. Since then, he hasn’t reached 215 yards in a season.

The hope is Stogner will have a similar type of breakout that Willis experienced. The Sooners also return [autotag]Jason Llewellyn[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaden Helms[/autotag].

They don’t have a lot of experience. Neither played more than 40 snaps on offense for the Sooners in 2022. What’s going to limit their ability to take a step is that neither Llewellyn nor Helms participated in spring ball due to injury.

This room is going to really rely on Stogner to take a massive step like Willis did and hope missing spring ball didn’t hurt the growth of Helms or Llewellyn.

The Sooners did add someone to be Gabriel’s go-to guy on third downs and in the red zone, areas where Oklahoma struggled in 2022. Stogner has the talent to be a big-time receiving threat for the Oklahoma Sooners, but time is running out in his career to show it.

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2025 5-Star TE Davon Mitchell sets commitment date

One of the top players in the 2025 class, Davon Mitchell, sets commitment date.

The Oklahoma Sooners are just over a month away from finding out about one of their top targets in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Five-star tight end Davon Mitchell announced via Twitter that he’ll be committing on July 8.

Mitchell is currently ranked as a top 50 player across the board, and 247Sports sees him as a top 20 player in the 2025 class. He’s the No. 1 tight end in the cycle and ranks as the No. 2 player in the state of California.

Davon Mitchell transferred to Los Alamitos High School after starting his high school career at Allen High School, the same place Michael Hawkins first started on varsity.

In addition to the Oklahoma Sooners, Alabama, Miami, Texas A&M, and Texas are in the running for the elite tight-end prospect.

The Sooners are already off to a strong start in the 2025 recruiting class with commitments from four-star quarterback [autotag]Kevin Sperry[/autotag] and four-star wide receiver [autotag]Gracen Harris[/autotag]. They’re also making positive headway in their recruitment of four-star wide receiver [autotag]Adrian Wilson[/autotag].

Mitchell is an athletic tight end that can make plays in the passing game and move the needle as a run blocker as well. His athleticism really shows up in the red zone, where he can get above the rim and high point the football and also has the size to box out defenders as well.

A commitment from Mitchell would give the Sooners their highest-rated tight end prospect in the 247Sports database. All eyes will be tuned in on July 8 to see which team Mitchell pledges to play for.

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Five-star TE Davon Mitchell includes the Oklahoma Sooners in his top 5

The Oklahoma Sooners were included in the top 5 for 5-star TE Davon Mitchell, along with Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, and Miami.

The Oklahoma Sooners have recruited as well as just about anyone in college football over the last year and a half. They’re in a great spot with a number of blue chip prospects in the 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes. One of those prospects is five-star tight end [autotag]Davon Mitchell[/autotag].

Mitchell included the Oklahoma Sooners, Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, and Miami Hurricanes.

“Oklahoma is a school I am familiar with,” Mitchell told On3’s Chad Simmons (On3+). I have been there four or five times, so I feel comfortable. The atmosphere is strong. I like the coaching staff and they always feature their top tight ends. Coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and coach [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] have really recruited me hard, so I have some strong relationships too.”

Mitchell also told Simmons that he plans on committing soon, though no timeline has been set at this time.

The 2025 tight end prospect has been tied to the Oklahoma Sooners for some time with crystal ball predictions and Rivals FutureCasts favoring the Sooners in his recruitment. Mitchell is the No. 2 tight end and No. 1 player in the state of California in the both the 247Sports composite and On3 Industry rankings for the [autotag]2025 recruiting cycle[/autotag].

There’s still a long way to go in the pursuit of Davon Mitchell. The Sooners are up against some of college football’s heavy hitters on the recruiting trail. Though Oklahoma’s in a fantastic position in the recruitment, fending off Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, and Miami is no small task.

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Sooners offer 4-Star TE Roger Saleapaga out of Utah

A look at recent Oklahoma Sooners offer, 2024 4-star tight end Roger Saleapaga.

Last week on the recruiting trail, the Oklahoma Sooners turned their attention to 2024 four-star tight end Roger Saleapaga out of Orem, Utah. Saleapaga is a top-five tight end in the class and is 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds.

He holds offers from 14 Power Five programs, including Utah, BYU, Tennessee, Oregon, UCLA, and Washington.

Saleapaga is an incredible athlete with good long speed. His size and athleticism make him incredibly difficult to cover. He does a good job in contested catch situations, climbing the ladder to high point the football. He’s got really good hands and is able to come down with the catch even when the defender is right there in coverage. He moves really well laterally for a player his size, displaying good agility to make plays after the catch.

The Utah prospect is being heavily recruited by a number of Pac-12 teams but is beginning to generate some buzz east of the Rockies. Miami also offered the talented tight end prospect in the last week.

Roger Saleapaga’s Recruiting Profile

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